Let the Adventure Begin! A Week-by-Week Guide to Moving Abroad
10 Weeks Until Overseas Move: Useful Technologies for Living Abroad - Technologies that Simplify, Connect and Support
"Oh, How Things Have Changed"
Technology has made a tremendous impact on expats' lives. Technologies can help you:
Simplify your life
Work more efficiently, and, for many, from anywhere in the world
Keep in touch with family and friends around the world
Connect with fellow expats for support and guidance (like ExpatExchange)
We encourage you to research the available options and setup some accounts and services before you move. This will enable you to learn how to use each service before you go, which will ease your transition abroad.
There are literally thousands of great technologies and online services that can help to simplify your life as an expat. While some are obvious, we would like to point out a few that are popular with members of ExpatExchange:
EarthClassMail - Enables you to maintain a US mailing address and view mail online. You may then choose which mail and packages are forwarded on to you abroad. You may view bills from the US online and pay them promptly via online banking, order items from US catalogs and websites and more.
Online Bill Pay - If you will have bills to pay in your home country - for your child's college tuition, your house or anything else, make sure that you have a bank account that enables you to pay bills in that country. For most expats, it's important to maintain their former bank account and credit cards for credit purposes. This help you more easily transition back to your home country when you repatriate. If you sever these accounts, you may have a difficult time establishing a credit history.
Google Translate - Quickly translate words, blocks of text, even Web pages into English or another language. Maybe you've learned the basics or even speak proficiently, but when you're abroad and trying to figure out how to pay your electric bill online, this tool can be extremely helpful!
Technologies that Connect
Some technologies keep you connected with friends and family around the world -- and can play an important role in maintaining a critical support system for you and your family members. Many are FREE!
Skype - Skype is an absolute necessity for expats! Learn more about Skype, download it and get your friends and family to do the same. If your friends and family members aren't very techsavvy, help them download the software to their computers before you move (it takes about 5 minutes). Practice it with them, too. Once abroad, you'll be ready to go and can call them FREE - even videoconference FREE. Download Skype now! Again, using Skype to call or videoconference -- computer-to-computer -- is 100% free. No strings attached!
Television from Home - Sometimes television programs from home can provide a sense of comfort. Teenagers and kids living abroad like to keep up on popular culture. Adults enjoy their favorite programs and sporting events. a2bTV offers American satellite TV over high-speed Internet to Americans abroad. Connect your computer to your TV to enjoy American TV worldwide.
Blogging Services - Blogger.com and Blogspot.com are two main blogging services where you can setup a blog and write about your life abroad. Blogs are a great way to share your experiences with friends and family at home -- and a great way to keep a journal for yourself. If you do setup a blog, submit it to ExpatExchange if you would like to share it with other expats.
Earth Class Mail lets you view your mail online, then, with a mouse click, have it either opened and scanned for your review and download, shredded to protect your privacy, recycled to help the environment or forward-shipped to you or others 24/7, wherever you are in the world. Reduces forward-shipping costs by 50-90%!
Betsy Burlingame is the founder of ExpatExchange.com. She launched ExpatExchange.com in 1997 as her Master's thesis project at New York University. Over the last 11+ years, ExpatExchange.com has become one of the largest and most well-respected online communities for expatriates and international transferees.
This is an excerpt of our free e-newsletter, Let the Adventure Begin!. For full access, please subscribe to the e-version of Let the Adventure Begin! (free). You'll receive (free) weekly e-newsletters starting 8 months before your approximate move date and running through your first four months abroad.
