THIS IS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT FAMILY TRAVEL TIP OF ALL TIME.
OF. ALL. TIME.
Staying healthy? Forget it. Security? Not a chance.
Saving money? Finding adventure? Language? Culture? Activities? Photography and video? Family happiness? No, no, no, no, NO.
NO NO NO NO NO!
In Crazy Dad's self-declared expert opinion, there is one thing that you must know if you are traveling with a family. One subject that you must check, re-check, and check again.
Yes, the Nintendo DS charger.
Do you have it? Does it work? Will it work where you're going?
Crazy Dad has already come to the conclusion that the Nintendo DS is the greatest family travel invention of all time.
It used to be that parents turning around while driving to threaten, "Don't make me stop this car!" and "I will send you kids to military school if you don't be quiet!" and "This is why we're not having any more children!" was a cherished childhood experience shared by all kids.
Not anymore. Parents don't threaten their kids like that anymore.
Now any child, any gender, any background, any age. Plunk a Nintendo DS in their hands and they will magically be transformed into a happy traveler who lives to go anywhere their parents want to go without complaint.
Crazy Dad's not a moron, though. He DOES worry about the effects on children's attention spans caused by hours of blinking lights in their face. Crazy Dad's kids are rarely allowed to play their DSes in the house. But while traveling is a completely different story.
In all seriousness, if you have a very long trip ahead that would tax the patience of a normal kid, Crazy Dad highly recommends that you give that normal kid a Nintendo DS.
So now we return to the issue with the charger.
If you travel internationally, you know about issues with power adapters. Some countries use the flat prongs, some countries use the round prongs, some have the tri-prongs. In addition to the shape of the adapters, there's also the issues with voltage levels.
Most electronics now have taken the voltage issues out of the picture. If you check the fine print on your electronics power adapter, it will tell you that it can handle a range of voltages. So if you're in the United States and fly to Russia, as long as you have the adapter plug, your iPod will charge just fine in the U.S. and Russia. Ditto with your laptop or cell phone or electric shaver.
In fact, nearly ALL modern electronics can handle the varying voltages.
Except one.
Except the greatest family travel invention of all time.
The Nintendo DS adapter does NOT handle dual voltages. The power adapter for a U.S. Nintendo DS will not work in Europe - or vice versa - even with the appropriate adapter plug. Nintendo, in their wisdom, chose not to let the DS charger handle both 110 and 200 volts.
So if you're in the United States and traveling to Europe, you must purchase a brand new DS power charger that will work in Europe. Vice versa - if you're in Europe and traveling to America, you must purchase a brand new DS power charger.
This probably wouldn't have been a catastrophe if Crazy Dad had been in, say, England when he discovered that he would need to buy a European-specific DS charger for his children.
Crazy Dad discovered this while on vacation in Russia.
IN RUSSIA.
Crazy Dad tried to find a DS charger in several countries along their trip - hitting toy stores throughout Russia, Ukraine, and Hungary. Every time his kids got their hopes up, Crazy Dad dashed them by being unable to find a charger.
(Note: There's also the issue that Crazy Dad's kids have a Nintendo DS Lite, which has a specific charger that doesn't work with the original Nintendo DS or the new Nintendo DSi. Thanks, Nintendo. Thanks a lot.)
Crazy Dad finally found a European DS charger in Dresden, Germany. And there was much rejoicing.
Hopefully you can learn from Crazy Dad's misfortune. To recap-
-Check your electronics. Specifically, check the chargers to make sure they're multiple voltage. Crazy Dad has found that pretty much all modern electronics are, but if it's important, double check it.
-If you need a different charger, try to order it before the trip. Third party power chargers on Ebay are quite cheap.
-Kids love the Nintendo DS. If you want to enjoy some peace and quiet on a long drive or plane flight, shove a DS in their faces and give them a set of headphones.
-Nintendo really should reconsider their engineering decisions regarding their chargers. Or at the very least, reconsider their marketing positions in Eastern Europe.
That's about it for now. Apologies for the long delay between blog posts. Crazy Dad went through a brief period of sanity... but that's all done with. Crazy Dad is back.
And fully charged.
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