The Grown-Up's Guide to Running Away from Home, Second Edition: Making a New Life Abroad (24 page)

American Express assumes no liability for your mail, but the company is reputable and takes pride in providing services worldwide. You may find it convenient and cost-effective, though you will need one of their cards to access the services.

You can rent a post office box through the postal service where you are overseas, or you can use a private secretarial service to collect your mail. If you travel often, this provides a stable home base for your mail. The big disadvantage is that you have to return to that post office box location often to find out if you have mail. If you’re using that locale as your base overseas, this won’t be a problem, but if your adventure entails traveling from place to place, this option won’t work.

One important note: Mail to post office boxes will not be forwarded, so make other arrangements when you plan to move on.

To make an international call from abroad you’ll dial a code for the international operator, then the country code, the city code, and the local number. You can do this from any regular phone, but the real trick is to use the most efficient and economical means at your location, whether it’s a simple calling card or a technologically advanced internet hookup. Let’s look at the options.

If you settle into one locale and set up phone service, you can use that for local and international calls. Check the rates to find the cheapest time to phone. You may discover that it’s easier and relatively affordable to use that phone for the occasional international call. You could also select a special rate plan that discounts international calls. Compare the plans based on the monthly fees, cost per minute, and the number of international calls you intend to make. However, there may be less expensive options.

In many countries you can purchase phone cards that are electronically programmed to provide a certain number of units for calls, whether local or long distance. In fact, many public phones overseas accept only such cards and do not accept coins.

In such countries, the phone cards are easy to locate in airports, a post office, tobacco shops, or various other sundry shops. To use, insert the card in the phone, dial the number, and when the call is completed the cost will automatically be deducted from the card. The number of units remaining shows on the phone display, so you can replace or recharge your card before it runs out of credit.

Long-distance calling cards enable travelers to dial a special number to reach an English-language operator. We tried AT&T; however, Sprint, MCI, and others also offer calling cards.

With an international telephone card, you can use most public and private phones without coins. Unlike prepaid cards that automatically deduct the call’s cost, you will be billed by the card’s provider. Just dial an access number for the country you’re calling, then the number, plus the calling-card number, which serves as a security code.

If you already have a calling card and it’s tied to a home or office number, you’ll only be able to use the card if you maintain that specific phone number. If you cancel that phone service, as you would in renting or selling your home, the card is no longer valid. To avoid this problem, request a “direct-billed” card from your long-distance carrier. A direct-billed calling card is not associated with a specific area code; it’s billed separately, eliminating the need for a U.S. phone number. Bill it to a major credit card, such as American
Express, Visa, or MasterCard. You’ll be paying in dollars and you’ll pay via your credit card bill, so there’s no hassle about a separate phone bill reaching you wherever you may be.

The AT&T calling card is free, but you’ll be billed at the AT&T rates. When using the card from a hotel room this minimizes surcharges that hotels tack on, but it’s still not the cheapest way to call internationally.

Additional services offered by AT&T include USA Direct, which connects you with an AT&T operator, so you don’t have to explain a call in a foreign language. It works for calls to any location in the States except Alaska from more than 120 countries and locations around the world.

AT&T’s World Connect service works like USA Direct, but it functions from one foreign country to another foreign country. If you’re in Italy, for example, and planning to go to Switzerland, you can call for hotel reservations.

A word of warning: Operator-assisted calls such as these are much more expensive than punching in the numbers yourself. AT&T World Connect can cost a small fortune if you call from one country outside the United States to another outside the United States. I learned this the hard way with an $89 phone bill for one call from France to Portugal. It seems that AT&T routes the call from France to the United States, then the call is bounced back to Portugal. Admittedly, we talked for thirty minutes but, still, almost $3 a minute was a shock. Use this only in emergencies.

For more information on the USA Direct/World Connect services, call the AT&T Customer Service Center at (800) 331-1140 or visit their website at
www.att.com/traveler
.

For international calls at drastic discounts, Americans and other expats overseas swear by callback services. The term
callback
is literal: you dial a special phone number provided by the company, let it ring once, then hang up (you’re not charged for this call). The service immediately returns the call to you, with a message to dial the number you want to call, which is then put through.

You can use callback services if you’re at a permanent location overseas, or, for a slightly higher rate, you can order a “traveler number” or receive your callback call by name at a hotel or business.

International rates for callback services are considerably lower than most other means of calling. Best of all, callback rates usually apply twenty-four hours a day, so you can call when you want—no need to wait for special evening or holiday rates to call the kids or your stockbroker.

You can find a host of callback services advertised in papers such as the
New York Times
and the
International Herald Tribune
. The biggest service, and the original, is named Kallback. Contact Kallback toll-free in the United States at (800) 959-5255. Their website includes reams of information on the service and the various options:
www.kallback.com
.

U.S. and overseas mobile phones operate on different systems. You can rent one overseas at your destination. Airport kiosks are often handy for this purpose, though they will usually be more expensive than finding a rental in town.

A more convenient option is using a cellular phone that is capable of functioning both within and outside the United States with international GSM (Global Service for Mobile cell phones) capability. In technical terms, the phone needs to support an 850, 900, 1800, and 1900 megahertz GSM network. This technology permits the phone to operate on digital towers around the world; it will pick up the network of whatever country you’re in.

Besides the actual hardware, you’ll need a service provider that offers international access. Sometimes you can purchase a regular U.S. plan and then add the international roaming services when you leave the country, and you can keep your same phone number. Cingular and TMobile are just two of the companies that offer this service.

One company that offers a variety of phone options for international communication is MEDEX Global Group, Inc., Suite 200, 8501 LaSalle Road, Baltimore, MD 21286; (866) 236-7368;
www.cellhire.com/medex
. They provide international cell phones, satellite phones, or BlackBerry devices. The service lets you maintain one phone and number in more than 170 countries throughout the world with twenty-four-hour global support.

Another option is to purchase a prepaid cell phone that provides a preset amount of call credit via a sim card inserted into the phone. When you use the credit up you can purchase additional minutes.

Don’t expect “free minutes” overseas, however. The cost for making and receiving calls overseas will vary depending on the country, but might range from $.69 in Canada to $.99 in England, France, and Germany to $4.99 in Indonesia. Obviously, you will use your cell phone carefully overseas, but the international option does provide convenience.

Phones and phone plans are in a constant state of flux, so explore the possibilities and insist on understanding the phone plan charges before you leave the country. Besides any monthly plan fee, ask the costs per minute for each country you’ll be in, based on whether you make or receive the call, and find out if there are additional service charges for each call on top of the minutes.

Advanced systems now provide communication via satellite, enabling the specialized phones to cover remote areas that have poor landline or cellular coverage. Most of you reading this book will be in areas that offer countless other, and less expensive, options. It’s enough for you to know that such systems exist. However, if you want to sail the high seas or retire in Outer Mongolia, check out satellite services offered by companies such as Globalstar (
www.iridium.com
), Iridium (
www.iridium.com
), and Thuraya (
www.thuraya.com
).

One of the miracles of modern communication is a high-speed internet connection that lets you make and receive phone calls at great savings over regular international calls. There are two main players as of this writing; undoubtedly others will follow. Remember to check local options available at your destination, as well.

Vonage
combines a special phone adapter or phone system with a Vonage plan. You can set up the system to allow friends to call you using a local (for them) number, or you can get an additional number with any area code you choose. Vonage offers a full range of features such as voicemail, caller ID, call waiting, and more. The sound quality can be excellent. Vonage kits are available at an array of computer tech stores. For more information see
www.vonage.com
.

Skype
calls are free when used for computer PC-to-PC calls between two Skype users. Skype users can also call people not on the network for a rate as low as 2.1 cents a minute, depending on the destination. A small connection fee may also apply. Subscription plans offer other savings. Naturally, you have to be online to make and receive calls. For more information and the free download, see
www.Skype.com
.

The AT&T Language Line provides professional interpreters in 140 languages, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. This helps if you get in a real pickle overseas and need someone to help translate for you. The charge for the service depends on the language required. You receive personal interpretation and pay with your AT&T calling card or a major credit card. To see how the service works, try a free demonstration at (800) 821-9020.

If you’re the least bit technically inclined and have spare cash for computer equipment I highly recommend taking a notebook computer with an international modem. This modern-day version of the Pony Express enables you to keep in touch with family and friends overseas. Plus, the computer links you to valuable resources during every stage of the adventure.

Email is not only less expensive than a phone call, it provides a powerful psychological link to family and friends. The internet connection is instantaneous—or whenever your correspondent checks his or her email. Spontaneity is another big plus. You can write ten times a day if you feel like it. You wouldn’t make all those telephone calls, but emails let you share all the new experiences with family and friends.

You can email any time, day or night—which, with a time difference, is a wonderful advantage. After all, you can’t exactly pick up the phone in Italy at 10 a.m. and call your friends in New York. Well, you can, but don’t expect them to be happy about it when you wake them from that 4 a.m. dream.

They will, however, be thrilled by the fact that when they send you an email after work in the States, they can have your response by the time they wake up the next morning. They’ll think you’re really on the ball. Just don’t explain that though you sleep in and don’t check email until noon, it’s still just 6 a.m. Eastern time.

These days you can even set up computer connections that allow voice communication, enabling you to make free or extremely low-cost phone calls internationally. I’m not technically advanced enough to have tried it myself, but I have been on the receiving end and the connection was perfect. For those of you less intimidated by technology, it’s a wonderful solution to astronomical phone bills.