You think you are ready to hit the road, having your backpack ready? Well, think again! We have become more and more dependent on computers and the Internet has become a part of our social lives. We no longer write diary entries as we once did, but we blog. I know very few people who receive personal mail, however I can't name a single friend without an e-mail address. We like to keep our photos, favorite music and documents with us at all times. So why don't you consider gathering all of your virtual belongings into your usb backpack.

Below are a few sites. They host tools which the common travel can find useful on various occasions. You can enjoy safer browsing in an Internet cafe on the other end of the world. You might be able to repair your laptop without leaving your hotel room, by using various utilities you can find on your usb flash drive. You can have all your favorite e-mails with you at all times. For what its worth, you can even use your favorite OS no matter where you are, as long as there is running computer.

portableapps.com - They offer probably the most comprehensive suite of software applications which can be found on a USB flash drive. Accessibility, Development, Education, Games, Graphics & Pictures, Internet, Music & Video, Office, Operating Systems, System Utilities - you name it! You can download each application and use it without any installation. Alternatively you can chose between three versions of the software suite - Platform, Light and Standard

osxportableapps.sourceforge.net - Mac users are not left behind. Here are portable applications, which can be run on your best friends MacBook.

hiren.info -This is a well known boot CD, containing numerous of essential software, required to jump start a recently crashed PC. Password and data recovery tools, file managers, antivirus applications, testing utilities are just a few of the useful things to find on the CD. The latest copy even contains a very basic Windows XP OS. I've seen the CD in action in local computer cafes and it is a quite impressive set of tools. There is pretty nice guide how you can make your USB thumb drive to boot-up "Hiren's Boot", located here.

Beware that some of the applications found on the Boot CD are not freeware and their redistribution is illegal. This CD contains a very nice set of tools, most of which freeware. They can be found on other Boot CDs. I advise you to search Google with the keyword "Boot CD" to find a legal substitute, then use the information from hiren.info to make a USB boot version.

portabletor.sourceforge.net - I do a lot of work online and often use my credit card, enter personal information, or even more dangerous - company related information. For me, "https" secure connections are enough most of the time, since a rarely use Internet from any place different than the office, or my home. I'm always sure that my system is 100% spyware and adware free. But what about user which rely on Internet cafes, or unsecured wireless Internet in their hotel rooms, Internet hotspots, libraries, etc.? "Tor" is a good solution for people who need to be sure that no-one is tracking them while online. This is yet another good piece of software to have around while traveling.

pendrivelinux.com - There are several occasion on which you can use and independent USB bootable OS. If your current OS crashed beyond repair and you need something done quick there is faster way than to boot up a nice friendly Linux distribution from your flash drive. I personally like to use it when I'm over at a friend and I have a bit of work to do, but do not want to completely trash his desktop. The site contains many good guides on how to create a bootable usb flash drive.