GaiaGeek

Pickpockets can often be a concern when traveling, and some major cities have even started posting “beware of pickpockets” signs in heavily touristed areas because it’s such a frequent problem. You can safe-guard your cash and passport by using a money belt, but they aren’t always practical - or even necessary. Here are a few tips to help you keep your wallet in your own pocket.

- Keep your wallet in your front pocket. Never wear it in your back pocket. In a crowded area, it’s much easier for someone to “bump” into you and remove your wallet without you noticing. If your wallet is too thick, take out the things you don’t need regularly and get a different wallet if necessary.

- Use a chain wallet. PacSafe makes a wallet called the WalletSafe which keeps your wallet attached to your belt or belt loop by a low-profile chain which should stop any pickpocket dead in their tracks. The WalletSafe also has zippered pockets and is made of fabric, which is lighter than leather and better in humid climates, where leather can develop mold problems. However, if you don’t need the extra features, you can always go with a standard chain wallet instead.

- If a chain wallet isn’t appropriate because of the style of clothes you’ll be wearing (i.e. if you’re a business traveler), wrap a thick rubberband around your wallet and leave a couple twists in it. If someone does try to pull your wallet out, you’ll be much more likely to notice it.

- If you’re concerned about muggings or any situation where you might be forced to hand your wallet over, carry an extra ”handover” wallet. Keep a small portion of your cash in that wallet (a believeable amount) as well as some expired credit cards (best if they are from accounts you have closed, so the number is no longer in use) or some of the fake credit cards received in credit card solicitations. An old driver’s license is a good as well if you have one, and maybe throw in a couple scraps of paper with phone numbers or other notes on them to make it seem real. The idea is to make the theif believe they got your wallet and run off with that.

- Be aware of your surroundings and look like you know what’s coming. This advice extends far beyond the safety of your wallet. Criminals often prey on the unsuspecting, such as tourists who are distracted by the “sights” around them or who have had a few drinks and are caught up in conversation with one another. Be conscious of where you are and the people around you. If you feel you’re in a high risk area, look at each person (especially those who don’t stand out) for about a second: long enough for it to at least appear as if you are “registering” their face and might recognize them if you saw them later. If a thief knows you’ve seen them and might recognize them, they’ll be much less likely to try anything.

I caught two people working this scam while in Boston near the convention center. They watch for a group heading toward the revolving doors. One person gets ahead of you and the other right behind you. As you approach the door, the person in front slows down and, on going through the door, his packages or his bag get jammed in the door. You bump into him and the person behind you bumps into you. When the person in back “bumps” into you, they lift your wallet out of your back pocket - or out of your purse (most women tend to push their purse back, behind their shoulder when going through a revolving door). As soon as everyone is through the door, the person with the wallet hands it off to a third person going a different direction (in case you immediately notice your wallet is missing). Then they all split up, only to reunite later to share your cash and credit cards.

The scam works like this: A nice looking girl or some other innocent looking person walks up to you at the airport or train station and points out that you have mustard on your clothing. They get you some napkins and try to help you get the mustard off your clothes. While you’re busy wiping away the mustard, their partner has walked off with your bag or purse which you’ve set down in order to take care of the stain. Then the helpful stranger offers to get some more napkins, only to disappear as well and leave you wondering where your belongings are.

Credit cards are not as widely accepted when traveling in foreign countries, so it’s inevitable that you’ll need some cash from day to day. I’m often asked how to deal with getting cash when abroad, and the fact is that the easiest and most economical way to get cash is by using the ATM, Debit or Check card issued to you by your bank.

If you look at the back of your card, you’ll probably see a logo that says Plus, Cirrus or Maestro. These are the names of the international ATM networks, Plus being Visa’s network and Cirrus and Maestro being part of MasterCard’s network. So, for example, if your card has the Plus logo, it can be used at any ATM in the world that is designated as being part of the Plus network - and you’ll generally see this same logo somewhere on the ATM (have a look next time you use one). This means that getting cash while traveling abroad is simply a matter of finding the nearest compatible ATM, which is never too difficult as many are part of both networks. If you know where you’ll be staying, you can see if there’s one nearby by either using Visa’s ATM Locator if you have a Plus card or MasterCard’s ATM Locator if you have a Cirrus or Maestro card.

Withdrawing money from ATMs as you need it is not only safer than carrying a wad of cash with you, but it’s also more economical because you’re getting your money converted into the foreign currency using the exchange rates which the banks use with each other, thus avoiding the usual commission that’s inevitably built in to any currency exchange you perform at a currency exchange booth and at many banks. (If you think your local bank isn’t making money off of currency exchanges, the next time you’re in the bank, make a note of their rates and compare them with the exchange rates listed on www.xe.com.)

There is a catch here, and depending on your bank, it may be a big one. Some banks charge fees for using a foreign ATM which, in some cases, can be pretty high. Check out the FlyerGuide Wiki chart to see what your bank charges or ask your local bank what the fees are for making an ATM withdrawal abroad. Often the bank will charge between 1% and 3% of the withdrawal amount and sometimes an additional flat transaction fee. For example, if you have a Chase or Washington Mutual debit card and you make an ATM withdrawal in Europe, you’ll be charged 3% plus a flat $3 fee. If you have a Wells Fargo card, you’ll pay 3% plus a $5 flat transaction fee. A unique case is Bank of America, as with their cards you’ll pay 1% plus a $5 transaction fee, but the $5 transaction fee is waived at their partner banks worldwide, which include Barclays (UK), BNP Paribas (France), China Construction Bank (China), Deutsche Bank (Germany), Santander Serfin (Mexico), Scotiabank (Canada and Peru) and Westpac (Australia and New Zealand).

With some of those rates being as high as they are, there really may be no economical advantage to using your ATM card over doing cash exchanges. However, if you’re willing to move your money into a new bank, some offer a clear advantage when it comes to taking money out overseas and avoiding ATM fees. At present, that list includes Bank of Internet, Schwab and TD Bank. Not only do these banks offer the possibility of ATM withdrawals abroad with no fees of their own, but they also reimburse you (often within limits) for any ATM fees charged by the ATM-owner, which also makes them great for withdrawing cash in the US without having to worry about which ATM to go to. See the notes on the FlyerGuide Wiki chart for the particular details of each. Note that you usually need to keep a minimum balance in order to avoid account maintenance fees. If these balances are more than you’ve got, check with your local banks and credit unions to see what their rates are when withdrawing money from ATMs abroad, as they might have a deal that’s better for you.

Yes, it’s hard to believe, but there are still people out there who insist on using faxes, despite the fact that it would be much easier and quicker to send the information through email or some other means over the internet. Fortunately, if someone insisted on sending you a fax, or insists that you send them a fax, these days it can be done without having a fax machine. Once again, the internet comes to the rescue.

First, if you need to send a fax, there are two services I recommend which will allow you to do so through their websites for free: MyFax.com and GotFreeFax.com. GotFreeFax.com doesn’t make the fax cover sheet into an advertisement for the service (see sample cover sheets below), making it my service of choice. However, you are limited to three pages per fax, so if you need to send something longer you may want to go with MyFax.com which will allows you to send a fax which is nine pages in length. Both services limit you to two faxes per day unless you pay for a premium account.

GotFreeFax.com sample cover sheet:

MyFax.com sample cover sheet:

To send a fax, simply enter in the necessary information, choose the document to attach, and hit send. In order for the fax to actually send, you need to check your email and click on the confirmation link that’s sent to you. Look in your spam folder if you don’t see an email within a few minutes. After you click the confirmation link in the email, the fax will be on it’s way.

Keep in mind that if you need to send a document containing sensitive information, such as something containing your social security number, you may want to send it using a real fax machine instead.

On the receiving end of faxes, the best free service I’ve found is eFax.com. When you sign up for their service you get a free fax number which appears to be loosely based on the phone number you provide in your contact information, though probably not in your area code. For example, if you gave your contact phone number as 608-555-1234, you might get a fax number of 619-545-1234. If you want a number in your area code, you can get one with a paid, premium account, which also allows you to send faxes.

After you sign up, you’ll receive a confirmation email with a link you need to click, and after this, another email which includes your new fax number and your PIN number. This second email ended up in my spam folder, so check there if you don’t find your PIN. Once you complete these steps, your fax number should be up and running, and you can test it out using one of the free faxing services above. You should receive an email when you’ve received a new fax which will also tell you to download eFax Messenger. If you don’t want to install the software, you can ignore this and instead log in to your eFax.com account and then click the link for the eFax Message Center. Once there, you should see the new fax, and when you open it, you’ll again see a message telling you to download the eFax Messenger software. Ignore this and instead, click on the filename at the bottom of the message and you should see the fax. Faxes only stay in your inbox for 30 days, so if you’d like to save it you can right-click it (or hold down Apple and click on a Mac) and save the graphic file.

Not only can you get an incoming fax number in the US with eFax.com, but you can also get a number in Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK, making this a great option if you’d like to have an incoming fax number overseas.

If you’re traveling to a country where they speak another language, one thing that’s always handy to have with you is a translation dictionary for looking up unfamiliar words. In the past, this often meant carrying at a pocket dictionary, which required either stuffing it into your pocket or carrying a bag, neither option always being practical (especially if you’re a male). Now, however, you’re probably carrying a cell phone or other mobile device around with you, which is also a pocket computer and perfectly capable of running a small bilingual dictionary application for looking up words in foreign languages. While there are a few software companies making translation dictionaries for mobile phones, KODi dictionary for mobile phones is the only one I’ve found which is free and which uses Java, guaranteeing it will be compatible with a wide range of phones. Available translation dictionaries for English include Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Norwegian, Finnish, Czech, Slovak, Croatian, Turkish and Japanese. If your native language is something other than English, there are also dictionaries for other languages, i.e. German to Spanish.

If you have a way of connecting your phone to your computer and transferring files, such as by USB cable or Bluetooth, you can simply download the dictionary you want to your computer, copy it to your phone and then open the file, which should then install itself using the Java software built in to your phone. If you don’t have a way of doing this, but you don’t mind paying for data charges to download the files (which vary depending upon your provider), you can use your phone’s web browser to open the website wap.kodi.cz which will allow you to select the dictionary you want and download it directly to your phone.

There are a few options to choose from regarding which file to download, as the author has created different versions of each dictionary depending upon the capabilities of your phone. First, download the smallest MIDP 2.0 version of the dictionary you want and see if it runs on your phone. In addition to the JAR file (a standard Java file type) you may also need the JAD file for it to work on your phone. If it doesn’t work, try the MIDP 1.0 version instead. After you sort that out, choose the file size you want. Obviously, the bigger the file means the more translations the dictionary will have, and the better your chances of finding what you’re looking for, so get the biggest file you can. For a comparison, the smallest English-German MIDP 2.0 dictionary has only 677 translations and is only 64kB in size, while the largest (the “Max” version) has 55,038 translations and is 762kB in size. If you have a newer phone with plenty of free memory, you’re better off with the “Performance” versions, which take up a bit more space (916kB total for the English-German “Max” dictionary) but which are designed for faster responsiveness. If you receive an error when trying to install a one of the larger files, as I did with one of my phones, try going smaller until you find one that works.

Once you have a translation dictionary on your phone, you’ll realize just how handy it is for looking up foreign words. Not only does it not take up any additional space in your pocket or purse, but when you stop to look up a strange word, people will see you and think you’re just reading a text message or looking up a number. Contrast that with standing on the sidewalk looking up a word in a foreign language dictionary, which is almost as bad as standing there with an open map, signaling to everyone that you’re a tourist (and perhaps a potential target).

Put into orbit in 1998, the International Space Station began with a module that was only 43 feet long. Over the years it has been continuously added to with new modules and solar arrays, the latest addition being a Japanese laboratory coming later this month. With all these additions, the size of space station has grown significantly. USA Today has created a flash animation outlying the timeline of the International Space Station’s assembly piece-by-piece. (Watching it, one can only think that these engineers were surely fans of Legos when they were kids.)