It’s been said that it’s not the absence of a loved one that we miss, it’s the inability to communicate with them that we grieve for.
Having methods to stay in touch while on the road is very important to us and helps us stay connected to our family and friends. And these days it’s never been easier to stay in touch. Here’s how we do it;
Email
It’s universal now that everyone has an email address and is connected to the web. This way we stay in touch with everyone and everyone is able to stay in touch with us. Everyone, that is, except my mother but then at +70 yrs she is forgiven.
Email has practically replaced conventional surface mail to the point that we do not even bother with a physical mailing address anymore.
We have been able to arrange our affairs in such a way that every business we deal with sends us electronic mail, accounts, newsletters, airline tickets and whatever else that used to arrive in the mail box. We even have our broker send us electronic share certificates for investments. Such is the extent of the confidence in the electronic media.
Web Site
Along with an email address, having a web site is the next most significant communication tool we have. It’s really a hugely flexible electronic notice board where we can post all our news, photographs and anything else we care to place. We post information about our itinerary, our cell phone numbers, any changes of plans and even details of emergency contacts nearby at any time. This way anyone who cares to can simply click onto our site and get all of our news.
We actually feel more connected than we ever felt before even when we were ‘at home’.
The web site and the associated photo gallery are both templates available for downloading by anyone from the web for free. Initially we paid a young man to help us stylise the template to suit us but we now do all our own customization as we go.
We pay an annual fee of about US$50 to have the web hosting service. This fee covers our email addresses as well.
Then we simply update text and photos to the site whenever we want to from the comfort of our mobile home. All we need is our laptop, a digital camera and the motivation to do it.
Our internet connection is via a wireless connection that works from our laptop computer. This wireless connection is like a cell phone in that we need to be within range to get a connection. There is a fixed monthly charge for this service like a cell phone. When outside of cell phone range we can use an internet cafe to download to the site via their land line.
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An interesting aspect to having a wireless connection to our laptop is a service called Skype. This is a telephone service that works via the internet called VOIP or Voice Over Internet Protcol. It allows us to make telephone calls to others over the very lines that were set up to make calls from anyway but without the additional charges. Skype allows us to make telephone calls to anywhere in the world for free, or at least no more charge than your internet connection.
We have a head set and microphone that plugs into the computer so that we can speak to and hear the person at the other end. The recipient has no idea that we are calling over the web as they simply answer their telephone when it rings as usual and talks to us.
If you would like to inquire about this service go to their web site www.skype.com and join up. Skype is the future.
Cell Phone
We do have a cell phone that uses prepaid cards. We use this for carrying around with us (it’s easier than carrying the laptop all the time) and is also good for texting. We use texting to stay in contact with many of our friends and family overseas.
A cell phone is also a good emergency device should we ever need it.
Snail Mail
For the odd time that we have to use surface mail, for example when the vehicle registration reminder is sent out, we use the residential address of a friend who is kind enough to act as a mail forwarding agent. This happens only three or four times a year. IT is nearly always a government agency which has not converted to using the web yet. In this case our friend will forward the mail to the Post office that we are nearest to using a General Delivery service that is available in the States.
Parcel Delivery
For delivery of items purchased over the internet or over the telephone, then courier services are an excellent way to receive goods. We’ve had FedEx and UPS deliver items right to the door of our rig while we were camped in a particular spot in a camping ground out in the wilderness. It’s awesome the trouble they will go to in order to get the mail through.
Travel Cards
We have simple travel cards, just like a business card, printed with the basic details of our cell phone number, email address and web site address shown on it.
These we find useful to give to people we meet along the way as a quick and convenient method of exchanging information.
Staying in Touch is so simple these days and as a consequence allows us so much more freedom to travel.
