So, this lovely is the beast that is the means of getting on the world wide web. Fellow travellers will know the plight of trying to get online all too well; it’s a nightmare at times. The way we travel is mostly via couch surfing; this method kinda leaves us to rely on them having WiFi failing that at least an ethernet cable. It’s crazy how much we use the internet without even realising it.
Don’t know how to get there? Don’t know what something is called? Need to know the translation? Then Google it! It’s such a standard process now nobody realises that they do it anymore until that lovely easy source of information is taken away.
I think we feel it most with our phones, directions are a nightmare with our needs, especially when we’ve been told to check a certain place out and we can’t find it. We need an internet connection for our laptops when sending emails or updating our website but normally, to be honest, we will do those things when we’re at our host’s houses.
So what’s the solution? What magic things can you do to stay connected while travelling? I hear you say!
Well, follow the steps below, and you’re hoping you be a little closer the internet haven.
- Mobile phone data deals; well they do there best to bamboozle you in the shops with the fancy lingo, but any one who relays on the Internet as much as we do needs unlimited data! So really it’s down to cost, get what you can afford but remember it’s a valuable resource so spend those pennies wisely. We have gone for unlimited data, it was pricey, but it also came with a great range of mobile country connectivity.
- Mobile country connectivity; this is to do with your personal network, we are with ‘Three mobile’, and they have a good deal with over twenty countries to use their phone masks, so we can use our mobile abroad as we would at home. There is a catch though when abroad we can’t tether and we only get 25Gb of data a month. But really if you’re using that much internet while you’re away, you need to put the phone down and look at the pretty surroundings. Hehe
- Mobile WiFi devices; these are separate little small boxes that omit a WiFi signal when in a 3g zone, these are great and work well and can be brought and a rolling contract that can be cancelled at any time.
- Public convenience WiFi; oh there is nothing better than walking into a general area and your phone bursting into life! Lol, it’s good to check out where these places are before to go. Our first port of calls are Mc Donald’s, Weatherspoon pubs, food bars, IKEA, WiFi parks (Australia), some library’s, copycats (Australia), but it always pays to Google it first.
- Standard connection; this is through the hub’s you may have at the place you sleep at night. Be prepared and find out the info of things before you go, screenshot the information you might need. It’s just about being prepared.
- Tethering data; this can be handy for sharing a signal with another tablet, phone or laptop. But do check you internet provider first or it could cost you a pretty penny.
- Buy data just for a day through your provider; there are more and more companies out there now that offer a daily rate to use your sim card. I know Vodafone UK were offering customers the opportunity to use their phone in certain European countries for about £3.00 a day.
- Get yourself a local sim card; you can pick these up in some countries for FREE, all you need to do then is load your sim card and get data included. For example, when we went through customs in Brisbane last week, we could have got a free sim card with Optus and then just top up and get up to 5Gb of data for that month.