Since I began working from home in 1989, I’ve worked from quite a few strange places — ferries crossing the Delaware Bay, minivans scurrying down the interstate, the outback of Papua, New Guinea.

Yet at right is a picture of me in one of my first “remote” offices.

I was covering Spring Break for Advertising Age magazine. I packed my Apple IIc and dot matrix printer in a plastic laundry basket, grabbed my Nikon F, and hit Daytona Beach with my relatively newly-wed wife, Robbie. What a blast!

Once my writing was finished, I went to the hotel lobby, faxed the copy to Chicago, and FedEx’d the slides of kids having fun on their parents’ tab. How times have changed. Today, I’d probably still write from the hotel room table (at little too distracting to write poolside at spring break). But with my wireless broadband aircard in place, I’d do my research and filing with ease.

As this grainy shot reveals, you can work from any office. It also shows how I’ve aged — and grown — in 20 years.

Celebrity RVer had a post recently on celebs who dig their RVs. According to the New York Post’s “Page Six” gossip column, Brad Pitt, Matthew McConaughey, Sean Penn and Colin Farrell all share a passion: trailers. Even Pamela Anderson is getting a custom Airstream trailer built (rumor has it it’ll be called the “Lovestream.” Hmmm).

What’s their trailers of choice? Brad Pitt sports a vintage Airstream 345 he calls the “Luv Sub.” The 35-foot RV was his shack after splitting with Jennifer Aniston. Matt McConaughey, recipient of the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association’s Spirit of America Award, owns an $80,000 International Ocean Breeze Airstream. Watch McConaughey’s acceptance speech and get the gist of why people RV. It offers “A new backyard every day…I feel like I can be at home wherever I go…”

Among other celebs with RVs? Colin Farrell, who sports a classic $120,000 Airstream on the set. Into The Wild director Sean Penn, who has a Safari Airstream. Then there’s the fair Ms. Anderson.

Then there’s the Zbar family — in our  vintage, 23-foot, 2005 Fleetwood Jamboree. Think Page Six will be writing about us soon…?

Departure Countdown: One month until the RV hits the road. The partners (Office Depot and Verizon Wireless) are in place, and the family’s getting excited.

I visited our RV partner, RV Sales of Broward, to check out the recreational vehicle we’ll call home for three weeks. While it’s no John Madden-esque luxury coach, it’ll be perfect for the tour.

It’s a 23-foot Fleetwood Jamboree. It’ll sleep our family of five comfortably, and not chug the petrol like a much bigger coach. Apparently it’ll get somewhere near 10 MPG. Now I’ll know what a once-proud Hummer owner feels like as oil tops $137 a barrel.

Now’s the time to start getting the fine-print details into place:

– Signage. I contacted a local vendor who’ll print and install laminate signage for the sides.

– I ordered a copy of Over the Road Wireless for Dummies (Wiley, 2006), and downloaded a copy of Marcia Yudkin’s Taking Your Business On The Road. Written from her two-month sabbatical across the U.S. and Canada, this is quickly becoming my must-read tome on the work-from-the-road advanture.

Much to do, and time’s running short. Have ideas, links or resources for me to explore? Send them along.

The Internet is vital to any road trip. We’ll have Verizon Wireless on board the RV. But if you need wi-fi connectivity, check out this collection of nationwide wi-fi hot spots from About.com.

The Mobile Office Technology writer Catherine Roseberry also offered these solutions and tools for mobile performance and enjoyment:

1. Mobile Edge Enhanced Wi-Fi Locator. The Mobile Edge Wi-Fi Locator is small enough to fit nicely on your keychain and doesn’t add extra bulk to your keychain. It’s easy to use and when those times arise when you don’t want to stay in a hot spot location but use your vehicle, this gadget is ideal. I was able to test the Wi-Fi locator at a couple locations and I really liked the fact that the LED display will indicate how strong the signal is.

2. Kensington Pocket Speakers: Kensington Pocket Speakers will truly fit into a pocket and are an excellent accessory for any mobile professional, especially those who are responsible for providing presentations on a regular basis. Most onboard speakers in a laptop do not provide adequate volume for use during presentations. Using the Kensington Pocket Speakers will help ensure that everyone in the room can hear what is going on.

3. Laptop Legs/Mac Feet by LapWorks Inc. Laptop Legs/Mac Feet provide an easy way to elevate your laptop on any surface without worrying about making your laptop unstable. If anyone has an older laptop or remembers the older laptops, they did have small legs but they weren’t sturdy at all and quite often broke. The Laptop Legs/Mac Feet are a well constructed and designed solution which enable you to increase airflow beneath your laptop.

4. D-Link Wireless Pocket Router/AP w/Client Mode. The biggest benefit that the D-Link Wireless Pocket Router/AP provides is the ability to combine three different capabilities in one compact mobile gadget. The DWL-G730AP can be used as an Access Point – which is very handy whenever you have to share Internet access and there is only one Ethernet connection available.

5. Targus Mobile Notebook Surge Protector. It’s important to make sure you protect the power provided to your laptop while on the road. The Targus Mobile Notebook Surge Protector is a very compact and lightweight gadget for peace of mind while working on the road. This surge protector includes two and three prong AC adapters to fit most laptops. You can use this anywhere in the world you happen to be working.

Coral Springs, FL (June 6, 2008) – Home Office Highway, the digital road show and contest that this summer will showcase how consumer electronics and small business technology can empower the digital lifestyle from within a recreational vehicle, has partnered with RV Sales of Broward.

“From a compact camper to a luxury motor coach, RVs are a perfect way to have fun and work efficiently during a road trip,” said Jeff Zbar, the show’s creator and host. “Smart technology, tools and creature comforts can enable productivity from the road.”

“This promises to be an exciting, educational adventure that will highlight how the RV lifestyle and road warrior workstyle can coexist,” said Gigi Stetler, owner and CEO of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based RV Sales of Broward, and creator of the Riding Gigi Style line of RV linens. “Jeff and his family will show how an RV can be an ideal office.” Read More »

Each summer, my family leaves the home office and road trips for two weeks. And each summer, I find myself gathering up the must-have tools to make my road trip successful.

There’s my laptop and my USB flashdrive with all my most current docs backed up. There’s my Gmail account, through which all my email flows — so I have every email sent or received out there close at hand.

There’s my USB mini-light to illuminate my keyboard or documents, for when I’m working in the early morning — but don’t want to wake the family. I also carry a small Monster power strip to turn one electrical outlet into five — to my laptop, Blackberry, digital camera, iPod (with the Monster cable to broadcast my tunes on the minivan’s stereo) and my family’s phones and accessories can recharge overnight. And there’s our Hampton Inn guide book, so we know where our favorite haunt is along the highway.

And they’re all packed away in my laptop backpack — neatly stashed and close at hand.

Unless the goal is to unplug completely from work, road trips shouldn’t kill productivity. I strive to be just as effective a soloist from the road as I am in the home office.

What’s your Digital Didyaknow? How do you make your travels a time of peak productivity — at least at those times that you want to scratch out a few moments of work? As I gear up for our vocation vacation, I want to learn more.

Let me know…

It was a dark and stormy night. Literally. The family minivan was rolling down Interstate 26 in South Carolina.

The hour was late, the weather was mean and we were in need of a hotel room. Stopping in this downpour was just not going to happen. Instead, in the passenger seat, Robbie had commandeered the laptop from the kids, paused Shrek playing on the laptop’s DVD drive, and began surfing the Internet to search for hotel rooms along the highway. The laptop was plugged into the 110 converter and powered by the car’s cigarette lighter, I mean, power port. And the Verizon wireless “aircard” was plugged into the computer’s USB port. Combined, we had non-stop broadband access to the information superhighway. Read More »

I’m sitting in this idyllic beach house in Lavallette on the New Jersey Shore. My HP Pavillion laptop is open before me, with my Verizon USB720 broadband wireless modem plugged into the side and giving me broadband access on the company’s new Rev-A network. I’m blazing away. After a decade of playing the occasional road warrior, I’m finally getting the hang of traveling and working. Read More »