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Anybody who takes their cell phone to another country is not an experienced traveler. You need an unlocked cell phone that uses international frequencies.
Phones are all pretty much unlocked now. I just happen to be a very experienced traveler and I always take my cell phone with me! In the past it was unusable many places but once the smart phone came along I could always use internet if I wanted. And they all made great alarm clocks as well.
Now about using them in other country's, one must realize that the per minute costs are going to be considerably more expensive. And some country's I visited, I had absolutely no problem using my cell phones (both smart and regular) which were not unlocked as this was in the early 2000's. The west coast of Mexico was one place as well as the Eastern part around the "Mexican Riviera". It was also usable in most places in the Bahamas!
But I guess the countless times I visited those country's as well as much of South, Central America and the Carribbean, I am an inexperienced traveler.
BTW. on the search cell phones note, A Colombian friend of my wife now is on a 10 year ban from getting another visa because they checked her cell when she arrived in Miami! All the US contacts on her phone led them to correctly determine she was coming in to work! Yep, sent right back on the next flight out!
I've taken my cell phone to England ever since I can remember. I always buy a sim card for it when I get there, save the original sim and insert it when I leave. It would be even better to have dual sims but my new phone doesn't have that.
As for the laptop, dh took his last year and he's taking it again tomorrow.
Last year I bought a cheap Vodophone with pay as you go minutes. It was okay but we got into trouble trying to find lodging. If you are only staying in one place and making reservations well in advance, you'd be fine without a smart phone. Use a paper map or GPS. But we made a three week road trip, going where ever we wanted, lingering if we wanted, so we never knew where we'd be at night.
Without a smart phone, we had to rely on a map book and we would end up racing into a Tesco at night to have one of the clerks look up hotels for us on their phones. In the US there are great big sign posts on the highways that say LODGING FOOD THIS EXIT!!!! Well, it wasn't like that in England and when we were in the middle of nowhere (out in Cornwall, unfamiliar to us) it got stressful. So this time, with the smart phone, I HOPE to be able to locate places to stay and call them to make sure we get a room.
If some airport person wants to see silly dog pictures or even my emails or texts, they're welcome to it.
But I guess the countless times I visited those country's as well as much of South, Central America and the Carribbean, I am an inexperienced traveler.
That is the funny part on that post, I have a dual SIM smart phone and take it to lots of countries. Therefore I must be an inexperienced traveler, but the metric for labeling me such includes me going to lots of countries with that phone. Makes no sense.
Quote:
Originally Posted by marlinfshr
BTW. on the search cell phones note, A Colombian friend of my wife now is on a 10 year ban from getting another visa because they checked her cell when she arrived in Miami! All the US contacts on her phone led them to correctly determine she was coming in to work! Yep, sent right back on the next flight out!
You never hear about the system working as intended, not interesting enough headline.
As a US citizen CBP cannot keep you from entering the country they might delay you they can take your stuff but next stop will be federal court. I have never had any problems at the border as a US citizen I don't travel to the middle east I don't look muslim.
ey there, I understand your point coz CBP nowadays suspicious of Muslim but do you find it healthy to have this change inside your country? I mean to spot a specific domination, cult or group and get them branded " the bad guys"!
This has happened to me traveling to Canada from the US. I'm a US citizen and Canadian Border Patrol treated me like a criminal and searched my laptop and my phone damanding I give them my passwords. FWIW I'm white.
What probably makes Orwell spin in his grave is how often he is incorrectly invoked.
That is so. The popularity of Orwell's final two works of fiction have obscured the brilliance and perceptiveness of his essays, criticism, and reportage.
From what I've seen on travel shows, it is better to get a phone and minutes card in the country you're going to. That might be a solution if it means you just chuck the phone before retuning.
From what I've seen on travel shows, it is better to get a phone and minutes card in the country you're going to. That might be a solution if it means you just chuck the phone before retuning.
Well, that is why you should not pay too close attention to travel shows, they are for entertainment, not real information.
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