21 - Unsatisfying boots
Only after he had the chance to recover, he was able to go into the mountains.
A researcher went on a field trip to Tajikistan to do a study in the Pamir mountains. When he arrived, he noticed that his laptop, where he stored all the materials he wanted to use on the field trip, was not properly booting up.
Since he did not have the material on an additional hard drive or as a printed version and the internet connection was too bad to get access to his online storage, the whole field trip was in danger. Luckily, he was able to find the only service centre that had a contract with the company that produced his computer and the laptop was repaired.
The story shows the importance of backups, especially in the planning of field work. Since there might not be adequate opportunities for repair and purchase of equipment at the location, possible complications need to be considered at the onset. Online storage is only suitable as a backup option if a steady and high-quality connection to the internet can be ensured.