Essential Traveling Tools

Essential Traveling Technologies

By Terry L. Brock

Dateline: Dubai, United Arab Emirates I’m in this hub of business for the Middle East having completed a couple of presentations at a conference here. This is a great city teeming with life and energy and, for business, it can’t be beat. If you’re not doing business in UAE, you want to consider it for future expansion.

With all the traveling I’m doing I wanted to share with you some tools that I’m using now that have helped me thus far on this round-the-world trip. You might be able to use one or more of these tools in your own travel.

The key reason we have any of the technologies is to help service prospects and existing clients better. This is the prism through which we filter all decisions. So, as I mention those that are helping me, filter that through your own, highly-individualized prism with the question, “Will this work for me?” as your guide.

Here are some tools that can help you enormously:

1. Mobile Phone Which Is Unlocked. Most mobile phones today use a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) which locks you into a given service. As long as it is locked you are locked into that carrier. However, if you have one that is unlocked, you can remove the SIM card that tells your phone to use a given service and use another. This is particularly useful when traveling outside your own country. You can install a SIM card for that country and purchase just enough minutes for your stay. You pay for what you use. If you use up the minutes purchased, usually you can dial a given number to add more minutes as they are charged (often in blocks of $25.00) to your credit card. This gives you a local number to make calls in the country you’re visiting and not pay exorbitant rates calling other places.

2. Wi-Fi On Your Portable Computer This is common with most laptop computers today. If you can Wi-Fi you can access the Net without a hookup. You’ll want to use it extensively when possible. You can make calls using Skype a lot easier and far cheaper than with the outrageously-priced services which are provided in most hotels. Getting Wi-Fi built into your computer and the ability to receive signals like Verizon’s EVDO give you the ability to do business from just about anywhere you are. Check with the country where you are traveling to see what you can do without spending a fortune.
   

3. Skype. This service I’ve talked about many times and highly recommend. It is billed as free for Skype to Skype calls. Yes, that is nice but this tool is great for many features in business. For US$30/yr you can get unlimited calls to regular phone numbers in the US and Canada. You can also have a service called SkypeIn which allows you to have a local number in one of several countries. The video element makes business more personal and relationship-based. When you get down to it, business is about establishing, building and maintaining relationships and what better way to do it than seeing someone? I use Skype video regularly to help clients in many countries around the world. Get it and use it regularly. You’ll be glad you did.

4. Good Web-Based Email Service. This is essential today. Make sure you can check your email from any Net-accessible device anywhere in the world. This will give you the ability to send and receive email regardless of the computer you have. You can use an Internet Café or a friend’s computer. Also, tap into services that allow you to keep an address book as part of your email. I find that when traveling it is a nice touch to send a hand-written postcard. If you need the address you can access it from your web-based email quickly.

5. Sanyo Xacti HD2. This is my recent acquisition for capturing life. This marvelous camcorder and digital camera lets you create HD quality videos and pictures at 7.1 Mega pixels (can adjust to go to 10 MGP). It has an external microphone slot which dramatically improves your sound and makes videos much more professional. You can see the quality of what it can do on my website at http://tinyurl.com/2q5t5f.

6. Plenty of Vitamins, Bottle Water and Protein Bars. In the real world, you don’t always get 3 square meals a day. When you’re on the road, it is tough to get good food and quench that hunger pain. I’ve found that I can get through just about any day with the right vitamins (check with your health care professional for the right kind for you), lots of clean, fresh bottled water and those wonderful protein bars. If you aren’t doing well physically, you aren’t going to do well in business. Stay at your peak and have plenty of water to refresh and flush your system. Keep health as your number one priority and concern. Bonus: I also carry several green tea bags when traveling. I often don’t get enough sleep so I’m running on green tea and gobs of gumption. It is healthy, tastes great and keeps you going strong!

There are many more good choices for traveling. These are a few that have helped me and if they help you---good for you! I’m leaving UAE today and heading to Russia where it will be most interesting to experience what they think of average Americans today. I’m sure these tools will help me and make the trip smoother. Let me know how these tools work for you and what essential tools you find are right for you.

Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and regular columnist for Business Journals who helps businesses market more effectively, leveraging technology. He shows busy professionals how to squeeze more out of their days using the time-honored rules and the right technology tools. He can be reached at 407-363-0505, by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com.

Copyright © 2007, Terry Brock, All Rights Reserved Internationally. No portion may be reprinted or used in any way without prior written permission