Use Your GPS When Driving Abroad

Friends love to rent a car and drive around, often off the more-beaten paths, when they go to Europe.  Now they take their portable Garmin GPS with them!  Yes, it needs a new chip for Europe - North America and Europe have different requirements.

They get their directions in English, in the same familiar "voice" they hear in the US.  With European chip inserted, this equipment works exactly the same as in US and Canada.  They put the "US chip" back in when they return to US and Canada, and save the Euro-chip for their next trip.

The only problem they have encountered?  The system uses a phonetic pronunciation, and that does not always square with the alphabet/spelling system.  Slavic languages, for example, when they drove in Poland and Czech Republic, "took some getting used to," they tell me.  But they encountered no problem with street signs in Italy, Germany, France.

I imagine Greek and Cyrillic alphabets might be a bit more complicated than the Slavic language family!  If driving in Greece or Russia, etc, get a good map and study it.  Familiarize yourself with their orthography (spelling symbols!) beforehand to improve the system's utility.  Back it up by studying your map first, use the GPS to help you remember your path and stay on it.

Using your GPS in multiple countries is a great idea!  Especially for the Road Warrioress.  It's hard to read your map while you are driving.  You're multi-tasking as driver, navigator, trip planner, spotter simultaneously - and in unfamiliar territory.

These friends say the Garmin is much better for international/multi-national use than other brands, and with their extensive travel experience, I'll take their word for it and stick with Garmin versus other GPS brands myself.  Having reliable, practical, multi-purpose, easy-to-tote equipment makes life on the road so much simpler!  Here's to less-stress travel.

May your road rise to meet you,
Ann

China Tightens Visa Requirements

China recently announced more strict conditions for applying for tourist visas (L visa).  Applicants for visitor/tourist visas must present an invitation letter from an “authorized tourism unit,” person or company along with their visa application.  And they must provide copies of their round-trip tickets and hotel reservations.

This flies in the face of typical travel advice: Never buy your plane tickets until you have your visa!  Consider buying only fully refundable tickets if you have any concerns about getting the visa, timing (will you get the visa before your flight?!), or you could be seriously out-of-pocket on such expenses.  Make sure your hotel reservations can be cancelled with a full refund if there's any visa hassle.

China – like so many other countries – is cracking down on illegal immigration, visa abuses and violations.  With over 7 billion people on the planet, many seem to think “the grass is greener on the other side of the border.”  And some of these have more greed than sense, more disdain for laws than respect for others.

Here’s the official Chinese website of their US embassy: http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/visas/adr/.  Official Chinese embassy websites for Japan, New Zealand, Thailand, etc, have also been updated with these new requirements.  Check out their website for complete details.

Know before you go – check official government websites of the country/ies you are headed toward.  Visa requirements are undergoing a lot of changes in a lot of countries now, and you need to stay current.  For example, these requirements have been instituted at some point since the first of August.  No sign of prior announcements, either!

May your road rise to meet you!

Ann

Told You the Best, and Now the WORST!

When I lived in Singapore, I promptly patronized the very first US pizza chain to open its doors.  Every expat and PT needs a taste of home from time to time.  It bore little relation to products of the parent.  So I had a little chat with the manager.  “But we put cheese on it,” he protested.  “We know you westerners like cheese.”

“But there’s no sauce!”  Minor cultural glitch there.  You find out one thing about a country and culture, and miss something equally important (or more!).

They were literally using a paintbrush to stain the crust pink.  I explained.  The manager insisted I return for a freebie in a few days, while they mastered pizza-making.  It turned out quite acceptable - good-not-great category.

Already covered the fabulous pizza I experienced at Mike’s Stone-Baked Pizza in Tallahassee.  Alas, I have just learned he has sold the pizzeria, although he continues working there at present.  One can only hope the new owners continue Mike’s extraordinary quality.  Let me know when you stop by!

In fairness, I now announce the absolute worst pizza I’ve ever had in any country in my entire life.  Fat Cat Pie Company – in NYC and the Metro area, including Norwalk, CT.  I’m not the biggest fan of an ultra-thin crust pizza – prefer a little substance, a little chew, to a thin crust.  But a crust as crisp as a bland unsalted cracker – and thinner! – and so tough in the center you cannot chew it but must rip it is simply totally unacceptable.  So is a cheese pizza with nearly invisible, definitely untastable, cheese.  Where’s the sauce?  Their paintbrush must be missing half its bristles.  Singapore’s first pink-pizza had more sauce and more flavor.

You’d better believe I Yelped this one.  Yelp forces you to click on stars when you write a review, but this pizza did not even deserve the one star I had to click.  Even if you are a fan of cracker-crust pizza I would avoid this one – no substance, no flavor, no merit whatsoever.

May your road rise to meet you!

Ann

Road-Warrioress Life Not for Wimps

I was talking recently with an acquaintance about her 20-something daughter, a young woman who needs minders.  We’ll call her Mel: Phi Beta Kappa, jobhunting MBA grad, deemed exceptionally “bright” and “promising.”  Except she cannot make her way through Grand Central Terminal even when Mom puts her on the right Metro North train to Manhattan.

Granted, GCT is a bit of a zoo, but signs are clearly posted everywhere.  But to someone who mastered the maze of Moscow underground armed only with a map printed in Cyrillic, knowing not a symbol of it, it’s inexplicable that a brilliant woman cannot make it a mere 25 miles from home to get to a job interview on time!

Mel will never survive if she has to travel for a job.  She cannot drive herself to a doctor’s office in the small exurban town where she grew up without getting lost.

What does it take to wander the world on your own?  A good sense of direction certainly helps!  Spatial Intelligence, the ability to orient oneself in space, to read a map, is an underrated skill.  But it has proven vital countless times and places.  I've never met a Perpetual Traveler who could remain on-the-road without this skill - without it, they give up and go home.

What other attributes make a difference between disaster and survival, even enjoyment, of long-haul travel?  Independence, self-reliance, curiosity, a sense of adventure: these I regard highly.  Flexibility and adaptability help you surmount cultural differences and difficulties, and a sometimes weird array of challenges.

Fearlessness is irrelevant, even counterproductive.  Fear is a useful signal of danger, and alertness, even wariness, can protect you from various dangers.  Courage – the ability to go out and “get it done” despite fear – matters.

The Road Warrioress life is too challenging for the hopelessly helpless Mels in this world.  There’s no room for wimps on the road. 

What traits do you find essential to success as a Road Warrioress?  Share, share!

May your road rise to meet you!

Ann

Useful Reference Guides for the Road Warrioress

The more you know before you go, the more likely your success – whatever your purpose for your travels.  Culture Smart! The Essential Guides to Customs and Culture – from Kuperard, a UK publishing house – www.culturesmart.co.uk – avail as e-books

Understanding a country’s culture and customs makes a huge difference between a successful trip or relocation, whether it’s for business or pleasure.  Attitudes, beliefs, behaviors underlie every interaction, and challenges are routine in every cross-cultural interaction.  Body language – the Silent Language – can be particularly baffling for the uninitiated.

These are practical guides written by expats who have successfully relocated to the particular country.  Basic manners, common courtesies – the etiquette of everything from dining to conducting a business meeting – are the meat of each portion.

Countries include: Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brazil, Britain, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Columbia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Libya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, UAE, USA, Vietnam.

Got many of these on your travel agenda?  Your wish list?  Start your engines - with a little boning up on the country.

May your road rise to meet you!

Ann

I'm a Busy Girl - for You!

Well, I think I mentioned (probably ages ago - alas!) that I was planning to prepare a Special Report for Road Warrioresses, Perpetual Travelers, and solo women travelers on "Packing for the Long Haul."  It is underway at last!  And I have a publisher awaiting final copy.
A few posts from the blog are included - often expanded.  Lots of new material, though.  The back of the book will include handy charts or tables so you can prepare a packing list for each of your trips, update it on the road, if necessary, and keep track of what you need and what you have.

It will first be published as a Kindle Edition e-book available from Amazon.com.  The nice thing about Kindle books is that they can be downloaded to so many gadgets and gizmos.  Kindle books are not just for Kindle readers - there's Kindle for PC, as well as apps for tablets, iPads, and whosits and whatsits.  Amazon's website includes complete details on usable devices, as well as free downloads of the various apps. 

Once you buy a Kindle book from amazon, you can access your purchase on all of your various electronic equipment.  So you can read materials on your laptop or notebook one day, and on a Kindle or tablet at the beach the next.  You can look up something in hurry on your iPad, iPod, or whatever.  I've become rather fond of Kindle!

I assume the publisher will get an edition up on Barnes & Noble's Nook, although they plan to release on Amazon first.

As soon as this is done and available online, I'll let you know!  We're working out some way to reward this blog's readers with some sort of win-a-freebie, discount, or something.  So watch for details.  They'll be posted as soon as available.

Here are details available so far:
Author:  Ann Teller (that's me!  LOL!)
Title:  Packing for the Long Haul:  A TravelTellers™ Quick Guide for Road Warrioresses
Publisher:  AngeLines Publishing^®
ISBN: to be assigned
Price: to be determined
Release Date: to be announced

Hang around for more info!  I think you'll all like this and find it useful, so I'm looking forward to sharing more tips, tricks, ideas I gathered while riding the rails through China, continent-crossing on the Trans-Siberian Railroad, business trips, and what-have-you.

May your road rise to meet you!

Best regards, Ann

Nifty Tricks with Fabric Softener Sheets

Packing for a week, month, or more?  Sooner or later, the Road Warrior-ess, Perpetual Traveler, backpacker, business traveler has to do laundry.  Wash-outs in the bathroom sink work about twice, but simply don't do a proper job of it.  But whether you will hit the laundry facilities or not. . .

Pack a batch of fabric softener sheets!  These sheets, the kind which work in the clothes dryer, are a multi-purpose item which belong in every suitcase.

Tuck one into each pocket and compartment of your suitcase(s) or bags.  Lay one or two in the base before you add clothing.  As you fold or roll clothing to pack, lay a sheet on at least a few of the garments you’re taking.  A dozen can easily slip into one suitcase or carry-on bag.  You’ll find them very handy.

Fabric softener sheets have several nifty uses:

1.   They keep your suitcase and clothing smelling fresh while traveling.

2.   Use one each time you do laundry on the road.  Save the cost of fabric softener, since laudromats charge a small fortune for one or two sheets.  And save the trouble of finding them on the road.  You don't want to lug a boxful.

3.   Forget your bug repellent?  Or forego it due to TSA regulations?  Take one sheet, rub it on arms, legs, neck, then stuff the sheet in your pocket when you head outdoors.  The scent helps repel mosquitoes, gnats, sand flies and such pesky critters.  No, it’s not as good as bug repellent spray, but it certainly works in a pinch!

4.   Slip some into empty suitcases before you stow them away between trips.  It helps prevent musty odors travel bags develop while closed and stored.

Got any more ideas?  Share them with us!  Meanwhile, don’t forget to pack them before you head out on your next sojourn.

May your road rise to meet you!

Best, Ann