Travel And Cellphone Technology

A little while ago I was at a pub night with some friends and the subject of e-book readers came up. One of my friends joked that, but for the bright colourful letters advising the user, ‘Don’t Panic,’ the kindle could very well BE the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, made famous by the eponymous series of novels.

My personal experience is that the true companion for travellers is not the e-book reader, but rather the cell phone. No single tool since the invention of the map has so changed the experience of people while abroad.

Many contributors here have cautioned our readers about the risks of mobile travel. Surely, the high cost of roaming is an important factor when deciding whether to use your phone while abroad. Today I’ll demonstrate some of the advantages to you.

I Used to Hate Cellphones

After I graduated from university, I did what many people of my generation had done before me and travelled abroad for a few years.

As I left for China mid-way through 2005, I remember saying, “I won’t need a cell phone. I hardly ever make calls anyway.”

When my liaison at the school I was teaching at said to me, “and I’ll help you find a cell phone,” I repeated the refrain, that I wouldn’t ever need such a gadget.

I changed my tune within a month.

This was two years before the iPhone or Android and, the year before the launch of the “modern” Blackberry series. Back then phones were primitive compared to today.

It was still an essential travelling companion.

With a cell phone, even though my grasp of Chinese wasn’t great, I didn’t have to worry about getting lost. If I was in trouble I could call somebody for help. Beyond that, although I couldn’t write easily in Chinese, I could use the text entry function of my phone to compose simple messages in Chinese.

Those two simple communicative tools alone saved my skin more than once while I was overseas. Now, the advent of smartphones has completely changed the game.

Features for Travellers

The phone I have today can still do all the things my old phone could. I have multiple keyboard layouts, for using different languages with different alphabets. I have google translator, which allows me to instantaneously translate written text between languages, and provides pronunciation guides to boot.

Voice entry features allows these translation programs to work just by having somebody speak into the phone. They are far from perfect, but the idea of even a rudimentary “universal translator” was science fiction a decade ago. Even one that doesn’t work perfectly is an amazing advance.

Of course with GPS functions and digital maps it is almost impossible to get lost when you have a cell phone in your pocket. Even if you are in the bush, and don’t have cell coverage of any sort, phones still include sensor suites that includes an ability to detect direction, allowing them, with enough forethought into software selection, to be used as a compass.

And, when you find something interesting in your travels, phones are usually equipped with cameras and pre-loaded software to upload your photographs to anybody on earth.

Of course the customizations possible to turn a cell phone into the ultimate travel tool go far beyond cameras, compasses and maps. Apps exist to turn a cellphone into an e-reader, into a flashlight, even to read coded messages left behind by other travellers.

The truth is, when travelling, one of the greatest assets we have is the ability to take in, process and sort information. Cellphones allow us to do this far more rapidly and to a much greater extent than we otherwise could.

As cell phones continue to evolve, so too will our ability to use them for travel.

Worth the Costs

It’s true, roaming is expensive; data roaming is even worse. When travelling, it can be very costly to use your phone as an entertainment device. A few minutes of Youtube could cost a fortune! But that doesn’t mean you should leave the cell phone at home. Pre-load it for the circumstances you expect. Download maps, travel guides, translators, whatever you need, before you go.

Bring your phone, and optimize it to be a powerful travel tool, not just a travel expense, and, make sure, when you travel, that you have the solutions you need to make your trip hassle free. If you expect to travel, and you want to minimize your mobile phone costs while maximizing the utility of your cellphone consult with an expert. But when you travel, bring the phone.