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Staying in Touch when Travelling

With today's technology, it is no longer a valid notion to assume that you will have limited access to modern communication methods whilst you are away from home. There many devices available including satellite phones and HF radios, although email communication still remains relatively cheap and easy and most of us probably feel as if we could not live without it! In this article we discuss the various methods for staying in touch - using internet cafes, mobile phones and laptops and even tips for getting for regular when travelling.
Article By: Michelle Martin   Updated: 10 Jun 2008
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Internet cafe
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 With today's technology, it is no longer a valid notion to assume that you'll have limited access to modern communication methods whilst you are away from home. Email communication still remains relatively cheap and easy, and most of us probably feel as if we couldn't live without it!

Internet Cafes

Internet cafes are abound throughout the country - in cities and towns these will be fully equipped modern telecentres, whilst in remote areas the internet cafe could well be operated from a mixed business, perhaps the general store/post office, or even the local art gallery! In general, an internet cafe is basically a business providing access to a computer that is connected to the internet for a small fee (usually based on time usage in 15 minute blocks).

Internet cafes are ideal whether you are travelling with or without a computer. Without your own computer, you will still require your own email account of course. There are a few different ways of doing this;
  • Obtain a free email account that operates through a web-interface such as a hotmail or yahoo account. To send and receive email all activity occurs on their website. The downside is that these accounts usually place certain mailbox restrictions and if the account is left inactive can become disabled. These free accounts also contain excessive advertising when using their services and you have no control over the sorts of filters such as spam filters that may reject some of your email.

  • Purchase an email account from an ISP and use their webmail interface.
If you have your own computer, you can still make good use of an internet cafe as follows:
  • Use an ISP email account and download (POP3) your email to your computer. You can then leave the internet cafe after a few minutes, and read your email offline in your own time. Obviously with your own computer, you can compose your emails offline too for sending when you next connect online. You might even read and reply whilst connect at the internet cafe if convenient.

  • Using your own computer, you do not need to worry about the security of entering passwords for accessing your online banking, or stock trades.

  • Those people with access to Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) can plug in their own laptop to connect to any computers available at the source.
Disconnected phonebox on the Canning Stock Route
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Regional Options

Most people tend to agree that the internet cafe tends to be the most sensible solution, however drive a bit further into the outback and they are far and few between. Even the smallest populated place will have a public phone box, but even those fortunate enough to have mobile phone coverage may not be able to offer an internet cafe. To contend for this occurrence, you can;
  • Connect your laptop to the internet via a dial-up connection on your CDMA phone (handset must be 1xRTT compatible). CDMA1x is the shortened form of the terminology used to describe the technology used to send data over this service called "Code Division Multiple Access, Single carrier, Radio Transmission Technology". 1x is a packet network, as is the Internet, which means it can be used in the same way as any internet service. Using CDMA1x, you don't need an ISP to connect, as CDMA1x provides a direct dial-up connection however you will of course still require an ISP to provide an email service. Data transmission speeds are limited to 144 kbps, and in actual fact you will normally only receive about 96 kbps.

  • A faster option is now available offering a broadband connection via a USB plug-in modem (Mobile Broadband). This technology is called 1xEV-DO said to deliver data speeds of up to 2.4M b/s. You can expect superior data connection when in city areas, but it diverts to the lesser speed of 1x (70-144kB) when in regional areas.

  • Purchase a mobile email appliance enabling you to compose your email and send it down a phone line by dialing a toll-free Australian access number, holding the appliance against the phone and pressing a button. With this appliance, you do not require a mobile phone as this system works with any regular landline device (which means you can use it at a public phone box), however it can of course be used with a mobile phone if necessary.
HF radio and aerial
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Remote Outback Options

When totally out of mobile service range of CDMA, GSM and public phone boxes you will have to rely on either:

HF Radio - which can also be used to support data services. It requires a more complicated (because it is less commonly done) setup and a modem is also required. Call is transmitted via radio signal but it's a relatively inexpensive solution if you already have one of these radios.

Satellite Phone - these also offer data services and are worth investigation for various plans and costs. Some models/plans have free incoming emails to both you and the sender, although outgoings can be expensive. This added feature within the Satphone however, is particularly handy to know about if you already pay a monthly plan because you carry it "just for emergency".
Satellite phone
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Satellite phone
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 Mail Collection & Forwarding Services

General post office
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Australia Post postal box
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Australia Post - Post Restante

Any person (Australian citizen or visitor) can use Australia Post's Post Restante system where you can nominate a specific Australian post office as your "temporary address". This is a free service. Simply advise people to address all mail to you as follows:

Your Name
Post Restante
Post Office Town, State and Postcode.

Mail will be held for up to a month and ID such as passport will be needed when you arrive to collect your mail. Get the sender to put your surname first because it should then be filed in the right place and more easily found.

If you are travelling to an itinerary, you could list the Post Restante post offices you will be using in your itinerary before your trip departure and leave with family/friends so they can simply check which post office you will be likely to be collecting from based on the dates in your itinerary.

Australia Post - Mail Redirection

For Australian's who wish to have their usual mail redirected as they travel, you can nominate temporary or permanent redirection of all mail you would normally receive through the Australia Post network.

This is a simple process which can be lodged at any Australia Post office with a relatively small fee. Check with Australia Post for latest pricing. At time of writing, the charges were $9 per month with discounts for longer periods. Note - Pensioners, (ie. holders of Pensioner Concession Cards (PCC, DVA-PCC) or Health Care Card Type SA) the service is free.

Using this system you can redirect your mail to a Post Restante post office, to a friend/relative, hotel/caravan park or to one of the commercial mail collection services.

The only problem of course, is that unexpected delays within the Australia Post service are a reality and with this service you never know if someone has sent mail to you until you turn up to check your mail at the nominated Post Office. It is possible that you might move onto the next town only to find that you missed a parcel because your friend/family didn't expect it to take so long to reach you. The problem here is that the mail may be difficult or impossible to retrieve.

Commercial Services

There are now a couple of reputable businesses that specifically aide travellers who may not be working to a fixed itinerary and who do not have any Australia address they can use for mail forwarding.

These organizations will, for a fee, provide you with a fixed address, which you can advise to all your friends/family and have all your other standard Australia Post mail redirected to using the Australia Post redirection services.

Using their services all your incoming mail is readdressed to them and when you want to collect, you simply advise them of where you will be in a few days time and it all gets posted on.

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