Staying Connected While Abroad

Source: http://www.curhatin.ga/gallery/stay-connected.html

Now that I have been in France for nearly a month, I finally feel like I'm settled in. I don't know about you, but I am attached to my phone (aka the Internet) and without it I feel lost and anxious. While some people enjoy taking time away from electronics and exploring new places without being in contact with "the outside world," that life is not for me. Actually getting lost in a foreign city is not my idea of fun. On that note, here are a few tips on staying connected while abroad.

Tip 1: Get a new SIM card

There are other ways to use your phone internationally such as buying an international phone plan from your current service provider, but that tends to be significantly more expensive and you might not get the best service in the location(s) you'll be visiting. Getting a new SIM card is generally the most affordable and convenient option. You will need to unlock your phone before traveling. Google how to do this or call your service provider for help.

Free Mobile is, in my opinion, the best phone company to use for anyone moving to France for a study abroad or exchange.

• 19.99€ per month
• 10€ (one time fee) for nano SIM card (iPhones and most smartphones)
• 20G of data -- yes 20! That's pretty much unlimited
• 4G or 3G internet
• Unlimited calls/SMS/MMS in France
• Unlimited calls to the United States, Canada, China, DOM and 100 other fixed destinations
• This is what the website says (translated from French) but just to be safe, I prefer to make calls to the U.S. via Facebook Messenger
• Unlimited FreeWifi (the phone company's wifi)
• No commitment meaning you can cancel your service anytime

The Free Mobile shop I went to in Rennes (near the République bus stop) had a self-service kiosk that was super easy to use. All you need to have is your local address and a credit card and everything else is pretty self-explanatory (even if you don't know French!).

Note: Because the plan is so cheap, the service isn't always the greatest. It's kind of like comparing Sprint (in the U.S. where their service isn't very strong or reliable) to Verizon. Depending on your signal strength, you may experience slower speeds especially when streaming data, using social media, or using Google Maps. Despite this, I still am happy with the Free Mobile plan overall.

Tip 2: Facebook Messenger

This is my main form of communication with friends and family back home in the United States. I have the FB Messenger app installed on my phone and configured so I get message notifications just like SMS texting. I also use it to video chat whenever I have a decent wifi signal (you can use data but it tends to be slower and poorer quality). You can also use this feature from your computer as long as you're using Google Chrome or Firefox (Safari doesn't work). Finally, you can place calls just like you would normally. The phone icon is right next to the video chat icon in the app.

Video chat date with my boyfriend

Tip 3: Snapchat

In my circle of friends, everyone knows I am a big fan of Snapchat. If you don't know what it is, it's an app that allows you to take pictures and short videos to send to your friends or post to "My Story" for 24 hours. Each picture is only visible for up to 10 seconds then it disappears and the app notifies you if someone screenshots your picture. You can also video chat with friends similar to FB messenger.

So why did I include this app as a tip for staying connected? It's a great way to capture glimpses of your daily life abroad without blowing up your other social media feeds. I'm too lazy to take take tons of pictures using my normal camera then go through and delete the ones I don't want. With Snapchat, I take pictures, send them to people I want or post them to My Story, and save the ones I want to post on my other social media accounts.

Tip 4: Virtual Private Network (VPN)

Netflix bingers rejoice! If you happen to be traveling to a country where Netflix isn't available (oh no!), look into getting a VPN. If you're a university student, google your school name and "VPN" (i.e. University of Hawaii at Manoa VPN) to see if your school offers a free or discounted VPN. My school does, so I was able to follow the instructions and set up the VPN on my laptop. Now whenever I need to access a website that's only available or is configured to the United States, such as Netflix or Pandora, I connect to the VPN before I type in the URL. A VPN is also useful when you want to search for websites in English because since you're connecting to a server in the United States, it will automatically bring up results just like if you were actually physically in the United States.

Tip 5: WhatsApp

WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps so I'm going to include it on here. I have had trouble using my WhatsApp mainly because I got a new SIM card and therefore my phone number changed. Anyone with my United States phone number will still show up in my contacts list but I haven't been able to contact them through the app. Apparently, they need to add my new (French) phone number to my contact in their phone.