Europe 2013: Getting ReadyJuly 26, 2013 Once I decided on the trip, I had some things to figure out. Being the deep nerd I am, these were mostly very practical things: a phone; how to pay for things; navigation; a computer to write on. One of the problems with being me is that I am A) fascinated by technology and B) unable to take the cheap route once I know about the proper way to do things. This affects many aspects of my life. One of those ways was the phone. I thought to myself, "Aha, I don't want to lose all my money to roaming charges, I need to sort out some kind of prepaid phone while in Europe." I started looking at the prepaid phones you can get from the various carriers. Interesting, but definitely locked to their countries -- if I got my phone in Ireland, I'd have to pay for all my prepaid credit while in Ireland (for instance), and couldn't switch the phone to a German SIM card once I got to Germany. Then I discovered the Unlocked Phones section on Amazon. SO. MANY. CHOICES. If you're following in my footsteps, you want a phone which is:
Fortunately, most of those things are easy enough to find. The cheapest unlocked phones that will work in Europe are dual-band (so they'll work in Europe, but not in the US). You need a tri-band or quad-band to work in both Europe and US, and once you've got that, you have a phone that will literally work in any market in the world where there's prepaid cell service. Even the quad-banders are pretty cheap. The duals go as cheap as about $15, and the quads start at around $30 with no service, purchased outright. So I was trolling around the quad-band phones, looking at the $30 variety, when I noticed this phone that claimed to be waterproof and rugged. Huh, thought I. I clicked. I looked. I researched, and found reviews. Like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx06W6BrcC4 I was convinced, and bought a Samsung B2100. It was about $80, but it promised (and has proven) to be a really good choice: literally waterproof, quite shock resistant, battery lasts about 2 weeks between charges (remember the last time that happened?). It has a crappy camera, and the worst "web browser" in the world, but who cares? It makes calls, it sends texts (slowly). Done. And now I have a party trick where I dump my phone in a glass of water (always good for a gasp) and have it ring while submerged. I also looked around at a variety of prepaid offerings, and based on a hint from a travel forum, checked out Lebara. They're a friendly-seeming company that focuses on the immigrant market (and in a surprisingly non-exploitative way): they offer relatively inexpensive prepaid rates with almost ridiculously cheap rates to non-European countries. Their intra-Europe rates were good enough that I made the choice, but it means that should I have occasion to call back to the US, I'll be paying 1 euro-cent per minute (vs. 10 cents a minute within Europe). Despite what other US residents said, they wouldn't send me a SIM card to a US address, and I had to go via one of the people I'll be visiting in Germany, so I could have a German number. Next, I needed to be able to pay for things. If you haven't been to Europe in a while, or ever, you may not know that the magnetic stripe credit card has gone the way of the dodo bird. ATMs can still read them (good thing), but most retail establishments expect you to show up with a "chip and PIN" credit card. This is one of these cards that has the gold contacts on the face, and a little chip inside that does something, presumably something awesome. Long story short, I signed up for Andrews Federal Credit Union, and got a card through them -- chip and PIN, no foreign transaction fee. Awesome. Andrews is big with military and government types, and they have a European phone number to call if anything goes wrong. It's pretty much specifically designed for my trip. For navigation, I already had the puzzle mostly complete: I had a Garmin GPSMap 76cx, which was a pretty good stand-alone handheld GPS in its day. All I had to do was buy the latest Europe maps from Garmin (about $100), and I was done. Then I made the mistake of going in and playing with the latest and greatest, a Garmin GPSMap 62s. Basically the next iteration of the 76, it's smaller, has a much faster processor, and a much more evolved UI. I got sucked in, and now I have one. Why, I hear you asking, did you spring for a stand-alone GPS when everyone, including you, has a smartphone with a GPS in it? I will tell you: my smartphone is real dumb when it hits Europe (not speaking European frequencies, see the aforementioned quad-band discussion), and it's not waterproof. These handheld Garmin units are tough stuff, and I really don't want my nav system conking out in the first rainstorm. I've had ridiculously good experiences with them (this is my fourth handheld Garmin), and wouldn't even consider riding with something else. Also: gloves plus capacitive touchscreens equals useless. I want real buttons I can feel. So, 62s plus RAM mount (another product I've been using for a really long time, very happily) plus USB power adapter mounted to the handlebars, and I'm a happy camper. Navigation: sorted. The last big tech question was how to write. Yes, I know, pen and paper. You don't want to see my handwriting. I need a keyboard in the worst possible way. Also, if I was using a pen and paper, you wouldn't be receiving this *fascinating* information. Basically, I was faced with a choice: I could take my netbook (longish battery life, decent screen and keyboard, and it's a real computer), or I could take my small Android tablet and a folding keyboard (longer battery life, GPS and sensors, not a real computer, Angry Birds). I debated long and hard on this question (and in some ways, am still debating), but it ultimately boiled down to this: I can charge my tablet via either USB power, or mains power. I can only charge my netbook with mains power. It all becomes moot if there's no charge in the battery. I'll have a USB power socket on my handlebars, and plan to spend more than half my resting time at campgrounds where a mains outlet is probably not part of each campsite. Tablet wins. Interesting side note: the folding keyboard is considerably nicer to type on than the netbook's keyboard, assuming you can find a flat surface. The final question wasn't really a question at all. I needed to take a camera, and the debate was basically over before it started. The Olympus OM-D I got for myself last year is an awesome camera, it's tiny (comparatively anyway), and it's lightning-quick. No question, OM-D, 20mm and 45mm lenses, spare battery, charger. I almost debate taking the 45mm lens, but I think I'll be happy to have the option.
Thus, the important gear is sorted. I've done a few test packs to make sure I can really fit everything like I think I can, and it's looking good. I have a plan for getting everything into a bag, and onto the plane with as little fuss as possible (which is, honestly, still a fair bit of fuss). I have a plan for carrying everything on the bike (which has worked on previous trips on the Ninja 250). I have a sufficient supply of my favorite earplugs. Europe, here I come! Return to the Europe 2013 page Created by Ian Johnston. Questions? Please mail me at reaper at obairlann dot net. |
