Two Beers and a Pretzel

I just ordered the “Free Pack” deal from Telestial.

It’s a Motorolla v600i with their “Passport Plus SIM card”, and includes about 300 minutes of airtime.

When I get the number, anyone will be able to send me a free text message, and I get in-country call rates pretty close to a local SIM card. The best part is that I have one consistent phone number for people in the states to get ahold of me when necessary. And, it’s a log cheaper than my $50/month + $2/minute from AT&T. It’s a pay-as-you-go global phone.

I looked into Iridium Satellite phones, but $1,000 for the phone + $35/month + $1.50/minute seemed a little steep.

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I also ordered a “Find Me SPOT” from my REI Store link for $149.00.

This should be pretty cool, as it will GEO-Tag my travels and automatically update a Google Map that I’ll put on my website. It also has some decent emergency response functionality of I get into trouble. Not quite as foolproof as a real emergency beacon, but a decent backup plan for casual travel.