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Travelling overseas


neilo10

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We are travelling to America from Australia in about 8 weeks time and intend to do so geocaching whilst there. is there anything we need to do to our phones (iPhone 4 and Samsung) before we go or when we get there to ensure we can use them whilst geocaching and discovering the sights of various cities in the US.

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This depends on how you geocache now and plan to do geocaching abroad. Are you geocaching while online or offline? Do you use online or offline maps? If you do everything offline I don't think there is anything else to do expect for downloading the caches into your phones and have fun!

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Turn off your phone data and try caching around your area. If you can do it there, you should be able to do it anywhere - as long as you have downloaded the maps. :)

 

EDIT: Assuming you've downloaded the caches using free wifi somewhere, that is.

Edited by TriciaG
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If you are going to be here for awhile, you might think about getting a local SIM card so that you could use a phone without roaming charges. Without that, just make sure roaming is off. The GPS on the iphone will not work in airplane mode so if that is on for your flight, be sure to change it if you want to use location services or for caching,

 

For the iphone, some apps are better than others for offline use, but as a premium member you could prepare pocket queries for the areas you will be visiting or download caches with wifi once you are here. There are some good offline maps as well - when traveling out of the country, I use Navigon for auto routing, gaiagps for topo, and pocket earth for general mapping because the caching app I use interfaces with them well.

Edited by geodarts
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If you are going to be here for awhile, you might think about getting a local SIM card so that you could use a phone without roaming charges. Without that, just make sure roaming is off. The GPS on the iphone will not work in airplane mode so if that is on for your flight, be sure to change it if you want to use location services or for caching,

 

For the iphone, some apps are better than others for offline use, but as a premium member you could prepare pocket queries for the areas you will be visiting or download caches with wifi once you are here. There are some good offline maps as well - when traveling out of the country, I use Navigon for auto routing, gaiagps for topo, and pocket earth for general mapping because the caching app I use interfaces with them well.

Aussie TelCo providers charge like wounded bulls. A local SIM is often the way to go. When we go o/s and we know exactly where we are going, we do PQs and load them, via GSAK, into our Etrexs. We also take a small netbook computer and make any adjustments as we go using free wifi. We avoid using our phones almost totally, using short texts and emails to communicate with those back home.

Also, a local SIM is a must if you want to make calls within another country. Buy one when you arrive, but not at the airport as that's where they are usually the most expensive.

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Although I've not used it myself, friends of mine have used TravelSim and they recommend it when travelling overseas. It can be purchased here in Australia before you go. It can be bought from Post Offices and is better than using roaming while in the USA. I have heard of people who have arrived back in Australia to be greeted with phone bills in the thousands or greater when they use roaming with Aussie telcos. Ouch!! You take your existing SIM card out and leave it somewhere safe at home (not too safe that you forget where you put it though LOL.) You put the TravelSim in the phone just before you go then make sure you tell your family the new number so they can contact you while you're away. Do a Google search for TravelSim and research it to see if it's right for you.

 

When I've cached overseas, I usually do PQs for the places I'm visiting. I always take a small notebook computer with me with the PQs saved on it and I load them into my Garmin GPSr as I need them. For mapping, I use the free OpenStreetMaps. If I'm visiting a number of countries, I save the appropriate map files onto my notebook computer and transfer them to my GPSr as needed. Most of the accommodation we stay in has free WiFi so logging onto the internet for getting additional cache information, emails, Skyping with family, can usually be done without problem. Don't forget to use the WiFi function on your phone too, if free WiFi is available where you happen to be.

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We are travelling to America from Australia in about 8 weeks time and intend to do so geocaching whilst there. is there anything we need to do to our phones (iPhone 4 and Samsung) before we go or when we get there to ensure we can use them whilst geocaching and discovering the sights of various cities in the US.

 

I travel a lot and if I'm staying in a country more than a week I always get a local SIM card. Your phone has to be unlocked in order to do this.

 

So many advantages you can check local traffic whilst on the road.

IM with people at home.

Look for restaurants

Call your B&B for the night telling them you will be late.

Play the M game that can not be named.

ETC ETC

Just like when you are at home

Typically you will spend $20-$30 US for a card and 500Megs of data

Edited by FunnyNose
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Thank you to all that have responded to my initial topic and query. We are very grateful for all of your comments and advice. We are going to be in America from 17th Sep to 17th Oct travelling go Los Angeles, San Francisco, Anaheim, Las Vegas, Washington, New York and Dallas. We are hoping to have the time to find at least 10 caches in each of these places.

 

Thank you from Brisbane, Australia.

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