Managing Smartphone Data Abroad

By: Clint Johnston @triphackr
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Whether you’re traveling for business or leisure, staying connected to colleagues and family is a necessity. However, staying in contact can come at a huge price. A few simple Google searches can result in your telco applying hefty charges for data overages. So before you leave your home country, be sure to take a few steps to ensure that you don’t return to a nasty surprise on your next cell phone bill.

Before You Leave Home

Take steps to disable any features on your smartphone that will rack up data charges when you are traveling abroad. This means turning off data roaming and changing the mail settings to manual so that your smartphone won’t automatically fetch mail overseas or roam on other networks. With these two settings in check, you won’t be charged for data usage unless you manually fetch new mail, browse the web, or use apps requiring data.

Paid Options

Depending on how much data you plan to use overseas, this might very well be the best route to take. Many companies allow you to purchase a small package of data for international use. For example, 100 MB will go a long way if you are mindful and is considerably cheaper than roaming overseas.

Purchasing data will allow you to check mail as needed, browse the web, and even text over third-party apps. This means you can text using the app and never use a single SMS on your home plan. There are plenty of apps available but a personal favorite is WhatsApp.

Free Options

This is as simple as it gets. Only use your phone when you are connected to WiFi. When you have a WiFi connection, you can call home using Skype, message, browse the web, and email — all for free.

Data Management

An

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FOUR LITTLE KNOWN PILGRIMAGE SITES FOR SCI-FI FANS

By: Anil Polat @foxnomad
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There are plenty of ancient sites worth touring for their tidbits of history, but for science fiction fans, they’re flocking to a growing list of more contemporary places around the globe which are more famous for their connection to the fantasy realm. Here are a few places where science fiction meets the real world.

1. Casa Loma (Toronto)

Although it’s not full of mutant students taught by Charles Xavier, Casa Loma in Toronto, Canada serves as the exterior of X-Mansion in the 2000 X-Men film. The once-residence completed in 1914 has been a museum since 1937. Casa Loma isn’t unfamiliar with sci-fi and has also been featured in Jackie Chan’s easily-forgettable movie The Tuxedo and SyFy series Warehouse 13. You can visit Casa Loma most days of the year.

2. Harry Potter Platform 9 3/4 (London)

Although there’s Hogwart’s recreation The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Orlando, any first-year magic student knows you’ve got to go to Kings Cross train station in London for the real deal. There’s an actual Platform 9 3/4 at there and the station is easily accessible via the Kings Cross St. Pancras tube. Near the platform, you’ll notice a cart that only made it halfway through the wall. Obviously one student was a bit too slow for the start of the school year.

3. The Black Mailbox (Tikaboo Valley, Nevada)

The proximity of Nevada’s State Route 375 to Area 51 and a number of UFO sightings earned it the official designation, “Extraterrestrial Highway” in 1996. Along it, at the beginning of a dirt road leading to Area 51 is a lonely mailbox. It’s not black anymore, but you’ll probably recognize it if you’ve seen 2011′s Paul. Although its owner’s names, Steve and Glenda Meldin, are written on the side, they

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AN ADVENTURE TRAVELERS’ PARADISE: KITESURFING IN BRAZIL

By: Clint Johnston @triphackr
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As any diehard adventure traveler will tell you, their mission (and yes, they are rather evangelical about it) is to travel the world combining outdoor activities with the thrill of experiencing something new, somewhere new. Adventure travelers tend to be a fit bunch and don’t mind working up a sweat. Kitesurfing will definitely get their adrenaline pumping and there’s no place better for thrill seekers to give it a go than Brazil.

The best kitesurfing in the world can be found in the state of Ceara, in Northeast Brazil. Kitesurfing towns are scattered along the coast from Canoa Quebrada to Jericoacoara. Each town is often more remote than the last, and some of the “roads” are passable only by dune buggy, making the journey an adventure in itself.

There are dozens of small towns to stop off in but the small laid-back fishing village of Cumbuco is a kitesurfer’s heaven. From June to January the winds are guaranteed to take you down the breathtaking Brazilian coastline. There are miles of empty beaches in Cumbuco where the sun shines year round. With the international airport of Fortaleza only 45 minutes away, it makes this place very accessible for travelers who can avail of the best of both worlds. The area offers both an energetic nightlife scene in addition to the beautifully peaceful beaches.

Cumbuco is ideal for kitesurfers of all skill levels. The flat waters and consistent winds make learning the sport quite literally, a breeze. Many skilled instructors offer their services to beginners around town for a fair price. Don’t be afraid to get out on the water and kitesurf with the best of them after a few hours of dedicated training.

Just five kilometers from Cumbuco is Lagoa Cauipe. The water of the lagoon here is absolutely flat

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AROUND THE WORLD: FROM THE STREET TO YOUR KITCHEN

By: Foodily @foodily
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As the craze for global street food grows, celebrity chefs, adventurers and armchair travelers alike are increasingly making fabulous fare from far-flung cultures a mainstay of our own.

The original “Fast Food” concept of street food may sound exotic, but grabbing a tasty snack on the run is a basic tradition in many countries across the world from Indonesia and India to Turkey and Mexico.   Even the least intrepid diners appreciate that meat on a stick is a tasty idea, or that pretty much anything is delicious with melted cheese or delivered in small pastry pocket.  Many Americans are discovering far off cultures in their own cities thanks to the food truck craze, but you don’t have to stumble upon the right urban intersection to enjoy. Many of these foods are fun and easy to weave into your home repertory as well…

The greatest part is that most of these foods do not require a cooking school degree, a state-of-the-art kitchen or terribly exotic ingredients to execute.  As they are usually served in a pretty basic setting, presentation can be as creative or straightforward as you want.  Fresh, hot, simple and delicious is the name of the game.

Here are a few classic street food treats you can recreate for your own table with ease:

Consumed almost daily in Venezuela, arepas are just making an appearance in street carts and farmers markets across the USA.   These craveable cornmeal flatbreads are stuffed with cheese, brisket or even seafood. We like this version by Rachael Ray with bacon and eggs served for breakfast!

Many savory comfort foods are found at street carts in Thailand, where families and friends may gather for several meals throughout the day.  Noodles, soups, rice and many kinds of satay are delicious staples.  Fried rice is ubiquitous, satisfying, and very easy to make

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AN INSIDER’S GUIDE TO FOODIE JAKARTA

By: Adrianna Tan @skinnylatte
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Like a lot of good things in life, it all began with a tweet. “Otw Jakarta. Hope there’s time for breakfast.”

My concern about time was of course an allusion to the infamous Jakarta traffic, which has the tendency to lay to waste even the best-made plans. So at best I thought I would hopefully get to my hotel and grab a quick meal there before jumping into a day of meetings in the Indonesian capital.

At first the replies to my tweet came in one or two at a time and then they came in droves: suddenly all of Jakarta’s Twitterverse had an opinion on what I should have for breakfast. “What would you like to eat?” I was asked. “Let me take you out for porridge,” someone else kindly invited.

So many choices, so little time… and so much traffic. What was a greedy girl to do? Prioritize, that’s what. After all, what use would I be in meetings if I was weak with hunger?

I’ve been on Twitter since 2006, and in every new city I go to, I let one Twitter foodie take me out to show me what they consider to be the best food joints in their patch. Sometimes, I meet ten of them at a time and it’s hellish because foodies have strong opinions about… well, everything. But discovering the real culinary delights of a city makes it all worthwhile.

That morning in Jakarta, I received a message from @heriyadi. I had never met him before — he had started to follow me on Twitter after a brief encounter in real life (IRL, as they say online) — but he had a surprisingly good sense of my tastes.

Plans were made and @heriyadi showed up to guide me around his favorite food spots

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THREE DESTINATIONS YOU SHOULD GO TO BEFORE EVERYONE ELSE DOES

By: Anil Polat @foxnomad
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Looking for the next “off the beaten track” place is a favorite pastime for travelers like me, and that quest has resulted in some very interesting trips. The world is a huge place and while nothing is ever sufficiently hidden on this planet for long, if you head to these three places anytime soon, you’ll be well ahead of the crowd.

1. Socotra Island

If I were limited to only one place on Earth to show a visiting alien, it would be Socotra. Over 500 endemic organisms, dragon blood trees, and untouched beaches (except for the occasional Somali pirate), Socotra is one of the most remote places on the planet that you can visit right now (only about 4,000 people visit annually). Getting there won’t be easy — you’ll either have to fly through Sana’a, Yemen or Sharjah just outside of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Flights run one to three times a week, and will set you back roughly $300 round-trip. Geographically, Socotra is over 380 kilometers off mainland Yemen’s southern coast in the Indian Ocean. Although part of Yemen, it’s so safe it barely has a police force and has never experienced any sort of terrorism.

2. Oman

Right next door to mainland Yemen, Oman is a stable sultanate with a healthy economy and incredible landscapes. The capital, Muscat, is built into the jagged hills of the Al Hajar Mountains, and resembles a sci-fi movie set. From there you can visit Al Alam Palace, which is a beautiful 30-minute walk from Muscat’s picturesque corniche. Protected by two forts, Al Mirani and Al Jalali, the palace was rebuilt by the Portuguese 500 years ago. You’ll feel like you have all of the sites to yourself — at least until more travelers arrive. The government wants to quadruple

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Tap. Swipe. See America using travel technology and support mom-and-pop businesses

By: James Fisher @roadtrippers
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When I first started traveling in the United States as a transplanted Brit, I was struck immediately by its cultural diversity. That might sound like a duh statement, but let me assure you that outsiders like me don’t get the full picture of this country’s great variety of people and places.

To me, this great national diversity is all about local cultures, by the thousands, coming together to form a rich and fascinating medley. But what keeps local culture vibrant? In my eyes local business plays a big part both economically, by keeping money circulating in local economies, and culturally, providing gathering places, serving local food, playing local music and so forth.

When I travel, I always look for independent, mom-and-pop places. Fear not though! This column is not a preach-fest about buying local. I’m interested in how and why travelers choose between chains and independent businesses. As founder of the travel tech start-up Roadtrippers, I use technology to play a hand in these decisions and help shape it going forward.

As we know, most highways and tourist hotspots are have a significant number of chain restaurants. Meanwhile, independent businesses away from main traffic arteries are, in many cases, hurting. Around 7000 independent restaurants shut down in 2011, while the total number of chains stayed roughly the same.

I remember a few years ago, I rocked up in a small town in West Virginia one evening and asked the gas station attendant what independent businesses were nearby for dinner. “Uhm, there are a ton of chain fast food restaurants here…” Hmm.

I’ve heard this answer many times before. The reason I was asking rather than using a guidebook or app was that in my experience, there’s always something interesting nearby but a surprising number of places outside of big

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Air Apparent

By: InsideHook @insidehook
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Don’t worry; be happy. With Routehappy.

Sure, everyone wants a good deal on airfare, but what good is a low price if you fly on something shoddy and uncomfortable? Don’t worry, brave traveler. Be Routehappy.

Started by a Travelocity vet, Routehappy’s a flight search site that finds flights that will make you “happiest” based on a variety of creature comforts (sadly, “free tiny bottles of Tennessee whiskey” isn’t one of them).

With any flight search, you’ll receive a thorough rundown of available amenities, like seat size (pitch, width, reclining options), leg room, luggage fees, plane layout, entertainment, Wi-Fi, in-seat power and trip duration.

From there, Routehappy delivers an overall Happiness Score of 1-10.

Currently, 80% of commercial flights are available for review, along with 4,000 airports and most of the major airlines. Booking is done both directly on site and via links to airlines and travel agencies.

Coming soon: more direct booking partners, a mobile site and additional social media integration.

Because – for once – you might want to share your travel joy.

Photo: InsideHook

Get Ready to Travel Brilliantly

By: Arikia Millikan @arikia
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We’re all travelers. Deep within every cell in our bodies is the genetic code that’s driven our ancestors to move, hunt, and explore despite hypothetical dangers of the unknown for tens of thousands of years.

Today, technology has evolved to give us the best of both worlds when it comes to travel. We can all travel mentally via the Internet whenever we want while remaining seated in the comfort of our homes. We can access the farthest corners of the world by glancing at the devices in our palms while going through the familiar motions of our daily routines.

But technology can only get us so far. Somebody has to connect the dots between armchair explorers and the armchair landing points to which they will venture during their day breaks and leisure time. The land in our world may be mapped to near-completion, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing left to explore — far from it.

Welcome to  Where Next? Marriott and the Publisher of WIRED welcome you to a new travel blog where a handful of tech-savvy travelers invite you to virtually join us on our journeys to faraway lands. Along the way, we’ll share our smart and stylish tips, tricks, and tools of the trade that get us from Point A to Adventure B.

My personal journey began on May 27, 2013 when I packed my life into two suitcases and a laptop bag and decided to leave New York City behind.

My first destination — the starting line, if you will — is California, the final frontier of the Manifest Destiny era of American exploration. From here, I’ll venture east over the course of the next year until I eventually get to my end point of Tokyo, Japan. Inspired by a combination of Murakami

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