Travel app review: GoToMyPC

Nowadays, most people want to stay connected – to some degree – when they’re traveling. The question is whether you want to lug around your laptop or netbook or smartphone when you’re backpacking in Laos or Bolivia or Azerbaijan.

I once brought my laptop with me as I traveled across Cambodia in the back of a pickup truck along with about 30 other people (plus sacks of rice and live chickens), and it occurred to me that perhaps it wasn’t such a smart idea.

You can find inexpensive Internet cafés in most budget backpacker destinations, which is all you really need if you’re just checking Web-based e-mail or updating your Facebook status. If you need access to documents from home or work, you can save them on a USB key, but that becomes yet another item you have to carry around and worry about, like your passport.

So recently on a month-long trip to Thailand I decided to test out an app from GoToMyPC, which basically replicates your desktop (PC or Mac) on any computer with an Internet connection, anywhere in the world. The hardest part is setting it up before you leave home, and even that isn’t very difficult (it takes about two minutes) – I’m just rather inept at these things.

I didn’t get a chance to test it out before I left home, but on my arrival in Bangkok, I went to an Internet café, logged in, clicked connect and, to my amazement, my desktop at home appeared in front of me. I should add, too, that GoToMyPC uses 128-bit encryption and multiple passwords, including an access code that resides on the host computer (not on GoToMyPC servers), which means it’s highly secure.

I had access to all of my documents, photos and applications, even my iTunes library, while sitting in various Internet cafés all over Thailand. Admittedly, it was a bit slow, probably because the PCs on my end were long past their expiration date – but it still worked. And, best of all, once you log off, there’s no data left behind for someone to steal – everything is happening on your computer at home. Of course, that also means you have to leave your computer on and Internet connected while you’re away.

GoToMyPC offers monthly and annual subscriptions, but you can try it out for free before committing to see if it works for you.

Photo Credit: Citrix