COMMUNICATIONS

COMMUNICATIONS

Mobile phone technology in Europe is light years ahead of the U.S. The reason is simple: landlines in Europe have always been notoriously unreliable; so Europe embraced wireless technology very early on. If you are traveling by car in Italy on small roads, especially in the Naples area, and feel the need for a telephone for emergencies (see Warnings page), try to secure a car rental which includes one. Barring that, look for the least expensive cellphone rental you can find, BUT BE ADVISED: Our rental through Yahoo was for a British phone, the most common country for rentals here, but the American company which handled it did not send us the proper number for the phone. It took many calls, and delays, to straighten out the problem. We were satisfied with the eventual cost (around $200 for two weeks versus $500 for some others), but not, of course, with the service. If we had not needed one for business, we would have skipped it.

By our trip in 2004 Kaye had secured a phone for business that could be used in Italy. Only slightly more expensive at purchase time than regular cellphones, and dropping quickly, these are the ultimate in convenience. Calls to the U.S. from Italy run about $1 per minute, with an extra monthly charge of about $4. For that, you just dial from anywhere AND anyone can reach you by calling your home number - it transfers to Italy automatically. WARNING: if you use your cell phone for everyday use and don't block unknown callers, you may be paying high rates for junk calls.

In 2007 Russ' phone is global - it's much more common, and about the same price as above. And rental phones are now also common - we recommend you handle the rental here. Also, check with your current cell phone service - it may be possible to slip a SIM card into your current phone.

DO NOT USE A HOTEL PHONE TO MAKE INTERNATIONAL CALLS - MINIMAL CHARGES WILL INCLUDE YOUR FIRSTBORN AND A SECOND MORTGAGE ON YOUR HOME.

Now that the Internet and email are everywhere, you can "phone home" by instant messaging or email.

Within a year or two we predict that Internet phone calling will make all this explanation unnecessary. (We predicted this in 2004 and were wrong - use a cell phone.)

Here is Russ accessing our website and our email
for a small price (less than a dollar) in Positano in 2002.
Accessing your aol or other standard email service is
easier now than it was back then. But we have always
had our own site, which makes the process truly simple.

Laptops and PDA's with web access can travel more and more. In 2004 Russ took his laptop but found it was easier to slip down to the business center or spa or little room each hotel has and use the hotel's Internet-accessing computers. In part this was because wi-fi is not generally available in even luxury hotel rooms yet and the ethernet hook-up system required a special card. He is taking his newer laptop again in 2005, and we'll report on his success. The reason we're not just doing it the easy way is that he wants to download the pictures from his wide angle digital every night and upload them to www.travelitaly.org or its host site, this one - www.coopmead.com. Men are strange.

2005 Report - As stated in various Places to Stay, your hotel in Rome or Milan or Florence will have high speed access in your room. Your hotel, no matter how luxurious (or expensive) in Positano or Venice, won't. San Clemente Palace has 3 computers in a lobby area for the use of guests in its 200 plus rooms (except when the Internet is down, which happens often); Le Sirenuse has two laptops with high speed access in the spa (but with only 60 plus rooms, you'll be okay). Sirenuse also has wi-fi, and a card for your laptop makes life easy. Only in Venice was he unable to upload photos to this website each night.

2008 Report - Unless you're uploading photos, leave the laptop at home. Your Blackberry or iPhone can do everything else you need to do. (Note: cellphone photos that look cute in Rome are not going to be good enough for your Christmas cards or to show Grandma when you get back.)

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