Traveling With Technology By Neil Schmidt July 20, 2017

Traveling in the "Old Days" Booked reservations over the phone from home Packed: Several travel books Multiple country & city maps Foreign language phase & dictionary book(s) 35MM camera & several rolls of film Couple novels/magazines to read Used pay-phones to make phone calls Mailed postcards home

Things have sure changed... Internet to research plans & make reservations With smartphone: No need to carry paperbacks, travel books, maps, magazines, separate camera (?), etc. Trip photos easily shared via e-mail, photo cloud or social media Greatly enhanced capabilities with fewer “accessories” needed

Your Smartphone Is Now Your... Camera (90% of photos are taken with a smartphone) Planner Maps & navigation Language book & translator Entertainer Diary Connection with family & friends back home

Being “Connected” when Travelling (via Wi-Fi or Cellular)

Four Tech Connectivity Options Don’t connect (Maybe use public computers at Internet cafés) Connect via public Wi-Fi only Get International/Global plan with your cellular provider Use a local cellular provider, i.e., buy local SIM card

With Public Wi-Fi You Can... Phone, text, e-mail Social networking Retrieve maps & driving directions Etc., etc... Store language dictionary Search for local info Airline check-in Make or change reservations Share photos back home

With Cellular You Can... All items from “Wi-Fi” list anywhere (not just at your hotel) Connect when Wi-Fi is not available or too slow Receive/send phone calls on the go Contact travelling companion(s) if both have cellular Enhanced mapping & walking directions Enhanced translation capability Cellular is more secure than public Wi-Fi

If Using Public Wi-Fi Only Turn off “Cellular Data” on smartphone (Also consider putting phone in “airplane” mode) Many accommodations offer free Wi-Fi (Check before making reservations) Some Wi-Fi’s work great, others less reliable, don’t work, or may only work in lobby Get free Wi-Fi at cafés (McDonalds & Starbucks) Tourist offices, city squares, major museums, public transit hubs and some trains may have free Wi-Fi

Cellular International/Global Plans Obtain from your cell phone carrier and you retain your regular phone number. The following is a comparative example: AT&T: $1.00/min talk, unlimited text, 200 MB data ($40/mo.) Data overage: +$25/100MB Verizon: $1.79/min talk, $0.50/$0.05 text, 100 MB data ($25/mo.) T-Mobile: $0.20/min talk, unlimited text & data (T-Mobile ONE Plan +$25/mo.) $425 $450 $25 Note: My typical monthly data usage at home is 1.8 GB/mo.

Use a Local Cellular (Buying a Local SIM Card) May be a good option if you anticipate heavy phone or data use Your phone must be “unlocked” and have a SIM card (GSM) You get a local phone number SIM cards are sold in mobile-phone shops, department-store electronics counters, some newsstands, airports, etc. Cost: $15-$40/mo. depending on phone/data limits Compare phone/data limits, coverage, data speed (2G, 3G, etc.), free “hot-spots” If possible, have SIM installed and setup for you (Bring paper clip with you to replace SIM card) Most SIM cards are only good for one country

Making the Wi-Fi vs. Cellular Decision Do your accommodations have free Wi-Fi? Are you going to be in multiple countries? How long are you staying? Are there convenient local free Wi-Fi spots? Do you want “on-the-go” access to: Maps & walking directions Translations Finding things Phone calls (incl. Uber) It’s a Cost vs. Convenience decision

Controlling Your Data Usage To minimize data usage, change your Smartphone settings: Turn-off “Data Roaming” (iOS: Settings  Cellular  Cellular Data Options  Data Roaming button off) Limit automatic updates: Change e-mail setting to “manual” or “fetch” (iOS: Settings  Mail  Accounts  Fetch New Data  Push button off) Turn off “Background App Refresh” (iOS: Settings  General  Background App Refresh  Uncheck all except perhaps TripCase and Google Maps) Consider using “Airplane Mode” when not in use (Note: This will disable incoming phone calls) With minimal effort, data usage less than 500 MB/mo. possible

Security is Important Always use password lock on smartphone, tablet & laptops Ranking security solutions: Virtual Private Network (VPN, ~$10/mo.) Cellular only Public Wi-Fi only Avoid accessing financial sites and shopping online when using public Wi-Fi Setup “Find my iPhone” or “Android Device Manager” in case device is lost

My Top Travel Apps (What are yours?)

Trip-Planning & Management Airfare, Hotel, Car (Orbitz) Airline apps (...) Find cheaper flights (Skyscanner) Airline seat (SeatGuru) Flight Trackers (TripCase) Rental (AirBnB) Itinerary Organizer (TripIt, Kayak) Trip Guide (Google Trips)

Trip-Planning & Management SeatGuru

Trip-Planning & Management TripCase TripIt Kayak

Trip-Planning & Management Google Trips Cities Reservations Saved places Day plans

Flight Entertainment Books ( iBooks) Magazines (Texture) Stored articles (InstaPaper) Games (...) Music (Amazon Music) Movies & TV Shows (Amazon Prime Video) Silence (noise cancellation earphones/earbuds)

Flight Entertainment- Magazines Texture – 200+ Digital Magazines ($7/mo.)

Flight Entertainment- Saved Articles InstaPaper Web Page View Saved InstaPaper View

Transit, Restaurants, Money, & More Travel guides (Rick Steves, Lonely Planet) Currency & Conversions (Units) Public Transit (Paris Métro, London Transit, Japan Transit Planner, etc.) Weather (Weather Channel) Journaling (Microsoft OneNote) Taxi service (Uber) Museum Guides (Musée du Louvre, Tate, Tohaku Navi, etc.) Translation (Google Translate) Restaurants & Reviews (TripAdvisor, Yelp)

Planning- Guide Rick Steves

Planning- Journaling Microsoft OneNote

Planning- Journaling Google Translate

Maps and Navigation Note: Accessing GPS satellite signal does not require cellular connection. Online/Offline Maps (Google Maps) If using not using cellular, you need to save a map of the area in advance Offline Maps (OffMaps 2)

Saving Google Maps for Offline 300 MB download maximum Tap name or address in box

Uploading Saved Offline Google Maps

Google Maps “Area of Interest” Seville Walnut Creek

Keeping in Touch Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Line) Internet Calls & Texting (Skype, WhatsApp, Viber) News (AP Mobile, ESPN) File Sharing (Dropbox) Postcards (Photocard, PhotoGrid)

Keeping in Touch- Postcards Photocard E-mail: free $1.50: Printed 8.25”x 5.5” card

Keeping in Touch- Postcards PhotoGrid

Handling Your Photos Uploading photos (iCloud, Photo Sync, SD Card reader) Backing up (Google Photos, flash drive or portable HD) Editing (iOS Photos, Affinity Photo) Sharing (iOS AirDrop, Messages/Mail, Google Photos) GPS Location mapping (iOS Photos, Google Photos) Note: Avoid transferring or sending photos via cellular because of high cellular data usage (Use Wi-Fi)

Photos- Uploading PhotoSync

Photos- Editing iOS Photos

Photos- Editing iPad Affinity Photo

Photos- GPS Location iOS Photos Google Photos

Mobile Technology Checklist Smartphone, tablet and/or laptop Digital camera Extra camera battery Chargers & cables (consider multi-plug charger) Extra camera SD Card Power plug adapter(s) SD Card to phone/tablet cable Headphones/ear-buds (consider noise-cancelling) Portable memory storage (flash-drive, wireless hard- drive) Airplane 2-prong audio adapter Paperclip (for changing SIM card) USB battery pack

The End