Sorry, if my posts have been rather bland lately, but travel isn't always so glamorous. One must go through the motions of monotonous precautions in order to achieve a full, happy-go-lucky experience.
Today we are talking about technology and how it all works while travelling. Now, as I have said before, I'm no expert, I'm simply relaying information I've researched and telling you what our plans are (which basically entails panicking, figuring it out on the fly and learning from our mistakes).
First things first, decide what you NEED to take. Don't take stuff just for the hell of it because there's a good chance it'll get lost, stolen or broken and who wants to risk that with expensive electronics? Plus the point is to unwind and unplug! You don't want to go across the world just to Facebook people and Twitter folks back home (I obviously have no idea how any of that shit works). Of course, you'll take your cell phone (we're not cavemen!). You can pretty much do everything from most cell phones nowadays. It can be your computer, book, TV, camera and iPod all in one. If you can get away with just that, then you're golden! However, if you just can't live life without being plugged in like a robot, a good rule of thumb is to think of a laptop as a method of creating (working, blogging, etc.) and a tablet as a method of consuming (movies, music, books). If you don't need to DO both, then you don't need both. Simple. Btw, I didn't make that up, I read it in an article.
Now that we know what we're taking on our travels, how do we keep all this crap charged up? I've read articles disputing the need for clunky adapters, but this requires some knowledge of voltages (who wants to deal with that on vacation?), so a fool-proof way to make sure you don't fry your stuff (or yourself) is to buy an adapter. Let me back up a bit: in some countries, wall plugs looks different than in America. In order to use them, you need to buy adapters (you can get them at places like Best Buy or REI). You can plug the adapter into the wall and then your plug into the adapter. Here's an example of a universal adapter:
With a universal adapter, you should be able to travel most places in the world having a plug for every outlet. If you're only going to one part of the world, only buy that particular adapter. For example, here's Europe:
Super cheap and compact! Now that you have your adapter, you should know that most places (even hotels) don't provide very many outlets. Therefore, it might be convenient to bring a small power strip, so you only need one outlet to charge multiple devices.
Perfect! We bought a USB Hub to charge up to 4 devices at a time.
This can plug into a laptop if we're short on outlets (of course, the laptop needs to be plugged in).
Also, consider purchasing an extra USB battery pack, so you can charge your phone while out and about.
FYI: these pictures are just examples so you get a sense what this stuff looks like. I do not recommend or endorse these actual products/brands.
Now that we've brought our phone and charged it up, HOW DO WE USE IT?? Seems simple, but it isn't. Unless you want to incur crazy roaming charges or pay for an international phone plan (you don't), here's what you do!
Make sure your phone is unlocked (I know for a fact my iPhone 5 comes unlocked, so I'm sure the 6 does as well). Most androids don't come unlocked, but you can call your phone company and tell them to unlock it. If you're in good standing with your phone company and your phone is paid off, I think they usually will. If you can't get your phone unlocked, don't bring it and don't use it because it's NOT worth it! You will have HUGE international data and roaming charges, so high you could probably pay for another vacation. You might as well just buy a burner at your destination, if you need a phone so bad.
If you get your phone unlocked, take it with you. Keep it in airplane mode on the plane and until you buy a local SIM card (once at your destination) and install it. You pay for minutes and data up front, like you would a burner and depending on the place, it can be quite cheap. Here's where it goes in the iPhone:
You remove the cover with a paperclip (oh yea, bring a paperclip) and insert the card into the slot. Then you need to activate it, which you can probably do when you buy it at the airport (if not, you have to go to a local mobile store and activate it). The SIM card will store your information (not sure how much), such as your address book and identity, as well as give you a local number. Just FYI, iMessage to iMessage is still free and can even be used in airplane mode (or so I've heard). I know I made that seem really complicated, but it's a cheap way to use your phone while abroad. It's by far the best option I've heard of.
Even though you have minutes and data on your SIM, use Skype to call and talk on the phone when possible. Set up an account and put money on it (a little goes a LONG way), and use the phone anywhere! Super handy and pretty cheap! Not the best service ever (let's be honest, we've all had our faces frozen making stupid faces on Skype), but better than nothing. I should mention that Skype to Skype calls are free!
Are you bringing a camera? If so, be careful because most DSLRs are too big and bulky to conceal and carry easily. I've got no great ideas on that front, I guess I'll let you know how it goes with mine!
Since you will be taking tons of pictures, consider purchasing a cloud storage package to keep everything safe, even if your camera/laptop/phone gets stolen/lost/wet/broken. I recently downloaded Dropbox and so far I really like it. My criteria: easy to find, share and download photos/documents onto any computer and Dropbox definitely does that. Full disclosure, it's not free. You get 2GB free and then 1 terabyte (basically a butt-load) for $99/year. It sounds expensive (and it is), but pictures really mean the world to me and to lose them would be heartbreaking. If you're a rational human being and think $99 is ridiculous, then Picasa is Google's version of cloud storage. It's free, but has a lot of hiccups, in my opinion.
I think that about does it for technology around the world. It can be daunting, confusing and pretty pricey, but if you do your homework and plan ahead, you can save yourself a lot of trouble and money. If you got anything from this post (I know it's lots of words and too few pictures), these are the highlights:
Take only what you really need (phone, camera, laptop) and buy an adapter if you need one, as well as an extra battery pack. Get your phone unlocked and buy a SIM data/minutes plan once you land and get it activated. Use Skype to make calls if possible and put a little money on your account. Dropbox holds all your documents/photos, so even if you lose your laptop, you haven't lost your files. Alrighty people, thanks for cruising with me down the information super highway! I hope you learned something! Next post we will talk about travel apps. Stay tuned!
Today we are talking about technology and how it all works while travelling. Now, as I have said before, I'm no expert, I'm simply relaying information I've researched and telling you what our plans are (which basically entails panicking, figuring it out on the fly and learning from our mistakes).
First things first, decide what you NEED to take. Don't take stuff just for the hell of it because there's a good chance it'll get lost, stolen or broken and who wants to risk that with expensive electronics? Plus the point is to unwind and unplug! You don't want to go across the world just to Facebook people and Twitter folks back home (I obviously have no idea how any of that shit works). Of course, you'll take your cell phone (we're not cavemen!). You can pretty much do everything from most cell phones nowadays. It can be your computer, book, TV, camera and iPod all in one. If you can get away with just that, then you're golden! However, if you just can't live life without being plugged in like a robot, a good rule of thumb is to think of a laptop as a method of creating (working, blogging, etc.) and a tablet as a method of consuming (movies, music, books). If you don't need to DO both, then you don't need both. Simple. Btw, I didn't make that up, I read it in an article.
Now that we know what we're taking on our travels, how do we keep all this crap charged up? I've read articles disputing the need for clunky adapters, but this requires some knowledge of voltages (who wants to deal with that on vacation?), so a fool-proof way to make sure you don't fry your stuff (or yourself) is to buy an adapter. Let me back up a bit: in some countries, wall plugs looks different than in America. In order to use them, you need to buy adapters (you can get them at places like Best Buy or REI). You can plug the adapter into the wall and then your plug into the adapter. Here's an example of a universal adapter:
Also, consider purchasing an extra USB battery pack, so you can charge your phone while out and about.
Now that we've brought our phone and charged it up, HOW DO WE USE IT?? Seems simple, but it isn't. Unless you want to incur crazy roaming charges or pay for an international phone plan (you don't), here's what you do!
Make sure your phone is unlocked (I know for a fact my iPhone 5 comes unlocked, so I'm sure the 6 does as well). Most androids don't come unlocked, but you can call your phone company and tell them to unlock it. If you're in good standing with your phone company and your phone is paid off, I think they usually will. If you can't get your phone unlocked, don't bring it and don't use it because it's NOT worth it! You will have HUGE international data and roaming charges, so high you could probably pay for another vacation. You might as well just buy a burner at your destination, if you need a phone so bad.
If you get your phone unlocked, take it with you. Keep it in airplane mode on the plane and until you buy a local SIM card (once at your destination) and install it. You pay for minutes and data up front, like you would a burner and depending on the place, it can be quite cheap. Here's where it goes in the iPhone:
Even though you have minutes and data on your SIM, use Skype to call and talk on the phone when possible. Set up an account and put money on it (a little goes a LONG way), and use the phone anywhere! Super handy and pretty cheap! Not the best service ever (let's be honest, we've all had our faces frozen making stupid faces on Skype), but better than nothing. I should mention that Skype to Skype calls are free!
Are you bringing a camera? If so, be careful because most DSLRs are too big and bulky to conceal and carry easily. I've got no great ideas on that front, I guess I'll let you know how it goes with mine!
Since you will be taking tons of pictures, consider purchasing a cloud storage package to keep everything safe, even if your camera/laptop/phone gets stolen/lost/wet/broken. I recently downloaded Dropbox and so far I really like it. My criteria: easy to find, share and download photos/documents onto any computer and Dropbox definitely does that. Full disclosure, it's not free. You get 2GB free and then 1 terabyte (basically a butt-load) for $99/year. It sounds expensive (and it is), but pictures really mean the world to me and to lose them would be heartbreaking. If you're a rational human being and think $99 is ridiculous, then Picasa is Google's version of cloud storage. It's free, but has a lot of hiccups, in my opinion.
I think that about does it for technology around the world. It can be daunting, confusing and pretty pricey, but if you do your homework and plan ahead, you can save yourself a lot of trouble and money. If you got anything from this post (I know it's lots of words and too few pictures), these are the highlights:
Take only what you really need (phone, camera, laptop) and buy an adapter if you need one, as well as an extra battery pack. Get your phone unlocked and buy a SIM data/minutes plan once you land and get it activated. Use Skype to make calls if possible and put a little money on your account. Dropbox holds all your documents/photos, so even if you lose your laptop, you haven't lost your files. Alrighty people, thanks for cruising with me down the information super highway! I hope you learned something! Next post we will talk about travel apps. Stay tuned!
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