Here is a post I wrote about using the iPad on a two-and-a-half month RTW and, reading through this thread, I found many of you have had similar reflections and experiences.

As with many people here, figuring out a keyboard solution ended up being fairly important to me. On my trip, I brought an Apple Bluetooth KB and tucked it away in the back pocket of a Grid-It Organizer (fit perfectly!).

Since returning home, I picked up one of the folio keyboard cases that @planemechanic mentioned. I think it's fine but, for me, the angle at which the iPad's screen is held isn't ideal. (And, by-the-by, the instruction sheet is one of the most enjoyable examples of "Engrish" I've seen in recent memory.)

@GadgetFreak -- I'd be interested to hear about your experiences with the iAnnotate/Dropbox workflow once you have time to play around with it. I read a blog post where someone had used that (combined with GoodReader, I think) and seemed to have decent results. And vis a vis Livescribe, you should read this post about their new partnership with Evernote. From that, I'd say it's fair to deduce some fun stuff is coming down the pike!