Why I Won't Buy an iPhone

I admit that watching all the urban hipsters playing with their iPhones has made me a bit jealous. And considering that I'm going mobile, I certainly need to find myself a 3G phone, but the iPhone just isn't it. Here are a few reasons why ...

There are all the usual reasons people roll out against the iPhone: lock-in with AT&T, lo-res still camera, closed software platform, Apple's control-freak 'tude wrt the App Store, etc., etc.. To which I say, "Tru dat." But the bigger issue for me is that it doesn't travel well.

I took my gripes to my local Apple store. My conversation went something like this:

Yours Truly: I'm considering an iPhone.
Apple Flunkie: Just do it. It's totally rad. (Ed. I'm paraphrasing here.)
YT: You haven't even asked me my requirements.
AF: OK, what are your requirements?
YT: I want a phone I can use while I travel overseas.
AF: Oh.
... awkward pause ...
AF: Um. Here's what you do. Look on eBay for a hacked iPhone....
YT: Uhh...
AF: ... Get a first-generation hacked iPhone. It'll be cheaper. Then you'll be able to use it with some other international plan that is cheaper than AT&T.
YT: You're an official Apple rep, right?
AF: <shifts nervously> Yes.
YT: And you're saying that if I want to travel with my iPhone, the only practical solution that won't bankrupt me with AT&T's extortionate international data rates .... is a solution that isn't officially supported by Apple, right?
AF: Yes.
YT: You realize what a sh*t answer that is, right?
AF: Yes.
YT: <exits stage left>

Since then, Apple has gone on record saying that hacking an iPhone is copyright infringement and a DMCA violation. Nice.

OK people. I need a 3G phone that travels well. What are my best options?

This Modern Age

I'm still banging the same ol' drum: preparing myself for long term travel and working from the road....

While sluffing off all the unnecessary detritus I've accumulated over the years, I am replacing it with newer, better detritus for working and communicating while on the road. The basic idea is to move as much as I can online so I can access it from anywhere, and then add a dash of portable James Bond-esque digital gadgets to fill in the gaps. Here are the weapons of choice for the modern digital road warrior.

The Basics
GMail for email, Picasa for photos, Google Docs for collaborative office applications.

Phone and Fax
Skype / VoIP for cheap phone calls from anywhere to anywhere. MyFax for sending and receiving faxes via email. An iPhone, just 'cause.

Data Storage
SOS for online data backups. A portable external USB hard drive will also come in handy for storing large media files. Look for a so-called passport drive that is small and shock-resistant.

Social Networking
Facebook for keeping up with my peeps, Blogger for sharing my thoughts with y'all, Bootsnall and CouchSurfing for connecting with fellow travellers and finding sublets abroad.

Hardware
Power adaptors and portable surge protectors ... just do it. A portable printer would be nice (a Google search turns up plenty), but I don't have one to recommend, and a good e-reader would eliminate much of the need. Unfortunately, I haven't been wowed by the current crop of e-readers. Maybe the 2nd gen of the Kindle will set my heart aflame.

Also, a GPS navigator makes getting around unfamiliar environs a whole lot easier. Plug it into your 'puter and download the maps for wherever you happen to be. I absolutely <3 mine. I can ask it where the nearst coffee shop is. How did I ever live without it?

This stuff makes working from the road so easy, it's almost too easy.

Update:
Remember, I signed up for Earth Class Mail as my mail forwarding solution? Well, I'm currently in Oregon reading mail that was delivered to me in Seattle. They scanned it, turned it into a pdf and emailed it to me. What a great service! I'm really excited to see my systems are up and running smoothly.

Simplify, Simplify

"Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify."
-- Henry David Thoreau

I haven't left on my adventure yet. I'm busy lightening my load before lifting my anchor. Simplifying life will certainly make leaving easier, but it's a good thing to do anyway. For instance ...

Stop The Junk Mail

Examine each piece of mail you get and see if there's a way to stop getting it. There usually is. Visit DMAChoice to opt out of those annoying credit card offers, get off catalog mailing lists and stop other spammers from spamming you with their spammy spam. Why? Because if you pay for a mail forwarding solution while you're gone, every piece of mail you receive will cost you. Besides, it's better for the environment. It takes 20 trees to make one IKEA catalog. It's true! OK, maybe not, but IKEA catalogs are freakin' huge.

If any catalogs make it past my first line of defense, I call the 800 number immediately and ask them nicely to take my address off their list. And they do it! You can also sign up to get things like bills, statements, and prospectuses delivered electronically. I hardly get any mail, these days. It's wonderful.

Automate Everything

Sign up for online bill pay with your bank. Or do even better with electronic fund transfer. That is, some companies will automatically pay themselves from your checking account if you give them permission. I know, it makes me very uncomfortable, but it's one less thing to forget, and I really don't want to forget to pay my health insurance premium, for instance, while I'm traipsing about overseas.

I also don't want to do the paperwork associated with my business, so I hired a CPA. He'll file the papers, cook my books, do my taxes and run interference with the IRS on my behalf. It'd be cheaper if I did it myself, but I'm fine with throwing money at this problem to make it go away. I found my CPA through the Washington Society of CPAs, a local CPA referral service. They were very helpful.

Getting Rid Of Stuff

Are you really going to reread those college text books? And what are you still doing with that ratty old sweatshirt? Value Village wants it. I'm ripping all my CDs onto a portable external hard drive. Then I'll get rid of my CDs. Gone! <sniff> OK, I'm over it. Old computer hardware will end up on Craigslist, along with unused bric-a-brac of all sorts. And think about this: If you empty your closets of old stuff, you can fill them with new stuff! But don't.

In my next post, I'll talk about some gadgets and services that will make it easy to work and travel while still staying connected. Stay tuned.

Give To Ceasar What Is Caesar's

When you are a US citizen, you have to pay US income taxes. Everybody knows that. But when you are a resident of another country earning an income, you have to pay taxes to that country, too. Does that mean you get taxed twice? Here are some tips for avoiding the Income Tax Two-Step.

The US has so-called tax treaties with a number of other countries. Under these treaties, you have to pay fewer US taxes -- or none at all -- depending on how much you earn and where and how you earn it. You can find all the horrible details on the IRS website here.

I'm not going to apply for residency for any of the countries I plan to visit. That is, I'll have no residency visas, and no work visas either. That's because I don't plan to stay in any one spot for longer than a tourist visa would allow. So I'll just be passing through, on vacation, nothing to see here, thankyouverymuch. And as long as I'm not earning income while I'm abroad (*cough*), I can side-step the whole issue. My company is making money in the US, and I'm vacationing abroad. End of story.

The Path Somewhat Traveled

So you want to make travel your lifestyle. Think you're a freak? Think again. In this post, I'll share some of the wonderful communities of travelers, backpackers and nomad-ers I'm discovering. Take heart, you are not alone.

CouchSurfing

Want to meet globe-trotters and swap stories without even leaving your home? Host a couch-surfer. And then join their community of home-stay-swapping, travel-loving weirdos. I plan to tap this resource when it comes time to find sublets abroad, since these folks do a lot of coming and going.

Bootsnall

A different travel community with a greater emphasis on backpacking and youth hosteling. Lots of good insider information about various travel destinations, with active discussion boards about every topic and every place you might care to go.

Bootsnall and CouchSurfing both have active members in most major cities, so they're more than just information resources. They're potentially your local tour guides and new friends wherever you find yourself.

DigitalNomads

Ground zero for the new nomadic professional. Lots of tips and and product recommendations for folks looking to take their office with them.

LaptopHobo

A resource like DigitalNomad.com for nomadic professionals but with a new public forum feature that actually seems to be catching on.

NuNomad

I just found this one and haven't explored it fully, but it looks like a partner site of LaptopHobo. They are actively trying to build a community of traveling professionals. Even LaptopHobo's discussion boards are hosted at NuNomad.

I get the sense from these sites that the communities for vagabonding and backpacking are well established, but for traveling professionals less so. Which is nice, in a sense. After all, this is supposed to be an adventure.

The Problem of Homelessness

Here's a question about the nomadic lifestyle that, until recently, had me completely flummoxed: How can you be an active member of society without a permanent address? I mean, think of all the modern institutions that require you to provide an address! If I vacate my apartment, what do I do?

Consider credit cards. You need a billing address. Not an email address -- a good old fashioned snail mail address. Why? When was the last time a rep from Visa or Mastercard actually payed you a house call? Physical addresses are passe, and yet you need one to have a credit card. It's a case where infrastructure hasn't caught up with technology.

Same thing for your driver's license. And your voter's registration. Want to start a business? It needs an address, too. And on and on.

There are plenty of solutions to this problem. One is to just get a PO box. But that usually requires you to physically come and pick up your mail ... not an option if you're off being a nomad somewhere. Also, services like UPS and FedEx won't deliver packages to PO boxes.

Another possibility is to sign up for an international mail forwarding solution like Wanderers'. You give out Wanderers' address as yours (on your credit cards, drivers license, voters' registeration, etc.), they receive all your mail and forward it to you wherever you are. You could also get a CPA to do this for you.

That is sufficient, but an experienced nomad tipped me off to something way better. Check out Earth Class Mail. They give you your own street address in one of several different cities (including Seattle). They receive all your mail, scan all the envelopes and put images on a website that you can access securely. Then you can tell them to shred or recycle the junk, or securely open the mail for you, scan its contents and email it to you as a pdf! Whoa. Then they could file the original for you, or forward it to you or your CPA. They'll even deposit checks for you if you give them permission. It's a digital nomad's dream. The service is surprisingly cheap. I wish I knew about this years ago.

I signed up last week and got my new address. Today I got a message that they processed my Postal Consent Form and my address is now active. Huzzah! That's one less tether tying me down.

It's Just Stuff

Possibly the most vexing issue I'm currently dealing wrt my walk-about is: What to do with my stuff? I don't have a definitive answer yet, but I've found a lot of options.

Option 0: Sell It All

It's just stuff, right? I could ditch it and vacate my apartment. Now that's freedom! Alas, I just can't bring myself to do this. Maybe after vagabonding for a bit I'll come to see my stuff as unnecessary baggage, but I'm not there yet. I like my sofa. I waited 6 months for it to be delivered, dammit.

Option 1: Home Swap

I currently rent. I considered buying a condo, moving my stuff there, and using it to do home swaps with people all over the world. Sites like HomeExchange make this pretty easy. However, I expect that after traveling for a bit, I may want to settle down someplace, and that place may not be Seattle. Buying a condo here just feels like a step in the wrong direction.

Option 2: Storage

I could get rid of some of my stuff, put the rest in storage, and vacate my apartment. There are plenty of storage solutions to choose from. An experienced nomad tipped me off to PODS, Portable On-Demand Storage. They drop off a big storage container in front of your place, you load it up with your stuff, and they cart if off and store it for you. Perfect! Not cheap, but it makes Getting Away a breeze.

Option 3: Sublet

I could sublet out my apartment, fully furnished. That way, I can just leave most of my stuff where it is. It also means that after a year or so I would have the option to return to my comfy old Seattle life -- kinda like having a safety net.

Subletting is very appealing for obvious reasons, and I'm leaning in this direction. I figure I'll start actively looking for someone to sublet my place in the new year. If you know anyone (or anytwo or three) that want a beautiful fully-furnished apartment just off 15th in Capitol Hill, let me know.