So you wanna stay in touch, stay working, make friends while traveling?
First!
Have a phone.
Yes, it sounds so simple but have a phone that supports a local sim card, so you can have a local number.
The amount of uses for this are endless(and cheaper then dialing Long Distance).
1.Great for calling Hotels if your arriving into a new place or handing your phone to a lost taxi driver trying to find new Hotel
2.If you intend to make local friends, how are they going to reach you? Email tag is not that easy and no one likes to call internationally if they do not have too.
3.Save money!
In many cases, US based phones are "Locked" for the provider your contract is based off of, that being said you can unlock them. Buyer beware though, certain brands might try to go around your go around.
In Asia, cheap Nokia phones and related brands are easy and plentiful. You can get them for around 10-15 US Dollars usually. You just pop in a local sim and prepaid amount card and your set for calling and text messaging!
For Camera's
Personal preferences and budget will play a big role here
1.Do you like to take ALOT of photos? A SLR style camera might be for you then, an SLR is a lens adjustable camera. Generally speaking they provide much higher shooting speeds and more personal options then a Point and Shoot camera.
A Point and Shoot Camera is usually quite abit smaller then an SLR, ranging from a hand size to credit card sized camera. They used to lag on image quality but that has changed for the better. Many people feel more comfortable carrying them around as they fit in your pockets much easier and are much less obvious.
Its important to check reviews on some models, they lately have been pushing too many Mega Pixels on a small sensor and it actually can worsen images.
So MEGA-Pixels!
Is Bigger better?
Is 20 megapixels better then 8? For most users, no is the answer. If your looking to make standard prints, 6-8 is going to suit you just fine.
If you want to go into ad work and need large blowups, well you might need all you can handle.
