1. Introduction
2. Back Up Your Photos with Picasa
3. Back Up Your Non-Photo Files With DropBox

In part three of our series on keeping your files safe while traveling, we walk you through backing up your important files that aren’t photos. If you haven’t already, be sure to read Part One for an overview as well as Part Two for a detailed explanation of how to keep your photos safe while traveling.

While Picasa Web is great for keeping your photos safe on the Google Cloud, it’s important to keep the rest of your files backed up as well when traveling. This includes videos, typed journal entries, audio recordings and any other digital gems you collect over the course of your overseas adventures. Dropbox is an online service that does just that…and more!

Dropbox: Online Backup, File Sync and Sharing

Dropbox is a service that syncs your files online and across your computers. Once you install the Dropbox program it creates a Dropbox folder on your computer. Anything that you put in that folder is then automatically uploaded to their servers. You can install Dropbox on multiple computers and it will automatically keep each of their Dropbox folders in sync. In other words, any files you add to one folder, show up on every other computer and vice versa.

You can also manually upload and download files through the Dropbox website making Dropbox an ideal solution for travelers looking to put their files somewhere safe and easily accessible, whether or not they’re traveling with a computer.

Is It Safe?

Dropbox is incredibly safe. Files are encrypted and stored on the Amazon Cloud (S3) which is very secure. Any changes you make to a file are backed up for 30 days in addition to the original file. This makes it easy to restore files that you deleted or modified by accident which can be a life saver if someone steals your computer or Dropbox password.

Sync Is Sweet!

If you are traveling with a computer, Dropbox runs in the background so you don’t have to do anything special to back up your files. Just throw your videos, journal entries and other files you can’t afford losing into the Dropbox folder on your computer and forget about it. Just as Picasa does with photos, Dropbox will upload your files when there’s an internet connection, pause when there’s not, and resume where it left off when the connection returns, all without you having to do anything. As any traveler can attest, free WiFi on the road comes and goes with the wind, so not having to worry about missing an online opportunity to upload your files is a very nice perk.

Other Perks

Dropbox has some other handy features as well. It has mobile apps for the iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Android as well as a mobile friendly website for other devices that let you get at your files when a computer isn’t handy. It allows you to share folders within your Dropbox with other Dropbox users which is fantastic for collaborating on projects or sending and receiving large files to friends and family. Every Dropbox includes a public folder which can be accessed by anyone through a web browser whether they have Dropbox or not.

What If I’m Not Traveling With a Computer?

You can upload and download files to and from Dropbox as well as access shared folders from any public computer using the Dropbox website without having to install anything. As always, remember to log out when you’re finished! If you install Dropbox on your home computer before you leave you can add files that you might need along the way, like backup travel documents. If you’re already on the road, here’s a link to register without downloading the application.

Sounds great! Why not use Dropbox to backup everything?

Dropbox gives you two gigabytes of storage for free but charges for additional storage. Unfortunately their rates for more space are nowhere near as cheap as what Google charges for extra Picasa Web storage. While 2gb is nothing to scoff at, it can fill up awfully quickly once you start backing up all of your trip’s high resolution pictures.

Also, while Dropbox has a decent interface for showing slideshows of photos in your public folder, it’s got nothing on the photo sharing and display features of Picasa Web. Note, that you get an additional 250mb of Dropbox storage every time you refer a new user to the site.

Best Practices

If traveling with a computer, you might as well store all of your valuable, non-photo, files in your Dropbox folder. You can create as many sub-folders within it as you like to separate different types of files and projects.

Dropbox puts an icon near the clock in your status bar on Windows and menu bar on a Mac. If this icon has a green check then everything is backed up and good to go. A spinner on the icon means it’s either uploading your files or downloading new ones that have been added online elsewhere. Remember, even if you lose your internet connection it will resume where it left off when the connection returns. If it’s hogging bandwidth and slowing the rest of your internet down you can slow it down by adjusting the Bandwidth Usage. Just right click the Dropbox icon, click Preferences, and then click Network. Right clicking the status icon will also tell you how much space you have left.

SD Cards, Picasa, and Dropbox – The Back Up Triumvirate

This concludes the Connected Traveling Series on backing up your files while abroad. If devoting three articles to this topic didn’t stress the message enough….it is super important that you adopt some kind of backup strategy for your travels. A few simple steps to keep your files backed up will save you a lifetime of heartbreak down the road in the event your camera or computer gets stolen…trust us.