Comments on: The Road to Pai: Interview with Dave Dean

By: Grace

Grace — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 18:37:35 +0000

Can I come with you! The colors in that photo are so rich–quite the contrast to here where everything is getting covered in a fresh blanket of snow (which is, of course, very beautiful, too). Have fun on the road (and happy holidays).

By: Kira

Kira — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 09:30:19 +0000

It definitely is. That’s why one of the dual-sim phones might work best for you when you’re trekking; you could get one of those “works worldwide, pay on the internet” cards and then also a local number wherever you’ll be for a month or more.

Other than that… You could always make business cards that have email, skype, long term phone, and then a blank spot for local phone that you can fill in as needed.

By: Drew Jacob

Drew Jacob — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 06:32:29 +0000

Thanks Kira. Changing phone number all the time is hard on business cards. Though maybe I could just route them all to a single number with Google Phone.

By: Kira

Kira — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 21:08:11 +0000

The SIM card gives you the phone number, so every time you get a new one you get a new number. You can get phones that will take 2 cards, though, so you could get one of the international sim cards and then a local one when you’ll be in one place for a while.

Yes, it works with smart phones. This is how almost all mobiles outside the U.S. run.

I went through 5 SIM cards last year – one in Turkey, then in Croatia at the summer school, one for Berlin, one for Stockholm, and then one when I got back to Russia. They cost about $5 plus whatever you want for pay as you go minutes – which are much cheaper outside the U.S., btw – I pay $10-15 a month for my phone service here – so it’s a really convenient system.

In some countries you have to provide i.d. when you buy a card, others you just get one at a street stand and pop it in your phone. Some companies have better service than others – my Russian SIM card has worked everywhere I’ve taken it, from the Seychelles Islands to Minnesota.

Transitions abroad (magazine you’d love btw) has a slightly dated page on staying in touch abroad with some links to international sim card providers: http://www.transitionsabroad.com/navpages/links/beststayingconnected.shtml

By: Drew Jacob

Drew Jacob — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 19:04:14 +0000

So here is a question I have for you. If I am switching SIM card all the time, do I keep the same phone number?

And are you saying this works with smart phones too?

By: Kira

Kira — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:57:04 +0000

Sounds fun! Oh, when I was mentioning you should get a phone that runs on SIM cards for international travel, I forgot to say that there are a bunch with GPS included. I’m planning on picking up a low end Android smartphone before next summer’s travels, as I think it’d be neat to have one of the apps that tracks where you are and can then gps tag your photos (make sure time/ date is synchronized with the camera) later.