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Internet Access

The increasing ubiquity of the Internet, and its importance in our day-to-day lives, goes without question. So, consequently, does our need to connect to it during our travels, be that to conduct business, facilitate research, upload photographs, or simply communicate with our family and friends.

Internet access while travelling is most typically achieved either by making use of someone else's computer (commonly via a library or Internet café, discussed in more detail below) or by connecting a device of your own (e.g., smartphone, tablet, smartwatch, laptop), via radio, to a local medium-range wireless point ("Wi-Fi") or a cellular radio network.

Wi-Fi connections are widespread. They can be found at airports, hotels, restaurants, laundromats, big-box stores, coffee shops, fast-food outlets, grocery stores, museums, bookstores, libraries, on buses/trains/airplanes, and even in public parks. Cruise ships have them also, but typically with outrageous attached costs, and severely restricted connectivity. Wi-Fi services are otherwise usually free, although often restricted to customers of the establishment providing them.

Cellular radio connections operate over much greater distances, so are much better suited to — for example — wandering about town using a GPS-based map application. They are not free, however. Cellular functionality, for both telephone ("voice") and Internet ("data") communication, is provided via subscription services from the associated mobile network operators ("carriers"). Your phone knows about this via a tiny physical SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card, which is plugged into (usually the edge of) the phone.

Modern devices can also use virtual eSIM (embedded SIM) cards, which can be loaded/unloaded/swapped digitally (online), with no need to fiddle with physical cards. If your device is locked to a specific carrier, this is unlikely to be of much use (as all eSIMs must come from that carrier), but an unlocked device can accept eSIM cards from anywhere. This has led to the widespread use of (reasonably inexpensive) travel/international eSIMs, which can be purchased in advance and switched in and out as you travel from country to country. There are more than 100 eSIM providers — there is even an eSIM plan database that attempts to keep track of them — but the most convenient way to purchase and use them is via one of the two major aggregators of eSIM services: Saily and Airalo (both these companies have apps for your devices).

There are two non-obvious things eSIM users should be aware of. First, international/travel eSIMs are data-only: if you want to make voice calls, you will need to use VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) apps such as WhatsApp, FaceTime, Skype, Messenger, Telegram, and others that use Internet data to enable voice communication. Second, when you purchase/download an eSIM, it is not immediately activated: you turn it on as a separate step (typically right before you actually need it). This step, however, must be done using a data connection to the Internet (i.e., with Wi-Fi or a different SIM), so don't get yourself into a situation where this is not possible (example: you have just boarded a cruise ship that will take you down the Danube River, but the limited Wi-Fi on the ship will not allow you a full data connection to the Internet, so you have no way to activate your eSIM!). Plan ahead.

Internet Cafés

In the early years of this century, Internet cafés (also known as "cybercafés") were seemingly everywhere, thus the most viable alternative to carrying a heavy laptop (especially for leisure travellers). Even in small, remote villages with insufficient food, clothing, and housing, it was not unusual to find such a connection, often available at surprisingly low cost. Such establishments are somewhat less prevalent nowadays, but — especially in more remote places — can still be the only game in town.

Web sites such as the (now largely defunct) Cybercafe Search Engine existed to help you locate local Internet cafés. Realize, however, that these cafés are mostly bootstrap businesses, and can come and go faster than any website can track them, so it's often more effective, and simpler, to just look for them on your own.

How? Keep your eyes open, and/or ask! Tourist offices often know the best places, which may be anything from the back room of a local restaurant or bar (or even less likely establishment), to a fancy, well-lit storefront, chock-a-block with rows of the latest in computer technology (one easyInternetcafé in Amsterdam had 650 computers the last time I visited). They are most commonly found in areas frequented by students and travellers. In some places (Thailand, Cambodia, México), they seem to be everywhere, while in others (London, Paris) they can be more of a challenge to uncover. Check the local telephone directory. Libraries often have the least expensive (sometimes free) Internet terminals; hostels, bookstores, and post offices offer additional possibilities. Indeed, asking any 20-something person on the street will likely yield the name of a good local Internet café (you'll find "Internet" to be a universally-understood term, but if language difficulties ensue, just wiggle your fingers as though typing).

Be aware that many Internet cafés require that you present some sort of government-issued picture ID. A passport is the most universally accepted form of same, but sometimes a driving license is acceptable.

Keyboard layouts are not the same around the world (touch-typists be forewarned!). There's a good chance that characters you need (such as the all-important @, should you want to send e-mail) may be missing, and require some special key combination to invoke. Or they may not be what you expect (in Turkey, for example, the letter i often types as ï, and if that character is in an e-mail address that you're entering, the message won't reach its intended destination). You may even have to do something special to get your particular keyboard/terminal to "speak" English. Don't be shy about asking for help; you're unlikely to be the first with any particular problem. Most computer terms are English by nature, so you'll generally be understood. The ten-year-old sitting next to you probably knows what to do.

Should any problems arise (dropped lines, blocked sites, etc.), don't hesitate to call them to the attention of the attendant(s), who will usually fix the problem and/or credit you with the lost time.

Finally, before you leave on a trip, make sure that your personal e-mail account can be accessed via a standard Web browser, and find out the URL (i.e., Web address) necessary to do so. If your service provider doesn't offer this option directly, consider acquiring a free e-mail account from Gmail or similar (becoming familiar with the use of such a service before you depart is a wise step, and don't forget to create the necessary address lists of your correspondents).

These various minor challenges (to which you can occasionally add slow connections and smoky rooms) aside, the global e-mail access made possible by Internet cafés has been a huge boon to travellers worldwide. Learn to reap its benefits.

Public Computer Security Concerns

Whenever using public computers of any type, it's important to be aware of computer virus concerns in general, and keylogger attacks in particular.

Virus Attacks: Computer viruses are malicious programs that gain entry to your computer in unexpected, surreptitious ways … as unwanted attachments to e-mail, for example, or something downloaded from a Web site. It's a pretty safe bet that any computers in wide public use (such as those in Internet cafés) are infected with a considerable variety of viruses; one can't even discount the possibility that the operator of the café is an intentional source of the infection(s). Consequently, avoid using public computers for things like Internet banking or other financial transactions. But if you absolutely must, be aware of ...

Keylogger Attacks: A keylogger is a piece of software or hardware that monitors the pressing of keys as you type on the keyboard (many also track other information, such as the contents of the clipboard, so copy/paste operations will not fool them). As such, it can look for and collect important information like passwords and other identifying data, and save it for (or send it to) someone who can subsequently make your life extremely unpleasant. Consequently, keyloggers are the chief danger when using a public computer directly. The best way to avoid being compromised by such attacks, of course, is not to use untrusted computers when logging into any site that contains banking or other sensitive information. If this absolutely can't be avoided, however, there are a couple of approaches that will do a pretty good job of foiling the operation of keylogging devices and programs. No such solution can be 100% effective, but that's not the goal: rather, it is to make it much more difficult to hack your information than the many others who are using the computer! (Bad guys are much more likely to gather the low-hanging fruit.)

The first is to use some sort of anti-keylogging software, such as Oxynger's KeyShield. Download a (free) copy, and take it with you on a flash drive. If you're stuck somewhere without it, or you can't use your flash drive, then a (somewhat painstaking, but reasonably effective) option is to make use of the following password entry procedure.