Small Travel

Have you ever tried a small travel near you? If you live with your jobs, you have the same routines everyday. People tend to miss the new discoveries for these. If you like jogging, walking or cycling, you can choose different routes.


Preparations:

• Your smartphone with the Internet
• Pens and Notebooks, or an online notebook such as OneNote or Evernote
• Digital Camera

How to:

1. On your smartphone, use maps around your location and research.
2. Find some interests near you such as shops you have ever tried.
3. Note your expectations on your notebook.
4. Go to the locations.
5. Take photos, shoot videos, and record audios for your reminders. 
6. Note your thoughts on your notebook and compare with your expectations.

Brian Williams, the anchor of NBC Nightly News, decided to have a surgery for his knee which was broken in his high school era. Like him, many people such as military uniforms also became disabilities for their activities. If you are training for your obstacles, this is a good way to find a new world. You can try with your abilities.

 "Traveling Man" (1971)

By Stevie Wonder

Discovering the local areas is very interesting. Everyday, we pass some places by car. However, you may have a place that you wonder on the route. Why don't you try the place? You can decide it good or bad, and then you have a topic to talk with your friends.

Travel Tips: Calling & Texting

We need cellphones when we travel. Now people use "smartphones." If we travel in our countries, we can call, text, check emails, and play with a lot of fun services. Also you can take photos, check the maps, write some journals with your facebook, and tweet your impressions to the world. However, for the international uses of your phones, you may have some troubles.

The Way of Communication

If you have some international friends, you may find the same phone of yours with your friends. However, your phone works in your country, but your friends' phones doesn't. In fact, there are some communication ways for phones in the world. One important difference is the frequencies that are used in your countries. There are some big divisions for this in Euro, Northern America, Latin American countries, Africa, Asia and Pacific. Also, their communication systems are different from countries and companies. Still a lot of people in the world use GSM phones, but some countries such as Japan and South Korea, CDMA is the major system for their cellphones. If you live in the United States, both frequencies and system uses don't match with them.

What are the Substitute?

There are two major substitutes with WiFi if you can't use your phones in your destinations.

1. Skype
   When you want to call, "Skype" is one of your substitutes of your phone. You can call and chat through WiFi with your specific phone number named "Skype Number." Using this, you can call with the same number in the world.
   
2. Google Voice
   If "Google Voice" is available in your countries, it's also an alternative of your phone with WiFi. You can call with your specific number that you choose.

Naturally, you can buy a calling card, use a public phone, and rent a cellphone at the airports. You have a lot of alternatives to communicate with your daily life.

(Note: Some countries such as China and North Korea limit using the Internet for the domestic reasons. If you create these accounts before you travel, you may not access your accounts with their blocks. I strongly recommend you to check the communications and the conditions of your destinations before you leave your countries.)