Adventures in the Portable Office
Part of this trip across the pond was to see just how portable my office could be. I already deal with most of my clients remotely, even the ones in Montreal, so I was pretty well set up before I left. My biggest challenge to solve before I left seemed to be phone and Internet access. Travelling in the US, phone isn't a problem because the Canadian and American cellular networks use the same technology. This is not the case between Europe and Canada.
Well, I'm pleased to report so far so good.
I picked up a pay-as-you-go mobile phone and international calling card once I arrived and gave the number to all my clients for emergency contact. I also use it to access my voicemail from my regular Canadian phone. I've also got skype, which keeps costs low. It's not perfect. I find myself missing my phone and the convenience of getting eail on it, but no biggie.
For Internet, I didn't want to be tied to wifi hotspots, so I got a pay-as-you-go mobile broadband dongle. Overall I'm quite happy. I've only been in one area where there was no service (and in all fairness there was no mobile service there either), and when I'm in an area with clear reception the speed is good. It works on the train quite well too. I did a video conference call last week which went pretty smoothly, and an online meeting today that also went smoothly. My dongle was about $80 CDN for the initial investment, and I'm paying about $20 for 3 GB usage, of which I've used maybe 10% in the last week. that includes downloading some pretty big files plus the video conferencing and skype. I works out cheaper than what I pay monthly for broadband back in Canada!
The downside to the dongle is that I can't connect my iTouch to it. I find myself missing its wifi convenience. I think I may be one step closer to an iPhone. On the other hand, my cousin's man showed me his Samsung which seems to do everything an iPhone can and the Interface isn't bad. I do like the iPhone/iTouch apps though.
For portability I have an ultraportable, 10", 2.3 lb laptop. It has a keyboard that feels full size to me, but I think it's 90%. The plan was to use it for taking to client meetings, adboards and conferences since it has a fabulous battery life and is so light. It's also great for travelling. It's the size of a trade paperback so It fits into my purse and away I go. I can use the dongle on it to connect to the Internet. I can also combine skype and bluetooth on it to talk to clients while I'm on the train on in a cafe.
My only problem has been when I wanted to print something. Sometimes it is easier to look at something in print than on screen. But I suspect even that could be overcome by using business centres.
All in all i'm quite pleased.