By Lija
I thought it might be useful to share some information about the technology we’ve brought with us to make this trip possible. Although we’ve only been on the road 10 days, we’ve already used everything we’ve brought with us and haven’t missed anything yet. So in no particular order…
Project Fi
Project Fi is the most amazing and important piece of tech that’s made this trip work so smoothly. One of the challenges we faced when conceiving this trip was how to get access to cellular data while traveling through multiple European countries and Israel. We found, I’m quite certain, the best solution: Google’s Project Fi network. (fi.google.com) While we needed to buy one of the supported phones (a Nexus 5x), Project Fi allows us to use cellular data in every country we’re visiting (and about 125 others we’re not visiting) all at the same low rate of $10 for 1 gig of data (plus a $20 per month fee). The most amazing thing is that we don’t have to do anything - we just turn on our phones in a new country and Project Fi finds the best cellular network for us and voila - we’re connected!
By having access to cellular data, we’re able to use google maps everywhere, book tickets online, find restaurants, and yes, facebook, anywhere and anytime. And not just me! Through my Fi account I was able to get “data only sim cards” for Andrew’s and Arija’s iPhones and they too can surf away at the same low rate. I can also make phone calls over the cellular network for 20 cents per minute (but not Andrew or Arija) but we’re just using Skype for $3 per month for unlimited calls since that can add up quickly. During our week in France, the three of us racked up a whopping $7 in data charges. It’s a rather remarkable and awesome service!
Skype
I mentioned Skype above. We’re using Skype for all calls to the US by buying an unlimited US calling plan for just $3 per month. We found the reception more stable and clear than using Google Hangouts for calling, and obviously it costs much less than calling over the Google Fi network for 20 cents per minute. One limitation is that we have to initiate the calls, we can’t have people call us over our phone numbers. That said, I was able to port my t-mobile number to Project Fi and Andrew ported his to Google Voice so we still have the same phone numbers we did at home, we just won’t be picking them up unless it’s critical.
Google Cast (Chromecast)
On a whim, we picked up a Chromecast the day before we left unsure if it would be worth the $35 but wanting an option for streaming content. It’s a device that we can plug into any TV’s HDMI port (and it’s powered by a USB cable) and we’re able to cast content from our phones, including Netflix movies (we kept our Netflix streaming account - works great and even has some Disney content we couldn’t access in the US) or content purchased from Google, Amazon, etc. Our first Airbnb did not have any cable or TV access, so the Chromecast allowed us to watch movies and whatnot. It’s kind of a luxury that you don’t really need, but it gives us the option to watch whatever we want which makes it feel a little more like home for the kids.
Devices
We brought with us the devices we used the most at home: Andrew’s Macbook Air, my Chromebook, and an iPad for the kids (in addition to our phones). These seem to be working out just fine - despite Andrew and I both working remotely, we can do everything we need to between the Macbook and Chromebook. And the kids have enjoyed the iPad as you would expect, and have monitored accounts on the Chromebook for emailing with friends.
In addition to the computers, we brought three Kindles with us. We’re able to download content from the Ramsey County Library, plus we signed up for a free month’s trial of Amazon's Kindle Unlimited. That gave us access to the Harry Potter books for a month, but upon reviewing the other content I don’t think we’ll continue once the free trial is up.
Additional tech
We also brought with us a bluetooth headset, a wireless speaker, and a power bank. The headset has been very useful for long Skype phone calls, much better than holding a cell phone. The speaker we threw in last thing and while we don’t really need it, it’s nice to be able to stream music wherever we’d like. These are definitely “nice to haves” not “need to haves” but they don’t weigh much and make life a little better. The power bank has been super useful for long days away from our apartment when our phones start to run out of juice. We bought an Amazon Basics powerbank and it doesn’t weight too much and can charge phones something like 6 times before it needs to be recharged itself. Definitely closer to a “need to have.”
That’s about it! Hope a few of you might find this useful if you’re considering what to take while traveling abroad.
excellent tech piece -really. just as good as anything Pogue writes and only one spelling error
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