The right VPN will let you access all the websites you’re used to doing business with in your home country, even if those sites normally block traffic from outside their borders.

It also provides an additional level of security from WiFi snoopers. I always activate my VPN when I’m using public WiFi, whether I’m in the US or abroad.

As I’ve written previously, I use Hotspot Shield. I started with the free version. It was fine for occasional use, but before moving to Panama I upgraded to the paid version because it’s faster and doesn’t serve advertising.

Recently a marketing person for the company saw my articles and offered me the chance to become an affiliate, along with a free subscription for a year.

I took advantage of the affiliate offer, but since I already paid for the service I thought I’d give away the freebie to one of you.

So, here’s the deal.

Add a comment to this article telling me what you’d mainly use a free, elite subscription to Hotspot Shield (aff) for. There are lots of reasons including:

• Banking
• Online shopping
• Entertainment
• Phone calls (VOIP)
• Security in internet cafes
• Access sites that might be blocked or censored where you’re livingThere are lots of reasons, and I’d like to hear yours.

At the end of one week, on May 26, I’ll randomly select one lucky winner to receive the free Hotspot Shield VPN for one year. Be sure to fill in a valid email address with your comment so I can contact you!

Leave a comment and win a year’s subscription to Hotspot Shield Elite!

Expat Sites

1. AngloInfo Panama. AngloInfo has been providing English-language information for expats in a variety of locations. The Panama site has just launched. It’s a good all-around resource, very focused on Panama City.
2. La Vita e Bella, two American expats living la dolce vita in Florence, Italy.
3. Joburg Expat is the site of Sine, a German serial expat who’s lived on four continents with husband and kids.
4. Northern Beaches Know-How. If you’re thinking about moving to Sydney, Australia, check out this site. There’s a wealth of good, actionable information here.
5. Leaving America is an interesting melange of thoughts, ideas and information from a serial expat originally from the US.

Travel

6. Curious Places is a photo journal showing all sorts of interesting and wacky places around the world.
7. 175 Days Around the World chronicles the travels of Christian Haugen, from Vietnam to Argentina. Nice photos!
8. Technosyncratic Travel, the wanderings of two digital nomads, Kali and Christy.
9. Twenty-Something Travel is the blog of another perpetual traveler, a single woman who hopes to help others launch their international adventures.
10. Exile Lifestyle is another PT (perpetual traveler) site. Colin Wright moves to a new place every four months, and he crowd-sources the decision about where to go among his readers! He’s a portable careerist who sells t-shirts, books and branding.

Portable Careers

11. 64 Ways Location Independent People Earn a Living. One of many excellent articles, if you’re considering a portable career you should read this!

photo courtesy of Wikipedia

I don’t know what happened, but between a very slow internet connection and who-knows-what, I was unable to get the boarding pass. My check-in was fine, but no printed proof.

So I took a different tack. I picked up my smart phone and went to the airline’s website where I was able to download the confirmation for mobile devices.

Turns out it’s a little QR code.

I assume when I get to the airport I just hold my phone up to a reader somewhere that will scan that QR code and spit out a boarding pass for me. I’ll let you know for sure after I’ve done it.

This is not the first time since I arrived that I’ve relied more on my phone than on my computer.

Not everyone needs — or even wants — the level of connectedness I have. But I’m very happy I chose a smart phone that lets me receive my email, browse the internet, and take advantage of GPS navigation.

If you’re thinking about a smart phone to take overseas with you from the US, there are some things you should know up front.

Buy an Unlocked GSM Phone

In the US, most phones are “locked” to a specific provider — AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, etc. This means if you want to change providers you can’t expect the same phone to work.

Most countries don’t do this. In most parts of the world you purchase a phone and you can use it with any provider you want.

If you want to take your US phone abroad you’re likely to have a problem.

The solution is to buy an unlocked phone.

You also need to choose a phone (and service provider) that uses GSM (Global Systems for Mobile Communications). GSM is the standard throughout Europe, Asia and Central and South America.

In the US, Sprint and Metro PCS use a non-GSM system, so if you want a phone to use there, choose a different provider as well. (You can see more information about these standards here.)

You can find unlocked phones on eBay, Amazon.com and several other places.

Make sure the voice and data will work in the country(s) you plan to visit

If you want to use your phone for calls in multiple countries, buy a quad band device. It’ll work for voice calls almost anywhere in the world.

Data’s a little trickier, and sadly I learned this the hard way.

In the Americas you have your speedy 3G and 4G networks. In Europe and Asia, they use a different system.

Unaware of this, when I bought my unlocked Android phone, I chose one made for the European market. If I go to Europe or Japan, I’ll enjoy lightning fast data connections. Unfortunately, in the US and Panama, my internet is s-l-o-w.

Lesson learned, so I hope you can benefit from my mistake.

I won’t rehash all the reasons you need a VPN (virtual private network) — you can see them here.

Just think of it as a must-have service if you’re to access all the websites you’re used to, and to continue doing business online with your bank back home. (It helps keep others from spying on you when you’re using public WiFi as well.)

For occasional, limited use, you can use a free VPN service like HotSpot Shield.

Unfortunately, the free version serves ads and runs pretty slowly, so if you want to amp up your browsing speeds and ditch the ads, be prepared to pay for VPN service.

Here are some that come well recommended.

VyprVPN

Claiming to be the world’s fastest VPN, VyprVPN (aff) will give you a secure virtual network connection on your computer (Windows, Mac or Linux) as well as your iPhone or Android phone. No limits on uploads or downloads, and available in a regular version ($14.99/month) and a pro version ($19.99/month). They offer a 7-day money-back guarantee.

Choose from servers in the US, Netherlands, France, Asia, UK or Germany.

Personal, fast and secure VPN

Pure VPN

PureVPN (aff) offers a trial account for $2.50. There are three different plans, with varying access to services. Prices range from $9.95/month to $160/year. They offer a money-back guarantee, but only for three days.

Servers are located in the US, Canada, UK, Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Sweden, Romania, Singapore, Switzerland, Russia, Malaysia, Ireland and Panama.

Find out more about PureVPN here.

Strong VPN

Strong (aff) has several different plans, with prices starting at $55/year. Their service looks a bit more complicated than some of the others, but they get rave reviews for their 24/7 live customer support.

Right now they’re offering three months for $21 if you want to try them out. They also have a 7-day money-back guarantee.

They seem to do an especially good job getting around the firewalls in China, and they can also protect your iPhone or Android phone.

Visit StrongVPN.com
Visit StrongVPN.com

Hide My Ass

Yes, I kid you not, that’s its name. They pretty much refer to themselves as “HMA.” Anyway, HMA (aff) offers a 30-day guarantee. They offer service at a monthly fee of $11.52, or you can purchase a six- or 12-month package at considerable savings, $50.66 or $78.66 respectively. They point out that they don’t have any bandwidth limitations and you’re not restricted to a single server.

They have 241 servers in 42 countries.

Learn more about HMA here

Hotspot Shield

This is the one I’ve been using. I chose Hotspot Shield because they were recommended by PC Magazine, and their cost is reasonable — $44.99 annually, or $4.99 monthly. You can even get a plan where you pay $0.50 per day — good if you only need it a few days at a time throughout the year.

Hide My Net

With low rates of $4/month, Hide My Net was one of the less expensive options. It’s a US-based company, and they’ve been around since 1998 — an eternity in the fast-moving internet world.

If Privacy is Your Biggest Concern

While each of these VPN’s secures your connection, they don’t guarantee your privacy. Online privacy is a big can of worms, but if that’s your chief concern, check out this list of higher-privacy VPN services.

Have you used a VPN that’s not on this list? What did you like/dislike about it? Use the Comments to help your fellow expats out.

I love to read. For me, it’s a quality of life issue. If I couldn’t read, my life would be far less enjoyable and meaningful.

So when we first started talking about living in another country, I knew I had to find a way to feed my reading habit no matter where in the world I found myself.

At that time we had thousands of books in our house. Hardcovers, softcovers, fiction, nonfiction — they were everywhere. Bookshelves overflowed in every room except the kitchen and baths, and we had books in boxes in the garage and overhead storage.

I decided to switch to e-books.

This wasn’t easy for me, but I recognized that the load of physical books created an anchor that would keep me from other things I wanted to do with my life — like move to another country.

I took some baby steps to start.

First, I bought a used Palm Pilot for a small amount, just to use as an e-reader. I wanted to find out whether I could tolerate the electronic reading experience before dropping about $400 on a “real” e-reader. (Yes, that’s what they cost back then. . .)

The Palm Pilot experiment was a success, so I took the plunge and bought a Kindle.

I really like reading on my Kindle, and it’s been a great conversation starter on more than one occasion as people are always curious about it.

My daughter went the other direction and got herself a Nook, which she adores.

I have the Kindle and Nook apps on my computer, and the Kindle app on my smart phone as well. I’m never, ever without something to read.

Amazon’s Kindle

Since I purchased my first-generation Kindle, they’ve changed a lot and prices have plummeted. You can now buy a good e-reader from Amazon for $79, and a few months ago they came out with their tablet version, the Kindle Fire for $199. There are several models in between as well.

Check out the Kindles here.

How do you know which e-reader will suit you best?

1. If you’ll be reading mostly books (not newspapers or magazines) for long periods of time (more than half an hour at a stretch), choose one of the e-ink Kindles. They’re much easier on the eyes.
2. If you want to add to your e-library when you’re outside the US, choose the 3G version. That way you can still download books if you don’t have a wireless connection available.
3. If you read mostly newspapers and magazines rather than books, choose the Kindle Fire.
4. If you want to browse the internet or watch movies on the same device, choose the Kindle Fire

Barnes & Noble’s Nook

Nook, Barnes & Noble’s e-reader, is also available in a tablet version as well as the dedicated e-readers.

Here’s information about the Nook.

Audiobooks

Another option for enjoying books without holding the physical product is to listen to them. “Books on tape” have been readily available for the past decade or so.

You can listen to them while you’re driving to work, exercising, or doing other things where reading isn’t possible.

Today’s version of the audiobook doesn’t require you to buy a tape, CD or other physical product. Instead, you download the file to your computer and then load it onto your iPod or other MP3 player.

Audible.com is probably the biggest player in the digital audiobooks arena. They claim you can enjoy their books on over 500 devices, and they have about 100,000 titles.

Right now, they’re offering some freebies. Try Audible Now and Get A FREE Audiobook! [aff]

On the Tenth Day of Christmas. . .

On the Tenth Day of Christmas, my expat gave to me. . .
Ten Expat Books
Nine Freelance Tools
Eight Live Workshops
Seven Expat Movies
Six Travel Skill Sets
Five Writing Resources
Four Exclusive Clubs
Three Premium Blog Themes
Two Blogging Books
And a website for to earn some money

Ten Expat Books

1. Expat Women Confessions. Expat Women: Confessions — 50 Answers to Your Real-Life Questions about Living Abroad addresses 50 of the most pressing issues facing traditional expat women. But while the background and situations may be different, the issues we wrestle with are pretty much the same.
2. Practical Guide to a Successful Expat Assignment
3. The Global You
4. Should I Stay or Should I Go?
5. How to Retire Overseas
6. The New Global Student
7. Almost French
8. Hard Things Survive, a Christmas time expat novel by Sujata Massey
9. Death in the Andamans, a Christmas time expat mystery by M. M. Kaye
10. A Town Like Alice. It’s a classic tale of overcoming tragedy and making the transition from one country to another.

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas. . .

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas, my expat gave to me. . .
Eleven Shiny Tech Tools
Ten Expat Books
Nine Freelance Tools
Eight Live Workshops
Seven Expat Movies
Six Travel Skill Sets
Five Writing Resources
Four Exclusive Clubs
Three Premium Blog Themes
Two Blogging Books
And a website for to earn some money

Eleven Tech Tools to Ease Your Expat Life

Technology has made it so much easier to live anywhere in the world without losing touch with friends, loved ones, clients and customers in other places. Here are just a very few of my favorite technologies that make expat life easier.

1. Amazon Kindle. Get free shipping until Christmas!
2. VPN (Virtual Private Network), such as Hide My Ass (yes, they really call it that). Save up to 24% if you sign up before January 1!
3. Another VPN, Hotspot Shield
4. Evernote
5. Register a Domain Name
6. Get website hosting with Dreamhost
7. Get website hosting with Bluehost
8. Get website hosting with Host Gator
9. iStock Photo. Use the coupon code CELEBRATED until December 31 for 20% savings!
10. Hootsuite, the Social Media dashboard to help you manage multiple accounts
11. Pressreader. For the newspaper junkie in your life, there’s the ultra-convenient PressReader application for iOS, Android, BlackBerry and Windows smartphones and tablets. Offering an incredible selection of over 2,000 full-content publications from 95 countries, expats won’t miss a beat as they’ll be able to read their favorite newspapers, both from home and locally, on the day they’re published with every article, advertisement, crossword puzzle and cartoon presented in its original context! PressReader is free to download however titles are purchased on a pay-as-you-go basis at $0.99 a pop, or downloaded in conjunction with a paid subscription to PressDisplay.com – a perfect gift for the holidays! Visit www.pressreader.com for more information.
12. Bonus! Get Transparent Language for Mobile for only $2.99 — a whopping 62% off, but only if you order right away — December 20th.

Coming up. . . Day 12 and the last day of our 12 Days of Christmas guide to expat gift giving this season.

I’ve divided them into categories for you. At the top, the Time Sensitive Sales are special deals that will expire after this weekend. Below those I’ve divided them into our two main categories, Prepping the Move and Portable Careers. These are top-quality items I recommend.

All of them make wonderful Christmas gifts for that hard-to-buy-for expat on your list.

Time-Sensitive Sales

50% Off all Host Gator Website Hosting Black Friday Only, expires 11:59 PM EST on November 25.

31 Days to Build a Better Blog, Revised and updated for 2012. If you plan to blog as part or all of your expat portable career, you can get a jump start and save 25% through next Tuesday, November 29. Learn more.

25% off everything at StudioPress
Using the code THANKS at checkout (don’t forget that), you can save 25% off of anything you’d like at WordPress design shop, StudioPress. All you need to do is use the code THANKS when you check out and you’ll save 25% on anything and everything at StudioPress.com. This deal ends promptly at 7:00 pm Pacific time on Monday, November 28, 2011. Hurry up and claim your new WordPress theme before the code expires!

Premise for WordPress Get the best WordPress landing page plugin for sweet savings over Black Friday weekend. Only $95 for Premise Ultimate. All you need to do is use the code THANKS when you check out. This deal ends promptly at 7:00 pm Pacific time on Monday, November 28, 2011. Hurry up and get Premise Ultimate before they come to their senses!

International Coach Academy teaches you everything you need to know to become a certified life coach. It’s a growing field, and coaches — especially expat coaches — are in high demand. They’re offering 22% off if you enroll in their premier course before November 30.

Entire Live & Invest Overseas Bookstore!. Country reports, conference recordings, monthly Overseas Retirement Letter, the whole enchilada. Click here for more information.

Prepping the Move

Technology and Entertainment

I’m an avid reader, and I love to re-read books as well. Parting with my extensive library would be torture. Fortunately, we live in the digital age. With my trusty Kindle e-reader, I can get almost everything in a digital version.

There are quite a few choices now, unlike when I bought my first-generation device. The two I recommend are the Kindle Touch 3G and the new Kindle Fire.

Kindle Touch 3G

With this device you can download books from almost anywhere in the world, even if there’s no WiFi available, using the 3G network. There’s no charge for this connectivity. The device holds about 3,000 books, and newer features including borrowing Kindle books from your local public library in the US.

There’s a built-in browser, so you can even use it for light web surfing.

This Kindle uses e-Ink technology, which is easy on your eyes and allows you to read even in bright sunlight. Excellent battery life, lightweight, and available for either $149 or $189.

Click here for more information or to purchase the Kindle Touch 3G

Kindle Fire

This is Kindle’s latest offering, just released earlier this month. Think of this Kindle as a “tablet lite” more than an e-reader. Yes, of course you can read your Kindle books on it. But it comes in color, not e-Ink, has a fully functional web browser and allows you to download apps like a tablet.

You can stream videos, listen to internet radio, and lots more.

If you read for hours at a time, this is probably not the best choice for you as the display will not be as easy on the eyes. Also, because this is a lighted display, it’ll wash out in full sunlight. But if you want something you can surf the web with, enjoy some apps with, and do some reading with — all in a brilliant color display — this is the Kindle for you.

Click here for more information or to purchase the Kindle Fire

Books, Movies, Music and More

If you absolutely, positively need to have wrapped packages under a tree, take advantage of Black Friday specials throughout Amazon.com.

Narrowing your Country/City Search and Planning

After lots of searching and a few false hopes raised, I finally found something that will actually help you plan your overseas move, step by logical step.

52-Days to Your New Life Overseas

 

Don´t Let Another Single Day Pass You By–Launch Your New Life Overseas Now

It took me more than 12 years to launch my live overseas adventures…

Today, 13 years later, I´ve reinvented my life from Baltimore, Maryland, to Waterford, Ireland…then from there to Paris and on to Panama City, where I´m living today…

My advice to you?

Don´t let another single day pass you by.

Leverage my experience to launch your own dream retirement overseas in as few as 52 days from today.

That´s a specific promise that I mean literally and that I take seriously.

Research and reading will get you only so far. To make your live- or retire-overseas dream come true, you need a detailed plan. Here´s mine…for you…

Here´s How

Specific Country Information

There’s tons of good information available about specific countries. Here’s a representative sampling:

Panama:

• Live & Invest in Panama Home Conference Kit
• Panama Bridge Kit
• Panama Starter Kit

France:

Not everyone is cut out for life in the Tropics or the developing world…

If you´re more interested in Old World living, consider France.

France is the good life defined. The food, the wine, the art, the shopping, the history…

And here´s what you may not realize about France: Living here, even in Paris, can be far more affordable than you might ever imagine.

Go Here Now To Learn More

Asia: Yes, I know, Asia’s not a country. . . Around Asia

Colombia:

 

Revealed: The World’s Top Undiscovered Retirement And Investment Haven

I’ve found the city that I believe is on track to become one of the world’s most sought-after destinations, for both retirement and investment.

This overlooked destination checks every box:

Perfect weather…it’s springtime all year long…
World-class health care (5 of the best hospitals in all Latin America are here)…

Very affordable cost of living…

And the real estate? It’s a screaming bargain, both to buy and to rent…
Plus, the people are friendly, the streets are clean and safe, the infrastructure international-standard…with its restaurants, cafes, galleries, and shops, this place feels more European than Latin American…

Go here now to learn more

Argentina: The Argentine Vineyard Buyer’s Guide

Upcoming Country Conferences

The right conference can be a great way to jumpstart your transition from future expat to expat. I’ve attended two. One was specific to Panama, and the other took a broader view with information about 20 countries that should be on your radar for overseas retirement.

I recommend the functions that Live and Invest Overseas puts on. You can see a list of their upcoming events here.

Portable Careers

Writing

Travel Writing

There are two programs I recommend for future travel writers.

MatadorU Travel Writing Course A dynamic program for launching or advancing new media and travel writing careers is based on 12 weeks of rigorous coursework, including lessons, recommended reading, and weekly assignments critiqued by editors and peers. As a graduate, you’ll have lifelong access to the curriculum, all the forums and future Bonus Modules.

Learn more about it here.

AWAI’s Ultimate Travel Writer’s Program. It’ll take years off your learning curve on both the writing and the business sides of developing your career as a travel writer. Learn more about it here.

Copywriting

Copywriting 2.0 Your Complete Guide to Writing Web Copy that Converts. The market for copywriting is huge, and the market for web copywriting is exploding. Highly successful copywriter Bob Bly has called this program “the Bible of website copywriting.”

Learn more about copywriting for the web and this program here.

Secrets of Writing High-Performance B2B Copy takes your copywriting skills and shows you how to use them to specialize in writing for the B2B business to business) market. Learn how to take advantage of this $55 billion a year market — that’s not a typo.

Learn more about Business-to-Business Copywriting here.

Blogging

Blogging for Expats. First, although it’s not something you can buy, if you haven’t been following my Blogging for Expats tutorial series, check it out.

How to Become a Successful Freelance Blogger. Don’t want to maintain your own blog but still want to earn money blogging? Freelance blogging is the answer, and this guide by my friend Paul Cunningham will show you how.

Learn More about How to Become a Successful Freelance Blogger here.

31 Days to Build a Better Blog, Revised and updated for 2012. If you plan to blog as part or all of your expat portable career, you can get a jump start and save 25% through next Tuesday, November 29.

I highly recommend this ebook program, which I followed earlier in my blogging career. Learn more about it here.

Studio Press Premium WordPress Themes 25% off everything at StudioPress over Black Friday weekend.

Using the code THANKS at checkout (don’t forget that) you can save 25% off of anything you’d like at WordPress design shop, StudioPress.

1. Get the Genesis Framework for only $45
2. Snag most Genesis / design combos for a song and save close to $20
3. Wipe the entire shop clean and get the StudioPress Pro Plus All-Theme Package. Get Genesis plus every design they’ve made, plus every design they make in the future, and save more than $74 off the regular price and over $875 off the retail price — and that’s just the existing 43 designs!

All you need to do is use the code THANKS when you check out and you’ll save 25% on anything and everything at StudioPress.com. This deal ends promptly at 7:00 pm Pacific time on Monday, November 28, 2011. Hurry up and claim your new WordPress theme before the code expires!

Take Advantage of the Studio Press Black Friday Sale

Premise for WordPress
Get Premise Ultimate for only $95

Copyblogger Media just released version 1.2 of their Premise landing page software for WordPress, and it includes lots of cool new features and refinements. Most impressive of all is the introduction of an innovative 8th landing page type — the social sharing page. Premise Ultimate usually goes for $165, as it gives you:

1. All the landing pages you can build
2. Use on as many domains as you want
3. Access to ongoing optimization seminars
4. Copywriting advice from inside WordPress
5. 1,100+ custom graphics by Rafal
6. Unlimited technical support
7. Unlimited updates (you’ll thank yourself for this next year)

During their Thanksgiving sale, you can get Premise Ultimate for only $95. Yes, really. Just use the code THANKS when you check out and you’ll save $70 on the best landing page software available for WordPress. This deal ends promptly at 7:00 pm Pacific time on Monday, November 28, 2011. Hurry up and get Premise Ultimate before they come to their senses!

Photography

Turn Your Pictures into Cash. Photography is amazing. It can feed the soul and inspire people. It also provides a measure of freedom I suspect you value highly. You can live wherever you like, work whenever you feel like it.

Learn how to turn photography into a portable career that can support you wherever you live or travel.

MatadorU Travel Photography Course is based on 12 chapters of rigorous coursework, including lessons, recommended reading, and weekly assignments critiqued by editors and peers in Photo Labs. As with their Travel Writing program, graduates have ongoing access to the forums and new modules.

Learn more about it here

Coaching

Life coaching is a growing field, and expats and finding it meets all the criteria for a worthwhile and rewarding portable career. Get your training and certification from the International Coach Academy.

Enroll in the Certified Professional Coach Program before November 30 and save 22%.

Click here for more information about International Coach Academy’s course.

Websites

How to Write Your Own Money-Making Websites. Not exactly blogging and not exactly a corporate website, learn how to create a content-rich site that provides an ongoing income — in just a few hours per week.

The traditional approach to savings and retirement doesn’t work anymore.
It’s time to take control!Turn a few “spare-time” hours a week into $750 … $1,500 … $3,500 and up per month.
Money that comes in whether you’re working, sleeping, playing golf, or relaxing on the beach.

Learn more about creating your own money-making website here.

Site Build It. Combine the fantastic tools and guidance available at SBI with the Money-Making Websites program above for incredible results. They’ve just upgraded the tools for building the site itself, keyword research and more.

Learn More About Site Build It here.

Website Hosting and Domain Name Registration

Dreamhost. Optimized for WordPress hosting, Dreamhost offers lots of “unlimited” features including:

• Disk storage
• Bandwidth
• Domains Hosted
• Email Accounts
• MySQL 5 Databases

DreamHost has also gone green — they’re carbon neutral.

Find Out More

Blue Host also offers a slew of “unlimited” features, including:

• Disk storage
• Bandwidth
• Domains Hosted
• Email Accounts
• MySQL 5 Databases

They’re a couple of dollars less than DreamHost.

Find Out More

Host Gator is also greening up, having purchased Renewable Energy Certificates for its servers.Their least expensive plan only allows for one domain to be hosted, but if you move up to the next plan, you’ll get unlimited disk space, bandwidth and domains.

50% Off all hosting plans today only, until 11:59 PM EST.

Find Out More

NameCheap domain name registration. Great prices and service for domain name hosting.

Find Out More

Don’t see what you’re looking for here? Check out our Resources section.

Note: Many of the links here are affiliate links. That means if you purchase something you’ve clicked on, I’ll earn a small commission. I only recommend products or services I have used myself, or from a company I’ve done business with and have a high level of confidence in. You can see my entire policy here. Buying from affiliates helps keep this website running.

photo by djlicious on flickr

Prepping the move is anything you have to do to prepare for moving overseas, from getting rid of stuff you don’t want to move or store, to telling your friends and family your plans, to arranging the sale or rental of your current home.

It also includes more general considerations, like how to determine where you want to move, whether to learn the language in your new country, and technology that can help you along your way.

At the conference I attended recently in Orlando, Live and Invest Overseas publisher Kathleen Peddicord divided “prepping the move” into seven categories:

1. Planning and getting your finances into shape
2. Buying (or not buying) property
3. Visas and residency
4. Funding your new life (where I spoke about Portable Careers)
5. Taxes
6. Health Care
7. Nuts and bolts of getting established overseas

Here at Future Expats, we talk mostly about #1, #2, #4 and #6.

Financial planning, of course, is very important. It costs money to move and to get set up in your new home, so no matter how much you figure you’ll save once you’re there, you need funds to move yourself. And, if you’re retired and planning to live on investments, pensions and the like, you need a realistic budget.

Other kinds of planning involve questions like:

• Where will you move to
• What’s your time frame
• Will you move household goods
• If not, what will you do with them
• Will you learn the language before you go
• How will you handle your day-to-day expenses and other administrative tasks in your new country
• How will you handle any remaining administrative tasks in your home country
• What kinds of technology will help you stay in touch, work, or take care of administrative tasks
• What about schools for the kids, if you still have children at home

There are many more items that could go on this list.

Along with Health Care, these are the basics of what I include under the broad heading of “Prepping the Move.” I don’t get into taxes, visas and residency — there are plenty of experts in those areas to consult.

Here are some links that will take you to popular articles on Prepping the Move.

Narrowing your Country Search
Health Care
Learning the Language
Technology
Househhold Goods
Selling, Renting or Buying a Home
Quality of Life

And, of course, if you’re looking for something not on this list, you can always search the site using the Search box in the upper right-hand corner.

Are there other elements of Prepping the Move you’d like to see here? Let me know in the Comments

photo by Katie Tegtmeyer on flickr

You fire up your newly connected internet, and decide to check your bank balance back in your home country — and you can’t connect. Your bank won’t let you access the website. What’s going on?

It’s your IP address. . . your bank recognizes that someone’s trying to log in from Panama, or France, or Ecuador, or Malaysia and they block you.

You, my new expat friend, need a VPN.

Last year, just before my trip to Panama, I got myself a VPN (virtual private network) so I could access all the US websites I normally do business with. Many shopping and banking websites only allow access from users within their own country, and I wanted to be able to go online to check my balances, etc.

I also wanted to be able to use Google Voice, since that’s the phone number I use for my business.

There are lots of reasons businesses block browsers from outside the country. Some involve security, some deal with laws governing commerce, some are just arbitrary restrictions — but all can complicate an expat’s life.

Fortunately, there’s an easy solution.

Sign up for a service that gives you a VPN. It has some great benefits for expats and travelers and it also protects your data from snooping — great if you’re online in a public place.

Think of a VPN as a virtual tunnel between your computer and the internet router. The provider routes your internet requests through its servers, and most give you a choice of servers in different countries.

If you choose a US server, it generates a US IP (internet protocol) address. This means, when you log into your bank’s website, or Amazon, or any other site in the US that might block browsers from another country, it looks like you’re in the US.

A good VPN can help you get around the restrictions of what some travelers call the “great firewall of China,” which blocks social media sites, among others.

Essentially, though, a VPN simply allows you to access the sites you’re used to doing business with in your home country. (More about what a VPN lets you do here.)

Which VPN Should You Choose?

First, look for recommendations and reviews of VPNs with a strong presence in your home country. You want one that’s US-centric, or England-centric, or Canada-centric, because it will do a better job of helping you get through to websites back home.

(Hint: If you’re already living overseas, check with other expats. They can point you to a service that does a great job where you are.)

Here are a few that I’ve found.

Hotspot Shield

This is the one I’ve been using. Currently, I have a free version, which forces me to put up with advertising and is a bit slow. I’ve been using it because I only needed it for a couple weeks in Panama and for when I’m at a Starbucks or using some other public WiFi. However, once I move, I’ll switch over to their paid version.

I chose Hotspot Shield because they were recommended by PC Magazine, and their cost is reasonable — $44.99 annually, or $4.99 monthly. You can even get a plan where you pay $0.50 per day — good if you only need it a few days at a time throughout the year. Their website isn’t very fancy, but the service is good.

Pure VPN

PureVPN offers a trial account for $2.50. There are three different plans, with varying access to services. Prices range from $9.95/month to $160/year. They offer a money-back guarantee, but only for three days.

Hide My Ass

Yes, I kid you not, that’s its name. They pretty much refer to themselves as “HMA.” Anyway, HMA offers a 30-day guarantee. They offer service at a monthly fee of $11.52, or you can purchase a six- or 12-month package at considerable savings, $50.66 or $78.66 respectively. They point out that they don’t have any bandwidth limitations and you’re not restricted to a single server.

Strong VPN

Strong has several different plans, with prices starting at $55/year. Their service looks a bit more complicated than some of the others, but they get rave reviews for their customer support. They seem to do an especially good job getting around the firewalls in China.

Overplay

Overplay only has one price, $9.95/month. You can access any of their servers, and there’s no bandwidth restriction.

Witopia

Witopia’s plans start at $39.99 annually. However, that service comes with a slower speed and doesn’t include SSL (secure socket layer), so if you want better security and your browsing to be speedier, go with the $59.99 annual fee program.

Securitales

Securitales emphasizes that you can access social media from any country with their service, but of course you can connect with any site. They have a free trial — for a whopping 10 minutes. The annual fee is $72, slightly more if you pay every two or six months.

Hide My Net

At a flat $5/month, Hide My Net was one of the less expensive options. It’s a US-based company, and they’ve been around since 1998 — an eternity in the fast-moving internet world.

There are many other VPN services, and you should be able to find one that meets your needs without any difficulty.

Do you already use a VPN? Which one, and what do you like/dislike most about it? Let us know in the comments.

Technology for Expats

Advances in technology have made it much easier for expats to stay in touch with friends and family back home, and even to work remotely from their new locations. There’ve been lots of changes since I last wrote about technology for expats.

While they may make your expat life easier or more convenient, the choices can become overwhelming.

One area that’s been changing rapidly is mobile phones. If you’re confused about all the information about smart phones, “dumb” phones, Android and apps, here’s some basic information that will help you sort through the muddle.

Unlocked Phones

As previously discussed, purchasing the right unlocked phone lets you transfer your phone service pretty seamlessly.

In most of the world, you can use any mobile phone with any provider. It’s only in the US that phones are “locked” to a single company’s network. Generally if you buy an AT&T phone, you can’t use it with Verizon or T-Mobile or Sprint.

However, by buying an unlocked phone you circumvent that nonsense.

(Note that Sprint, Metro PCS and a few other companies use a network that’s completely incompatible with the rest of the world. )

GSM stands for “Global Systems for Mobile Communications.” It’s used throughout Europe, Asia and Central and South America. Different GSM systems use different frequencies: 850, 900, 1800 and 1900. When a phone can use all four, it’s called a “quad band” phone.

For starters, look for a quad-band GSM phone. With it, you’ll be able to make and receive calls from almost anywhere in the world.

These phones use SIM (subscriber identity module) cards where the phone’s number and other information is stored. When you arrive in your new country, just sign up for new service and swap SIM cards. Easy peasy.

If you plan on traveling back and forth frequently to your home country, or living abroad just part of the year and you want to keep your same phone number in your home country, choose a phone that uses two SIM cards! So-called “world” phones can switch back and forth with the touch of a button. No card swapping required.

Smart Phones

A smart phone, in addition to talk and text, gives you internet browsing capabilities and the ability to use apps.

When choosing a smart phone, you should be aware of some differences in the way data is handled in different networks and select a phone that will do the best job for you in the countries you’ll be spending the most time in.

For example, the 3G network in the US uses different frequencies than the 3G network in Europe. A phone built for the European market may only be able to use a slow connection like EDGE in the Americas. (I found this one out the hard way.)

If you’re moving to a smart phone, you also have a choice of operating systems. There’s Apple’s iPhone, of course, or you can go with an Android or Windows operating system.

My personal choice is Android, which is the biggest seller worldwide. If you’re already using Google’s tools like Gmail, Calendar and Tasks, it’s a pretty easy move, and there are tons of great apps available.

Some phones, like the one pictured above, have actual keyboards that slide out when needed. They add a little extra weight, but are easier for some of us to use than the virtual keyboards.

Smart Phone Apps for Expats and Travelers

An “app” is a program for a smartphone. Many are available free and some of the most useful generally come preinstalled on the phone.

• Mapping and Navigation.

  In an unfamiliar place, maps and GPS apps are extremely useful. (Unless you’re so far off the beaten path it hasn’t been mapped by satellites yet.) Look for a GPS navigation app that will show you the map, a written list of directions, and will also talk you through the trip (in your language of choice).

• Translation

  You can find dictionaries, apps that will translate what you say or type into another language and “speak” it for you, and even apps that will take a picture of a sign or menu and translate it for you.

• Currency Conversion

  These apps will tell you what a price means in terms of your familiar home currency.

• Video Chat

  Programs like Skype and Google Chat help you stay in touch using your phone’s built-in camera.

• Games

  There’s nothing like a mindless game on your phone to take your mind off an extended airlline delay. Have you tried Angry Birds?

What’s the smart phone app you rely on most while traveling?




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