Everyone wants to know how to stay in touch and how to get around when they're traveling. So let's talk about communication and transportation abroad. The key takeaway is that you have options for both communicating and getting around when you travel. In terms of communication, one thing is still true. And that is that social media still rules. It's actually the best way to keep in touch in general, with large groups of your friends or family members who follow you on different social media outlets.

As we know, Facebook is still the largest social media platform. Snapchat is really rising in popularity, there's Instagram, and Twitter and a host of other smaller ones. But this is good if you just want to update people in general that you've arrived and you're not going to call each and every one of them or let them know in general, on a day to day or several day basis, what you're up to Obviously, this is not the venue for intimate communication, but it's a way to keep in touch with a large group of people. Now, you can still use the inbox or direct message or messenger on Facebook. And you can even make some phone calls. So you know, that's the way to make it more personal.

Another common method is to use different apps and software. So if you have a connection to Wi Fi, or some sort of internet access, there's so many apps that let you actually talk to people talk to your friends individually, and even see them. They're things like WhatsApp, which is rising in popularity where you can message people leave little messages, and even make phone calls and have chain or group conversations. There's FaceTime that allows you to see individuals, there's an app called Viber. And of course, there's Skype which is really popular. It allows you to call other people for free on the Skype platform, or you can join their international calling, subscription service.

And you'll be able to actually call landlines, or cell phone lines for a fee, depending on which country it is and what type of phone line you're calling. The other thing is that many people are starting to use Google Hangouts for group chats and Google Voice to actually have a US based phone number that they can use over the internet, even when they're traveling abroad. So you can use that Google Voice phone number to call another phone or to receive phone calls. And you can use the Google Hangout software if you want people to if you want to see someone else and you chat with them, or if you want to see or chat with a group of people. So there are many options for apps and software that allow you to Keep in touch either on that platform or by making phone calls to an actual landline or mobile number.

But again, you need to have access to internet, either Wi Fi or some other internet access in order to be able to use these apps either on a tablet, or a smartphone or some other mobile device. Another thing that you might want to think about is if you're going to be staying in one location for some amount of time, and you actually want to call a lot of local numbers, you might want to actually get a local SIM card and phone number and that will allow you to communicate like a local, you can call any place that you need to that's local without paying large fees by using a hotel phone number or some other service. The thing is you would either have to buy a new phone that you would get so you could use this SIM card or Make sure that the phone that you're bringing with you is unlocked.

And unlocked phone will allow you to take any SIM card from any other service provider and have it work in your phone. It's really easy to get phones unlock their special software, or you can even sometimes contact your mobile phone number provider and they can help you to unlock it. I really like this option, especially if I'm going to be in one location for more than a few days. And if I know I'm going to be calling either different people or different services or different restaurants or locations, and I really want to feel like I'm I'm a local now, because so many of these other methods require that you have internet access and depending on where you're traveling, or how you're traveling, it may not be that accessible or that affordable. You can actually take your own Internet with you. There are many different services.

One is called tip wireless. And there's something called a tepee pocket Wi Fi device. It's in that picture there, you carry it around with you. And it's a way for you to have instantaneous Wi Fi on up to five devices so that you can access the Wi Fi on your device. Now this is important because many service providers have us mobile phone numbers will allow you to use those phone numbers abroad, but there's often a huge roaming and data fee applied to that. So you don't really want to use your data or be roaming abroad and rack up high fees and costs.

You can get this Tapi pocket device and they have different plans ranging from a few dollars to a day or more depending on how much internet you're going to use. So this is a way to always be connected online so that you can use social media and those other apps and software to stay in touch. So let's talk about transportation. There's several different options that you have, depending on how you know local you want to be or how luxury you want to travel. One thing I always recommend to people, though, is that they at least try to explore local road transport at least for one day or one time. And that includes many different methods such as public buses, or smaller what they call private vans, or transport.

The picture here on the left is called a combi and that's used in southern Africa. And on the right, it's a card up feed, which is a type of public bus that's used in West Africa. And these are methods that are very cheap, and they almost take like a route of seen a route around the city so that you can actually see many parts of the city. They're not always the most comfortable means of transportation, but it is a way to experience your location like a local person. And to get around for cheap. You can also consider something that's a little more costlier.

But Uber is in many different cities almost close to 100 locations around the world. And of course, almost every place that you go to has taxis. They're plentiful. And some places you might even consider private drivers depending on where you're going, how often you're going to be using it and what your needs are. So these are all options where you're being driven around where you're most likely the only passenger or one of a couple of passengers and you can ride in a little bit more comfort, even though you might pay a little bit more. But in many places, taxis are still relatively inexpensive.

You can also look at taking the train, depending on where you're traveling to many modern cities throughout Europe and Asia, South America have metros and trains that are really updated and can get you all over the city. So it's a good way to Be up above ground or sometimes underground, get around quickly for not a lot of money and again to experience the lifestyle of a local person because you're getting to experience the local transport and see the city in the location. There are some things though, that you want to consider both with communication and transportation. First, in terms of communication, you need to be clear that or understand that certain social media sites or even software may be blocked in some countries. Most recently, there's been publicity about China, often blocking sites like Facebook often on and even some of the communication platforms like WhatsApp.

And so if you don't have a sort of secure network, that's called a VPN that would not show where you're using the software or website from you might run the risk of having your social media access blocked. So You don't want to depend on that as the sole means of communicating. That could be one means but you, you need to know that in some places, these sites could be blocked and even some of the software could be blocked. Also note that some communication may be monitored, depending on the country that you're in. And the level of free communication or freedom of communication that's allowed. Some governments actually monitor communication, either online or by phone.

And so you should just be aware of that. So that you won't be surprised if you're saying things that you don't want someone, a government official to hear, then maybe you know, you should be mindful of that. The other thing is that during transportation while you're traveling around, particularly if you're on public transport, that's pretty crowded. You want to watch out for pickpocketing. There are people who are experts at looking at who's not from a certain location and Trying to target you either to take your purse or go into your bag that actually happened to me. When I was in Ethiopia, two people came up to me and cause a distraction.

So that one could make me look to the right, the other one grabbed my hand and they went into my small change purse that was around my shoulder, and waist. So it's just something to watch out for. It happens in cities all around the world. So it's just something to think about and be aware of. Also, women might sometimes have to have special consideration, particularly on public transport, where it's really crowded, they may become victims of harassment where people might want to touch them, or feel on them or even make certain insults, verbal insults or harassment. And so sometimes you might think about traveling in groups or if you're going somewhere for a long day.

That requires a long trip. Maybe taking a taxi or Just thinking ahead about how to keep yourself safe, because there are many places all around the world where women actually still are victims of harassment. So these are some special considerations. But the key is that you have options and you should utilize or try to utilize as many options as possible. So you're not just stuck with one means of communication or one means of transportation.