Travel essentials: international phone

Before I leave on a trip I like to arrange airport transportation. I've learned that is a lot easier to do from the comfort of my desk than to try to deal with the chaos after exiting a long flight and usually over 30 hours of consecutive travel. Most hotels will arrange this for you, if you just ask. You've probably seen the drivers with their little signs waiting for their pick-up. It rarely costs extra, sometimes it's even a courtesy of the hotel, and it is such a stress reliever.

In the event that my airport transport is not there when I arrive, regardless of prior arrangements made, I have found an international cell phone to be very useful. My employer pays for one for me...it's less of a courtesy than it is a necessity, because they want to reach me wherever I'm at and there is only one way to do that - an International cell phone. It's worth the expense as often as I travel, but even if it was a one time trip there are ways to do it on the cheap. Most service providers rent phones to travelers, or you can buy a cheap phone and put airtime minutes on it, or purchase a SIM card at your destination.

I don't make many calls on my international phone, but in the event of an emergency, or mis-communication, I am always glad to have it.