ChapterONE.Before You Go

Chapter ONE. Before You Go

My dad used to tell me, "If you fail to plan, you might as well plan to fail." When I was in the Scouts, our motto was Be prepared. This advice is especially apt when traveling. For instance, having the latest wireless gear will do you no good if you can't recharge it. And what good is it to bring the latestcell phone if you can't make a call in the country that you're visiting? What about lugging your laptop halfway around the world only to find you can't figure out how to connect it to the Internet?

Preparing for your trip doesn't have to be complicated. Start off by asking yourself a few questions:

• Where am I going?

  This is the first and most important question you can ask yourself. Of course you know where you're going, but in the context of getting and staying connected, your gear needs to know where it's going as well. For instance, you need to know what kind of voltage and power adapters you might need in your target country, or you will find yourself disconnected and powerless very quickly.

• How will I get there?

  Depending on your mode of travel, you might have options that make your trip more pleasant and more "plugged in."

• What will I do when I arrive?

  Are you traveling for business or pleasure? What level of access do you want when you arrive? If you're flying to Cabo San Lucas to get away from civilization, you probably don't want civilization to have easy access to you. However, if you're flying on the company's dime to conduct business, you probably want to be as connected as possible (during the day at least). Thinking about these factors can help you decide what to take and what to leave safely at home.

Whether you're traveling for business or pleasure, there are some things you should plan in advance if you want to maintain some connection to home, colleagues, and of course the Internet.

After you make your plane reservations, the next thing you'll probably do is find a place to stay. If you're on business, you'll ideally want to stay somewhere that offers a broadband Internet connectionand even if you're not on business, at the very least you'll want an affordable dial-up Internet option. In either case, you probably want to use a cell phone and you'll need to make sure it works at your destination.