Month: October 2022

How to Avoid Bill Shock When Travelling Internationally As a US Mobile Phone Customer

The cost of traveling overseas with your cell phone can become expensive very quickly. Sometimes the rates can be well over $1 a minute. An easy way to experience “bill shock” when you return from your trip.

With smartphones and automatic updates to e-mail and other location based services, roaming and data costs can skyrocket.

Frankly, international calling/roaming rates are a great revenue opportunity for US cell phone service providers like AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile.

Here are some things to do to manage costs while using your mobile phone when traveling overseas:

– Check with your provider before leaving on your trip, so that you know exactly what charges will apply. Do not just go on your trip and then want to make a call, because you will be stuck paying big bucks and these unexpected costs will be an unwelcome surprise when you open your cell phone bill.- Try to disable certain automatic features like location based services that auto download data to your phone or automatically poll and/or download e-mail accounts.- Consider renting a phone in the destination to which you are traveling.- If you have a GSM phone for example with AT&T or T-Mobile, you can get rent or buy a local SIM card. The rates in Europe for example are very reasonable for pre-paid SIM cards and they are a perfect way to avoid the ridiculously high costs charged by US carriers.- If you have a GSM phone and want to use a local SIM, just make sure that your phone is unlocked before going on your trip. You can call your carrier for details about how to unlock your phone. Or you can go to local, usually smaller cell phone shop or repair facility in your home town and ask them to unlock it. Usually it is just a matter of entering the unlock code that is only known to the carrier, phone manufacturer and phone repair technicians.- Another option is to use a calling card while traveling overseas. However this option may or may not work given the fact that the underlying access to the network is provided by the US carrier and you would probably still be considered an international roamer. In this case the high roaming charges would kick in and the big bills would follow.- The last suggestion is to take advantage of free Internet calling services that happen over WIFI networks. The point is that you want to avoid making calls through your American based phone provider because they will likely fleece you when calling and roaming internationally. Making Internet calls is a great way to bypass your carrier when traveling overseas. Even if you are not traveling internationally, having access to a free international calling program is great. Check out the special download version of Yahoo Messenger that allows free voice and video calling (see for the free download).

While we are providing a lot of information on Skype (because a lot of information is already available online about it and you probably already have Skype installed on your computer or laptop like other savvy Internet users), we are really recommending that you download the special download version of of Yahoo Messenger from Freshbot which is 100% free.

Here is more information about Skype (it is a good option for making free calls on the Internet):

Skype is a downloadable software application that allows subscribers to place and receive calls over the Internet. Voice calls to other subscribers within the Skype network are free of charge. Calls to other phones, be they land-line phones or mobile phones, can be placed for a small fee which is usually just pennies per minute.

Skype also includes a number of additional bonus services such as instant messaging (IM), video conferencing, and a built in file transfer program (FTP).…

Adventurous Kate: Solo Female Traveler

Q: You’re an adventurous, solo traveler with a passion to explore the world and dive into different cultures along the way. How did you become interested in traveling solo?

A: While I spent a lot of time on my own while studying in Florence, Italy, I think my interest truly began with a night of unintentional solo travel!

My sister and I did a two week trip to Europe together, and due to costs, I flew out a day before her. Having that one day to explore London on my own, and making so many friends at the hostel, I fell in love with the freedom and independence of solo travel. Two years later, I did my first totally solo trip, to Buenos Aires.

Q: You survived a shipwreck during an Indonesian tour to Komodo Island, an island filled with the well-known and dangerous Komodo dragon. What thoughts crossed your mind during or after this disaster and how far did you have to swim to shore? We’re assuming you won’t be accepting any more offers for free Indonesian boat tours as a guest blogger.

A: That night was a terrifying blur of fear. After the ship hit the reef, they sped to the nearest shore – the north coast of Komodo Island. We were about sixty meters away when we had to abandon ship, and we swam to shore, which wasn’t a beach, but a series of jagged rocks.

After about thirty minutes of climbing the rocks, we were rescued and taken to a nearby dive boat. Maybe it was the adrenaline, but as soon as I landed on the dive boat, I was smiling, joking, trying to make everyone laugh! Since the accident, I’ve gone through so many emotions – anger, gratitude, incredulity – and I’m so thankful that nobody was killed or seriously injured.

We later found out we had landed on a part of Komodo Island that was dragon-free. It would have been too rainy for them to come out, anyway!

Q: During an adventure to Hanoi, Vietnam, you visited a snake restaurant where you drank snake blood and bile and ate snake meat for dinner. What did each taste like? Did you kill a snake yourself? By the way, you’re brave!

A: I couldn’t bring myself to kill the snake or pull out its beating heart with my teeth (though a few of my friends did the latter).

The snake blood and bile was mixed with rice wine – which tasted like whiskey – and pretty much obscured the natural flavor of the blood and bile.

The meat itself wasn’t that strange – we had snake seven different ways, including wrapped in seaweed and served in spring rolls! It was tough to get used to the crispy snake bones, though.

Q: Speaking of food, what is one of your favorite meals while traveling?

A: In Cambodia, I couldn’t stop eating loc lac! It’s cubed beef stir-fried with tomatoes and onions over rice. But what makes it truly amazing is the lemon, salt and pepper sauce you drizzle on top. Fantastic dish!

Q: Okay so we have to ask about your night in South Padre, TX with rapper, Vanilla Ice, who is most famous for his song “Ice Ice baby.” Tell us a little bit about that wild, spring break experience.

A: Oh, wow. Long story short, I was visiting a friend in South Texas and we decided to go to South Padre Island and have a one-night spring break. As soon as we found out Vanilla Ice was performing, we had to go!

Vanilla was pulling random girls onto the stage, so I didn’t wait – I just hopped over the barricade and climbed on stage myself. I spent the whole night dancing with him and getting pictures of us together!

Q: While we’re on the topic of celebrities: You hit on Jon Stewart before The Daily Show in New York. How hilarious (Again, you’re brave)! What did you say to him and how did he react?

A: Okay, just let it be known that I was 18 at the time and thought I was the most hilarious person on the planet. Before the show, I asked Jon, “How on Earth did you get so sexy?”

His short answer? “I’m on TV. You put anything on TV, it ups the sexy quotient.”

Then the show taping began. His first words: “Welcome to the Daily Show! I’m Jon Stewart. I am sexy! And I was just told that by an elderly woman sitting up there…I don’t know if it was the cataracts or the glaucoma!”

I nearly died.

Q: Where is one of your not yet visited dream destinations and why?

A: There are so many places on the list, but lately …