Handy How-To's

How to improve the reliability of your smartphone As your indispensable travel assistant and communications tool, your smartphone must always be ready to do its job. Here’s how to prevent your smartphone from letting you down during your vacation. Invest in a power bank, travel charger and charging cable Bring one or two power banks with you so that you can top up your smartphone’s battery while you are on the go. How large should your power bank be? As a rough guide, you probably have to fully recharge your smartphone’s battery twice during a full day of sightseeing. For today’s typical smartphone, this means that your power bank should have a minimum capacity of 10,000 mAh. Invest in two 5,000 mAh power banks if flexibility and reliability are your primary concerns, or in one with 10,000 mAh if you prefer to carry less equipment and have a limited budget. Choose a name-brand power bank whose specifications (brand, model, capacity, etc.) are printed clearly on its body. Otherwis...

How to connect to the Internet in Japan Part 1  of this series of articles explores some very useful smartphone apps that make visiting Japan much more fun and convenient. But these apps are nearly useless if your smartphone cannot access the Internet. So here are some handy tips for getting online in Japan. You have several options: International roaming promos The most convenient (and expensive) way to access the Internet overseas is through international roaming. International roaming enables your smartphone to make and receive phone calls, send and receive SMS and access the Internet. In exchange for such convenience, every phone call and text message is charged at international toll rates plus a roaming charge. Similarly, Internet access is metered and charged at premium rates. So, use international roaming sparingly. This means keeping your smartphone’s Mobile Data (or Cellular Data) switched off unless you absolutely need to access the Internet, and calling and textin...

Become a travel ninja with the right smartphone apps Japan is a fabulous country and a great place to visit. But vacationing there can be stressful if you are not prepared for the language barrier, the complexity of its transportation system, and a general lack of familiarity with the place. I would like to share how you can overcome these challenges with the help of your smartphone.  Essential travel apps For your next visit to Japan, download these (or similar) apps into your smartphone: Japan Travel App Agoda Google Maps Trip Advisor Google Translate Here is a brief rundown of these apps. Japan Travel App The Japan Travel App is made by Navitime Japan Co., Ltd. Use this app to determine which trains or other forms of transportation to take. It tells a traveler everything he needs to know, such as what time to leave the hotel, which train station to go to, how far to walk to reach the train station, which train line to take, which train platform to go,...

I visited Japan many times during the past 30 years and experienced living and working there for full year. Every visit was a beautiful experience, and it can be for you, too. I would like to share with you how to find a convenient place to stay. Save time, energy and money by staying in a hotel near a train station We all need a place to sleep, freshen up and park our belongings. For most of us, it means staying in a hotel or a ryokan. Here is my tip: stay in a hotel that is situated near a train station. Being near a train station makes a lot of sense, because it gives you quick access to the extensive and highly efficient rail network. It also puts the multitude of convenience stores, food stalls, restaurants, and emergency services that congregate around them within easy reach. This leads to lots of savings in valuable vacation time and energy. Another reason for staying near a train station is that it gives you the opportunity to avoid expensive taxi rides. In most cases, tak...

Miscellaneous preparations Buy travel insurance that covers medical emergencies, lost luggage, and delayed flights. Make photocopies and softcopies of your passports, visas, plane tickets, travel insurance and other travel related documents and store them separately them from the originals. Upload the softcopies to your cloud storage or email them to yourself. Test all the important apps on your smartphone. Then, do not update your apps anymore until after you get back from your trip. The reason for this precaution is that an update may log you out of an app or, worse, cause the app to not to work anymore. For Android, open the Play Store app and, under Settings, select “Do not update apps.” Also, postpone Android upgrades when prompted. For iPhone, postpone software updates when prompted. Sometimes, your smartphone will prompt you to log on again to your email or other app. For this reason, make sure that you know the passwords of the various accounts that you have in your sm...

Take advantage of your smartphone’s capabilities Your smartphone can greatly enhance your travel experience and make life on the road more convenient. Complete as many of the following preparations as you can before your next trip. Activate international roaming Your first task is to ensure that you can call and be called through your mobile phone when you are overseas. The surest way to do this is to activate international roaming on your mobile number. Before traveling abroad, contact your service provider and ask them how to get international roaming. International roaming allows you to make long distance phone calls from abroad through your smartphone and instant access to the Internet via your smartphone’s mobile data. Compared to the alternatives mentioned below, international roaming is very convenient and more reliable. However, such convenience comes at a steep price, so resort to it only when the suggested alternatives have failed. For more on international roami...

Luggage-related tips One day, as I sat in one of those trans-Pacific flights, I heard the pilot announce that he was diverting our plane to Anchorage, Alaska because of volcanic activity that was happening somewhere along our original route. Luckily, I had chosen a connecting flight whose departure time allowed for some delay in my schedule. And boy, was it cold in Alaska! Although our stopover at Anchorage was very brief, I was so thankful that I wore my jacket instead of packing it into my checked luggage. On another trip, a flight attendant accidentally spilled coffee on me. I smelled like a percolator and felt uncomfortable for the rest of the flight. These incidents have taught me to always have spare clothing with me. I'm sure you also have stories to tell about trips that have gone awry. Years of traveling have taught me to be ready for sudden turns and mishaps. In this and succeeding posts, I will share how I have made myself better prepared as a traveler. While these ...