Staying Connected on the Road

Just how do you go about accessing the Internet while you are away from home? Today I’m going to do my best to sum up the three main options. To slightly differing degrees, this information will pertain to any sort of typical Internet/email/web/Twitter/Facebook access.

If you’re bent on carrying technology with you to stay connected on the road, the main factor that will drive your decision will be the wireless access in the region you’ll be traveling, and the associated costs. You will obviously have more options in modern metropolitan areas than they would be in, say, rural India. When you need the ‘net away from home, there are three main options, and my favorite option—perhaps surprisingly—is to travel free of technology.

Option 1: Laptop or Netbook

In this scenario, you carry a laptop or netbook, and periodically “jack in” to Wi-Fi networks in hotels, airports, major train stations, free Wi-Fi hotspots, or paid network ports. You will not have persistent access to the Internet; you will only be able to connect and check email when you are plugged in to a network. When you are connected, a laptop or netbook will give you the best experience (bigger screen, full keyboard, fast access—much like working from home), but this comes at a price: You need to lug a big piece of fragile, shiny, criminally-tempting equipment around with you, and it will only be really useful in certain areas where you can find a connection. At all other times, you’re essentially carrying dead weight.

Option 2: Smart Phone

Smart phones (Blackberry, iPhone, or similar) carry the promise of a handheld, mobile computing platform. These devices rely on cell phone networks, so, in theory, will work anywhere you can get cell phone reception (while driving in the car, even). However, there are two very important considerations to keep in mind:

1. When you are away from your “home” network, you are considered to be roaming, and roaming charges can be ridiculously high. There have been a lot of stories recently about people getting $60,000 cell phone bills for, say, watching half of a college football game on their phone. Of course, you’re only in danger of being blessed with a bill like this if your phone will actually work at your destination.
2. Depending to some extent on what phone you go with, email/Internet services may not even be available in certain areas when you are roaming. If you end up backpacking in the Scottish highlands, you might be lucky to get analog cell phone coverage, which means your Internet/email capabilities are dead in the water. If you’re thinking of going this route, you’d be wise to check out the digital/3G network coverage in the locations you plan to visit.

Option 3: Travel Free

I’m not pulling any punches, here; my bias should be obvious by now. I stopped carrying a laptop (or any other sort of network device) well over a year ago. Now when I need my email fix (once a day or less), I borrow a computer (or head to an Internet café) and use webmail (or, free remote desktop applications such as LogMeIn). If you go this route, you can expect to pay a few bucks here and there if the hotels you’re staying in don’t have free computer terminals, but even so, there’s no up-front purchase, and the per-use access fees themselves could well be cheaper than the Wi-Fi and cell phone roaming charges I’ve described above. Nomadic computing is getting easier to do every day, with the plethora of free web-based applications available, and more and more locations offering cheap/free computer use. If you tried this a few years ago, and were discouraged by the lack of availability, try again; the situation has improved greatly.

Now, don’t get me wrong: I like shiny gadgets at least as much as the next technology professional. But after schlepping a (small!) laptop literally around the world on business trips a number of times (and going for months of massage treatments to straighten my neck and shoulders out again), traveling without it has been a true joy. I would absolutely not hesitate to bum my way through almost any country with not much more than a decent GPS, point and shoot camera, and an (old-fashioned) hard cover notebook. Self-imposed technical luddism can be most refreshing.

Obviously, this advice will not be a good fit for everyone in all situations. For instance, some (but certainly not all) types of business travel are still easier when you pack your own hardware. What I’m suggesting is that you take another look at your scenario on a per-trip basis, and seriously question your dependency on that laptop or cell phone.

Happy travels!