nov0caine’s posterous

Charter for safe overseas travel

If you're an Aussie thinking about traveling overseas, you may or may not have noticed that there are new travel intiatives in place in order to prevent sticky situations overseas. The Australian government led initiative, known as Smart Traveler, is a comprehensive list of the do's and don't's of activies within certain cultural enclaves around the world. There is some seriously interesting stuff on the website which is updated regularly. Here are some of the Smart travel tips, as reciporocated on the BackChat Mobile website providing information for global roamers.

1. Check the latest travel advice for your destination and subscribe to receive free e-mail notification each time the travel advice for your destination is updated.
2. Take out appropriate travel insurance to cover hospital treatment, medical evacuation and any activities, including adventure sports, in which you plan to participate.
3. Before traveling overseas register your travel and contact details online or at the local Australian embassy, high commission or consulate once you arrive, so we can contact you in an emergency.
4. Obey the law. Consular assistance cannot override local laws, even where local laws appear harsh or unjust by Australian standards.
   Check to see if you require visas for the country or countries you are visiting or transiting. Be aware that a visa does not guarantee entry.
5. Make copies of your passport details, insurance policy, travellers cheques, visas and credit card numbers. Carry one copy in a separate place to the originals and leave a copy with someone at home.
6. Check with health professionals for information on recommended vaccinations or other precautions and find out about overseas laws on travelling with medicines.
7. Make sure your passport has at least six months validity and carry additional copies of your passport photo with you in case you need a replacement passport while overseas.
8. Leave a copy of your travel itinerary with someone at home and keep in regular contact with friends and relatives while overseas.
9. Before departing Australia check whether you are regarded as a national of the country you intend to visit. Research whether holding dual nationality has any implications for your travel.
10. And lastly, don’t forget to stay contactable on your mobile with a BackChat GlobalSIM

 

Source: http://smartraveller.gov.au/index.html

 

#FML - Global Roaming Travel Costs

This is a regular topic of interest for me, not only because I'm your run of the mill average mobile phone user who knows nothing about sim card technology, but also because so many people discuss this issue all over the internet. The whole concept of mobile roaming is actually more complex than it sounds on the surface, and one trend that I've picked up from my short time on this planet is that people love to buy into things because they appear to be easy on the surface. Now, if you're not wary of the costs of international mobile roaming, this is just a heads up that you should probably do some research before you get crucified by the ridiculous costs of international mobile calls - especially if you're intending to use iPhones or any other tech savvy internet-compatible phones for data roaming overseas.

Oh yeah, the subject line of this post... FML? Highly appropriate when I just got hit with a $500 mobile phone bill because I failed to look into this issue before my travels to America. For god's sake man, take it from me, buy a travel sim if you need to keep in touch with the motherland!!

 

Michael Schumacher is 'The Stig'

If you didn't hear of the news, world renown British TV Series 'Top Gear' finally unveiled the true identity of its mysterious 'Stig' test driver - the man who thrashes high performance cars to their very limit. Nothing put a bigger smile on my face than to learn that this insanely talented man shrouded in a haze of mystery was none other than F1 legend Michael Schumacher. I grew up idolizing this guy on the race track and it's good to see him making a living and still doing what he does best. This guy has no feet, he lives on wheels. I guess he can't help himself really... Does anybody remember the time that he got accused of endangering the lives of his family and an acompanying taxi driver after he was running late for a flight and demanded the driver's seat in order to hurtle the sedan towards his target destination? And he got away with it too, because he is Michael Schumacher. The taxi driver was even quoted as saying: "I found myself in the passenger seat, which was strange enough, but to have 'Schumi' behind the wheel of my cab was incredible ... He drove at full throttle around the corners and overtook in some unbelievable places".

If you haven't read that story you can check it out here.

In the mean-time, I'm still in awe at this unveiling of the Stig... check it out the video!

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If you need a decent Roaming SIM service you should check out BackChat Mobile. They offer excellent global and data roaming coverage and rates!

 

No Pants is the New Black?

In the midst of my mindless flickering back and forth between music channels on cable TV, one can't help but notice the choice of wardrobe on some female pop-stars... None of them are wearing pants.

Am I the only one on planet earth who sees this new found trend? I mean, when did it all start? Well, we know that it started in the prehistoric ages, but I'm pretty sure that at some point in the twentieth century, women stopped wearing corsets and long-dresses made from lead and iron-ore and started wearing pants, the social aesthetic that is universally accepted. For years, pop-stars and actresses on screen wore pants (even though some opted to take photo's with them off), but when they paraded around on screen, they wore pants. PANTS!

But what about female sex sirens? Even they wore pants. Once upon a time, Madonna actually wore pants. In the 80s, Bananarama wore pants. Even Salt 'N Pepa wore pants (short ones, but they were still pants). In the 90s, unless you were in a Snoop Dogg video - you WORE PANTS.

Now, journey forward into the 'futuristic' age (The present, for all those playing at home), turn on MTV or VH1, and examine the wardrobe of many of the sultry vixens on screen. Lady Gaga explodes into the music business, never wearing pants. Even well-established icons, such as Beyonce Knowles, Madonna and even Christina Aguilera change the way they go about things -- In many of their film clips they are in fact, wait for it.... NOT WEARING PANTS. Even the soulful are opting to no longer wear pants... Take the singer Duffy for example, her music videos might not depict such pantlessness, but her live shows speak otherwise as she graces the stages wearing nothing but a skimpy pantless leotard and a Blazer.

I think it's safe to say that for women in this day and age, no pants is beginning to establish itself as the new black. With such 'in-your-face' pantsless antics so easily accessible to children on TV, maybe it's giving the wrong message. I don't know... I just really don't like Lady Gaga - it's like a man's head with a pantsless woman's body and the androgyny confuses my ability to decipher between neutral genders. What do you think, anyway?

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On another note, I'm looking at picking up a roaming SIM card for international travel for when I head over to Europe later in the year. I've heard BackChat Mobile have some pretty decent global roaming deals for prepaid call cards, has anybody here ever used them before? I've heard they're pretty decent. Anyway, until my next blog, peace :-P