Devices and Apps To Keep You Connected Abroad
Technology has allowed modern travelers the ability to communicate globally. Whether it’s keeping in contact with your family and friends back home, checking reservations, timetables, or live maps, there are options on how to stay connected and most options are free.
What devices should I bring traveling?
We recommend bringing a wifi enabled device on your trip. That can be a cell phone, computer, tablet, or even an iPod, just something that enables you to get online if need be. Bringing a cell phone is probably the most obvious choice as it allows for multiple functions and it's inherently travel sized. You don't need to have an international cell phone plan set up either. Remember to turn on, and keep on, the airplane mode setting. This will prevent any roaming charges and you will still be able to connect to the internet through wifi.
Bringing an iPod is a smart way to combine two different needs into one. You'll have music for entertainment and the ability to get online if need be.
Bringing a tablet is fairly common amongst long term travelers. Having a tablet or iPad allows you to access the internet, take photos, store/upload videos from a GoPro to The Cloud and all the other wonderful functions of entertainment that computers offer. Just consider the cost and benefit of bringing your iPad based on your needs and how long you plan to travel. If you're traveling for a few weeks, it may not be necessary to bring such a large piece of equipment. You'll want as little weight as possible when traveling. You also run the risk of theft when you're traveling, so the less expensive stuff you carry the better.
Carrying a computer is only necessary if you're working remotely or planning to travel long term. It's nice to have a computer as its a part of daily life, but it's heavy and it's a risk to carry one while traveling. We carry ours for work, but we have the lightest version of computers you can get the MacBook Pro. We also travel with external hard drives to back up all of our work just in case of theft and also to save space on the desktop.
Where can I expect to find wifi while traveling?
Wifi has become more readily available around the world and in most cases free to use. Cafés, restaurants, hotels and even buses offer wifi. Most establishments will have their passwords displayed on their counter or menu. In some cases, you'll need to purchase something in order to get the wifi password. The wifi password will be printed on the receipt. Buses and trains will have a WiFi sticker displayed somewhere on the outside and upon departure, the staff will be happy to provide the password if it's not displayed at the front of the bus. We haven't had the best of luck with strong wifi on buses, but it's there and at the very least you'll be able to pull up emails and maps that were previously loaded.
We've also found that more and more cities around the world are offering free wifi zones within their capitals. We encountered that in the city centers across South America and parts of Europe, there were different free wifi zones (usually in the parks) where people were able to connect to wifi for free.
We've also found that McDonald's never fails to provide free wifi. There are McDonald's all over the world. Almost always you can access the internet for free at McDonald's, only in Rome and once in Thailand did we have to buy something in order to get free wifi, every other time we've taken advantage of the free and fast internet.
We also highly recommend visiting the public libraries if you're in Europe or New Zealand for free wifi.
How can I make calls if I need to while traveling?
Making international phone calls can get expensive. If you would like to make phone calls or use data while on the road, you can contact your phone carrier to discuss international plans, but depending on how temporary your trip, this is more of a hassle than it's worth. If it's absolutely necessary to have the ability to make calls, whether it's for safety, comfort, or work, we recommend getting a SIM card on arrival at your destination. Airports offer SIM card plans right off the plane or you can talk to your hostel/hotel in order to find an in-store location to get one after you arrive. Depending on the countries policies for phone plans, you may need to provide your passport information in order to get a SIM card. Plans run anywhere from $10-$40 for text, calls, and data. Keep in mind that having a SIM card in the country you're visiting doesn't necessarily include international calls and that should be a discussion with the SIM card company.
We usually get a SIM card and local phone number if we're planning to settle in for a few months. It's usually when we're looking for work that we get a SIM card, otherwise, we stick with free apps to connect over wifi.
We've had SIM cards in both New Zealand and Vietnam. However, when we need to call international, usually to our bank, Wells Fargo (which we don't recommend), then we use our Skype account. Skype lets you buy credit and gives you the ability to call anywhere in the world using your credit. The credit we bought in November of 2016 ($20) has lasted us through nine countries and we still have credit eight months later.
What apps can I use while traveling to stay connected?
We recommend Skype most often for its option to apply credit and make phone calls to anywhere in the world. Skype only works with a connection to the internet, but it allows you to make calls like you're using a landline.
The most common App we've found is What's App. This is an App that uses your local number and gives you the ability to send free text messages to other What's App members. It functions much like Apple's iMessage where you are able to text free to people "within your network," What's App being the network. If you don't have a data plan, then the App only works when you're connected to the internet. This App is helpful for staying connected to friends within the country you're traveling, however, it doesn't work when trying to message people who have a different country code.
To stay truly connected, Facebook and e-mail are the best. Simply said they're designed to keep people connected and that is still true wherever you travel in the world except for China, where Facebook is blocked and instead they have their own version called Renren.
What it costs to send postcards from around the world.
Don't forget about good old fashioned snail-mail because sending a postcard is awesome. We’re members of Postcrossing which if you haven’t joined and you enjoy mail then you should. It’s a snail-mail community that allows you to send and receive postcards from strangers around the world.
Sending postcards isn't the cheapest way of sending a message to loved ones, however, it is a cool souvenir that doesn't take up space in your bag and delivers the same amount of joy that a magnet or key chain would— arguably more joy in fact. We started a postcard program of our own when we left in July of 2016 asking for a $2 donation per postcard from friends and family. We've sent over 40 postcards from all over the world and the prices range significantly. The most expensive place we've found in sending postcards from was Ecuador to the US and the cheapest was from Thailand to the US.
New Zealand— USA = $2.25
Thailand— USA = $0.44
Japan— USA = $0.64
Colombia— USA = $1.66 (really hard to find a post office so most people use private courriors like FedEx or 427)
Ecuador— USA = $4.00
Peru— USA = $2.70
Vietnam— USA = $0.55
United Kingdom— USA = $1.36
Germany— USA = $1.05