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4. Take your laptop and find a wireless 'hotspot'. Wireless networks are becoming more and more popular and you will find them in many airports, hotels and resorts. As long as you have a wireless network card or a wireless-ready laptop, you can simply turn your laptop on and access
network at super-fast Broadband speeds. You will normally have to pay for access but you can usually buy unlimited access for period of your visit. If you really don't want to pay and have time on your hands, try turning on your laptop close to offices, an Internet cafe or some coffee shops - you never know, they may have a wireless network set up with no security meaning you can logon for free! This is my favourite way of accessing Internet abroad - it is fast, affordable and I can use my own computer with all of my own software which makes it very convenient.
5. Use your laptop with a mobile/cell phone. Not an ideal option but if you are somewhere really remote it might be your only option! Remember that different countries use different cell phone frequencies so you need to make sure that your phone will work in country that you are visiting. In order to keep costs down, sign up with a local phone service provider and a local ISP - this means that you will pay lowest call charges possible (though they will probably still be pretty expensive). Connection speed is likely to be appalling but this might work for you if you are only expecting a few emails..... Personally, this option became unworkable for me several years ago - too slow and far too expensive.
6. Use a laptop/PDA/Blackberry or similar with a GPRS connection. GPRS is a wireless technology which allows PDAs and similar to have an 'always on' connection in a similar way to Broadband. GPRS is provided via local mobile/cell phone network. With GPRS, you pay not for time that you are online but for amount of data that you transfer. This means that if you set things up correctly you can just download your email headers, delete ones that you don't need to read and then only download and reply to important ones. Therefore costs will be kept to a minimum and it doesn't matter if connection is slow (from a cost point of view at least) since you are only paying for amount of data you transfer. Speeds should be quicker than a normal mobile/cell phone connection. Ensure you check that GPRS is available in country that you are visiting - most common destinations can offer service but you may find that some more remote countries are not yet GPRS enabled.
Most important of all - enjoy yourself! :-)
Richard Grady has been helping ordinary people earn online since 1998. He writes a free newsletter which is published every two weeks. To subscribe (and claim your free gifts), visit: http://www.thetraderonline.com/newsletter.html
