Next month we will complete our 39th home exchange. After so many swaps we have to record a few details about each home and family so we can remember the specifics of our journeys. As shorthand, we even rate every exchange.
Our priorities have changed over the 17 years we have been swapping. These days, it's hard for a swap home to rate anything more than an eight (of a possible perfect 10) unless it has high-speed web access.
But next month we will have broadband internet in our pockets.
It's not that we're work-a-holics. We need internet access when we travel in order to research our vacation destination on the ground. Sometimes our swap partners leave a list of recommended local restaurants, but often they don't. With internet access we can find that great place to dine independently. We might need to locate a specific shop, or find out when the local attractions are open. With web access all of that is just a few clicks away.
Take a look at your phone. Is it attached to the wall with a cord? If so, I'll try to make the following as accessible as possible. If you already have a mobile phone, get ready for it to do a lot more.
These days, North America is starting to catch up to the reality in Asia and Europe that cell phones can be as powerful as the laptop computers of a couple of years ago.
MyRatePlan.com is a site that compares available phones and plans across carriers. You can select phones by feature. If you want to be able to do the kind of on-the-spot travel research that makes a vacation great, look for fast internet access capability in your new phone. These days, that is referred to as "3G". And if your phone has wi-fi it can connect for free in the many shops, college campuses and downtown areas that wirelessly transmit internet access.
Phones are getting less complex even as they get more powerful. Look for a phone with a start screen containing icons representing the phone's functions.
Personally, I'm waiting for the Sony Erikson Xperia to come out. I don't make any money from product reviews, so that plug comes straight from my travel-research-loving heart.
I'll let you know how a mini-laptop phone changes my home exchange experience, just as soon as Sony sends me one!
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