cell phone


Enjoying simple kindnesses in Thornbury

When he returned with a USB adapter I jumped from my seat. He told me there’s an outlet right beside my table. I was able to get to over 60% by the time I was done eating. I said I’ll bring it back in a moment and he said to keep it!

I will carry this charger with me daily. Around the house. When I go out. I will truly remember this kind man every day that I’m in his country. And long afterward.


UK Cellular (Mobile) service for travel – easy with giffgaff 1

You might travel well without phone service, but having it can greatly expand your experiences.

Are you traveling from the United States or another non-EU country and into the UK? Are planning to stay in the UK or perhaps in the UK plus EU for a few days? If so — yes, even for just a few days — it can easily pay to get yourself a local SIM card and local mobile service. It certainly does if you travel long-term.

But what service and what plan? A contract (aka post-pay) is out. Should you get pre-pay or pay-as-you-go? What happens if you run out of calling minutes, texts, or data?

This is the narration of my own experience getting cellular service (aka mobile service) as I travel in the UK.


Vonage mobile app saves the day for travel & work

I just gave a good shoutout to Vonage for the Vonage Mobile app on Twitter … @Vonage Fab! #VonageMobileApp just maintained a 66 minute call to terrific #JustHost from mountains of N Israel to US as a storm headed in. and I’m doing the same here. — Deborah Shadovitz (@DebShadovitz) February 10, 2015 …and I’m doing the same here. Vonage Mobile app maintained a 66 minute call – during a storm! For months I have slowly been redesigning this website and was finally ready to take it live. Just as I wanted to talk to one of the great support guys at my blog’s host, JustHost, the impending storm headed into these Northern Israel mountains right on schedule. The Wi-Fi is always shaky where I am working under a hard working heater — and with a storm coming in, there was a good chance I’d lose the signal — thus losing my support call. The signal did […]


The cellular package I bought in Lithuania.

Cell phone & data SIM card in Lithuania

I arrived in Vilnius, Lithuania on a Thursday afternoon at 3pm. I’d needed to text my friend Pedro on Friday afternoon but was able to use the roaming feature on my Polish SIM card. (I’m pretty sure that data would have expired by the time I got back to Poland anyway.) When Pedro came with me to get a SIM the next afternoon, the nearest shop was closed. So I didn’t get a SIM unil my 3rd day in Vilnius.

However, it never occurred to me that a bus or train station was actually THE place to buy a SIM card and I had not learned that at this point in my travels. (It turns out that was the case, at least in the major cities, through the entire area.) Having known, I might have purchased my SIM and plan at the Vilnius Coach Station, which is right across from the train station.

For $1.35 I got:
150 phone minutes
1,000 text messages
100mb data


Carrying cables & small tech stuff

As you travel, you’ll find you need a pouch to carry your cables and smaller computer or cellphone accessories. I used a soft zippered ditty bag to keep weight down, but STM Bags just came out with STM Cable Wrap Portable Organizer — which looks promising as a way to keep your cables and chargers organized and tangle-free.

STM Cable Wrap folded

Claro prepaid in Panamá

For mobile Phone service in Panamá, you have 4 choices. All if these mobile phone service providers are private commercial, as in Honduras and El Salvador, not as in Costa Rica which also has ICE (ee-see). Each charges 8 US-cents a minute to talk to another cell phone and .99 per day or $5 per 10 days for data. Seeking advice from several people in David, as to which Panama mobile service provider was best or better I was told by all that each provider was the same and none had more subscribers or better service or better rates. I went with Claro for my mobile phone. (And have found most people I know have other service.)


Rainy season phone protection

While I was in NYC attending PhotoPlus, I took interest in and picked up these SmartSleeves — various-sized sleeves to protect iPhones and other cell phones from the rain. Rain protection is not an issue in Los Angeles but it was in New York and particularly in NYC where everyone walks a lot. AND protecting a smart phone from the rain is also an issue in Central America when you are here in the rainy season! I like these bags because they allow you to use your touch screen perfectly well, I can easily slip my phone in and out — and they don’t take up room in my hand bag or travel bag.


Honduras Claro data card does NOT work in Guatemala

Claro in Honduras will tell you beyond all doubt that their card will function fine in Guatemala and in El Salvador. They explained to me that all if my unused data may be used in these neighboring countries, but that I will not be able to add to the Honduran card and will need to purchase a new card in each country to gain more time. This is incorrect. The moment I crossed out of Honduras into Guatemala my iPhone alerted me that the phone number had changed. Perhaps I could have done something if I understood the Spanish. However, there was no text message about this, so no way to know the message, issue, or fix. What I do know though is that the network name appears perfectly well, that I am told I need data roaming and that turning roaming on did nothing to give me data. Local-living […]