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Hooking Up on the Road
Ask Chris · May 4, 2000

Q: I am going overseas to Ireland in June and I want to bring my laptop to keep in touch with my family here. What is the best online service to use?

-- Sylvia Barley

A: You shouldn't assume that you're going to have to ditch your current online service in order to connect overseas. Many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offer local dialup numbers in Europe, Asia and Africa. My recommendation is to check your ISPs Web site or call its toll-free number to find out if you can use your current account when you're traveling abroad.

As a general rule, the bigger the service provider, the better its international network. I've been using CompuServe for years to check e-mail from places as far-flung as Willemstad, Curacao and Budapest, Hungary. Many of my colleagues in the overseas press corps like America Online because it offers more "nodes" (that's computer-speak for local phone numbers you can call).

If it comes down to opening another account in order to send and receive e-mail temporarily, I would consider another option. Try a Web-based e-mail account. Mail services by the likes of Yahoo! can let you retrieve messages from any computer in the world with Web access, so you could log on from a friend's computer of from a PC at your hotel. Web-based e-mail can be infinitely simpler than having to haul your own laptop everywhere. It's also relatively safe - although I wouldn't use it to send launch codes or company secrets.

Taking your portable and trying to connect overseas can be troublesome. In addition to the ISP problem, you'll need a separate adapter for the United Kingdom. You'll have to reconfigure your PC to ignore the foreign dial tone and it's always best to carry a line tester, so that you don't inadvertently plug into a digital line at a hotel or office. There's also a remote chance that you might face the problem of tax impulsing if you travel in central Europe, which requires a filter. My recommendation is that you visit a site called TeleAdapt if you go this route, so that you don't travel without the right equipment.

Sound intimidating? It shouldn't be.

Hooking up when you're overseas is really half art, half science. You'll get the hang of it after the first couple of nights. Relax - and don't worry. The worst thing that can happen is that you'll go a day or two without e-mail. And if that presents a challenge, then you've got bigger problems: You may be an e-mail addict.

Christopher Elliott is a travel commentator and author of A Bridge to Nowhere: A Year in the Florida Keys. All e-mailed questions may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion. Ask Chris appears weekly on this site.