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Crime Against Caribbean Travelers: Should You Believe the Hype?
Since the 1980s, the Caribbean region has been struggling against its own inner demon: crime. Citizens of the Caribbean have quickly learned that rising crime rates on one island can negatively affect other islands in the vicinity. While the islands...
Preparing to travel
The world has changed a lot in the past century. Thanks to the invention of airplanes and high-speed trains, today's world is wide open to travel. In a day's time, we can travel to the other side of the world without using our entire life's savings....
The lowdown on china travel
The fragrance of fish, lobsters…, the sturdy Great Wall, the broken hush of winds by the Martial Arts, the grand museums and unpretentious down to earth people…welcome you to the third largest country on the globe-China. China is universally known...
Travel Health Insurance: Know Your Coverage Before An Emergency Occurs
(NC)—Buying travel health insurance is an important step for sufficient medical coverage while outside Canada, but it is only the first step. To make your policy work, say industry regulators, there has to be a co-operative relationship between...
Traveling to Europe with your digital camera?
The Vacation Season is fast approaching and naturally you will be taking your digital camera along for the journey. After all your vacations are far and few between and it is nice to look back on those memories as you slave away at your job....
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Travel Connections - Stay in Touch
Travel connections with home are easier than ever. New calling cards, cell-phones, e-mail, satelite phones, and better phone lines everywhere are making it a smaller world. Here are some suggestions on how you can stay in touch - when you want to.
E-Mail: The Travel Connections Champ
Most libraries in the United States now have internet access. When traveling the country, we often stop in small towns to use this free service. We check e-mail and even check our bank accounts. In other countries, finding internet accesss is even easier. When computers are too expensive for most people, there's demand for cheap internet access. The result is that, in places like Quito, Ecuador, there's an internet cafe on almost every corner.
Hotmail and Yahoo still offer free e-mail accounts. Sign up now, if you haven't already. Then, wherever you are in the world, your friends and family have a way to contact you and you have a way to contact them. For some reason, even though the internet largely operates by way of the same phone lines, it's more reliable than phone service in many countries.
Snail Mail
You'll may still use the Post Office when you travel. Pre-address and stamp your envelopes if you'll be writing family, friends, or whoever. Usually, it's easy to find a mail box, but a hassle to find stamps and envelopes. When you need something sent to you while on a trip (in the U.S.) have it addressed to your name, then "general delivery," and the city and zip code where you'll be in a few days. The package should be waiting at the post office when you arrive.
Phone Cards
Phone cards are a great help when traveling in the United States. The best are not even cards, but accounts that you recharge on the internet. The one we use costs just 2.9 cents per minute to call anywhere in the U.S., with no connection charge. It's only 15
cents to call my wife's family in Ecuador (It cost me over $2 per minute just 4 years ago). The only extra charge is 50 cents for pay phone use, which is mandated by law for all cards now.
You use these accounts by funding them on the internet, using any credit card. With most, you can open an account for $20. You get a toll-free number to call, an account number (usually your home phone number), and a 4-digit PIN. To place a call, you dial the toll free number, then enter your account number, PIN, and number you're calling. Many buttons to push, but then you can call Paris, France for 3 cents per minute. That's cheap! Recharge your account from anywhere there is internet access, and you'll never have a phone bill, since you pay in advance.
Other Travel Connections Tips
E-mail a list of important information and numbers to yourself, like the one to call if your credit card is stolen, or the number of the U.S. Embassy where you're going. E-mail yourself a copy of your passport, and other important documents. When you need these things, they'll be available in any internet cafe in the world.
Staying in touch is a mixed blessing. I find it less than comforting to have the protection of a cell phone when my brothers and I go into the Canadian wilderness. It means constant calls, and worries that could have been forgotten until the trip was over. My final tip then, is to call friends and family when they're not home, and leave nice messages on their machines. Then they'll know you're okay, and if they need to contact you, they can e-mail you.
About the Author
Steve Gillman hit the road at sixteen, and traveled the U.S. and Mexico alone at 17. Now 40, he travels with his wife Ana, whom he met in Ecuador. To read their stories, tips and travel information, visit: http://www.EverythingAboutTravel.com
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