Computers and Your Exchange....

And a very happy New Year to you and your family!

Often your Vacation Home Exchange partner will be leaving a computer in your exchange  home. Internet access is actually listed on the exchange information page on www.homeforexchange.com. This is much easier-and certainly cheaper-than going to an internet café! 

On my recent trip when I did three exchanges, two of the homes did have a computer I could use. At my first stop in Rome, I had wifi and PC access at all times.

In Sardinia, they had left their laptop with an air card, but it turned out that online access was very dicey, so I really could only get on line either late at night or early in the morning. It had to do with their internet carrier, which clearly was overloaded. (It reminded me of dial-up days!) They bought a finite amount of time; when they had used up their allotted  time in the month, they would not get internet access until the start of the next month.

 In Aguilas, Spain there was no computer and no wifi in the house. I had to be really creative to stay in touch with the “outside world”. I had been told that there were two bars nearby where I could use their wifi; all I needed to do was buy a drink-or in this case a tapas. My English neighbors told me about the library in Aguilas where anyone could use the computers for free. I went there several times and never even needed to get a library card! There was always someone there who could at least tell me the password, even though they did not speak English-and I, of course, spoke no Spanish!

During these exchanges I took my new-less than three pounds-Acer Aspire One, which was perfect for this trip! It did not have an E drive, but I really did not need it. I loved the lightness of the Acer!

Depending on how long you will be away, you might want to sign up with a local internet provider and getting an AirCard. An AirCard connects to your laptop via an USB port, PCMCIA card slot, or Express Card slot. Some time these AirCards are also called “WiFi dongles”. I tried to do this in Spain, although I had been warned on-line that wireless plans in Spain were ever-changing. In addition, with my very limited Spanish,  I could not understand what I was buying. So I went with the library and the neighborhood bars!

 You will find much more information on line about AirCards.

 In my next post, I will talk about couch surfing. If you want a preview, you can check out www.courchsurfing.org