In Japan, the cell phone isn’t just a gadget - it’s a way of life.

This fascinating documentary takes viewers on a journey through cell phone culture, showcasing its numerous functions around the world.

Lots of great statistics and history about the cellphone including a remarkable story of a Seattle woman who was trapped in her car for 8 days, but luckily survived when authorities were able to find her by tracing her cellphone to the accident location.

Watch the full documentary, Cell Phone: The Ring Heard Around the World!

Yackie 101: What to do When Arriving in a New Place

The experienced traveler knows that arrival can be the hardest part of a trip. It’s probably late at night, you’re experiencing jet lag or either road-weary, and to top it off everything is new and strange. You may even need to find an affordable place to sleep, something to eat and drink, and your first objective is to find a way to get around. Whether it’s the first stop on a trip or the fifth city in as many days, every traveler feels a bit overwhelmed stepping onto a new street in a new city. The sense of excitement and potential for discovery ends up in the shadow of practical matters. It’s enough to make you wish you were back home. But having a good checklist of arrival essentials lets you head out into the unknown free to focus on the real adventure.

RULE #1: AVOID ARRIVING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT
Get informed about the timetable of your means of transport, and avoid arriving in a foreign city in the middle of the night. Obvious? Yes, but when you get there at 2 AM, it’s too late, you can’t do anything. You will have to choose between spending the night in the train/bus station or at the airport, or searching for a hypothetical hotel open at this late hour. If you’re arriving early in the morning, especially after an overnight journey, you might want to arrange an early check in with your hotel.

RULE #2: BRING ENOUGH CASH FOR TWO DAYS
No matter what city in the world you are arriving in, you won’t get too far on an empty wallet. A good rule of thumb is four times your hotel cost for one night. Know in advance how hard it is going to be to get cash. Sure, the guidebook may claim there is an ATM, but is it on the other side of town? (Not a problem in New York City, Bucharest or Barcelona, but potentially a tricky question in Cairo. Or Vernazza.) Also be aware that it is possible to have too much money– a stack of 100 bills won’t help you buy a bottle of water that costs 3 coins. Public transportation or even small guest-houses often won’t have, or won’t give you, change for large bills. Make sure to ask for some small denominations at the exchange counter or break large bills at the airport.

RULE #3: BRING A GOOD MAP
Don’t count on an open tourist office, if there is one at all. (more…)

What to wear on a plane — or more to the point, what not to wear on a plane — is a hot topic today for a number of reasons. Not only are we heading into the warm summer months, when air travelers commit a majority of these sartorial slip-ups, but the gap between what we should wear on a commercial flight, and what we do wear, appears to be widening.

MSNBC Travel Columnist, Christopher Elliot, recently wrote an article discussing “What Not to Wear on a Plane”. It should be read by every traveler.

Even if you’re just an occasional air traveler, you probably know better than to wear any of those on board. Heavy perfumes can fog up the cramped aircraft interior, sickening your cabin-mates. High heels? Uncomfortable on longer flights and unusable on those inflatable emergency slides. As for shorts, once the cabin door is closed and the air conditioning is cranked all the way up, you’ll be sorry.

For more on this article check out What Not to Wear on a Plane.

Who needs a travel adapter for their iPod or digital camera when they could buy the Solio Classic Solar Charger?

The Solio Classic Solar Charger is a pocket sized electronics charger that runs off of solar power. This little solar powered wonder can be used to charge almost any small, hand held device such as a digital camera, iPod, cell phone, and more.

The Solio Classic Solar Charger works by collecting light via its solar panels and storing its energy in the inboard battery. Power that has been collected and stored in the battery will be good for at least a year. This way you could charge up the Solio Classic Solar Charger battery and save it for a rainy day if need be.A cool feature for road warriors or eco-conscious travelers, is how the Solio Classic Solar Charger can easily be attached to a car windshield via the included suction cup. You can charge all your devices without having to buy multiple expensive car chargers or decrease the life of your car battery; all of which are great for the environment!

It takes about six to eight hours to fully charge the Solio Classic Solar Charger, with that amount of sunlight your cell phone will be powered for almost a hours’ worth of talk time and even more standby power. A mere hour in the sun could provide you with ten minutes of talk time.

Happy Travels!

Visit YackieMobile.com to discover ways to save money while traveling abroad!

The Yackie World Travellers are hitting the open road. This time they’ve landed in Eugene, Oregon. Here’s a brief profile of the traveling duo.

OWEN BOWLING

AGE: 24
SEX: MALE
NATIONALITY: AUSTRALIAN
DATE OF BIRTH: 20/03/1984
OCCUPATION: PERSONAL TRAINER
INTERESTS: SURFING, SOCCER, TRAVEL, FILM AND PHOTOGRAPHY

ABOUT OWEN:

Owen was born and raised in Hobart, Tasmania. At the age of 6, his parents packed the family into a station wagon and roll-up caravan and drove around Australia for 16 months. This early adventure instilled in him the “travel bug” and he has since traveled extensively.

In 2002, Owen traveled to Italy and spent time playing soccer in the semi-professional “Serie D” league.

Owen has spent the past 5 years working as a Personal Trainer in Brisbane Australia.

JAIME KOHLEIS

AGE: 29
SEX: FEMALE
NATIONALITY: AUSTRALIAN
DATE OF BIRTH: 06/12/1978
OCCUPATION: PERSONAL TRAINER
INTERESTS: TRAVEL, RUNNING, WATER SPORTS, FOREIGN LANGUAGE, ANIMAL RIGHTS

ABOUT JAIME:

Jaime was born in Perth, WA and was already traveling before she could talk – moving to New Zealand for the first 9 years of her life.

Moving back to Australia, she focused her talents in the sporting arena. By 18 she was rowing for the Australian Under 22 squad.
This took her to Italy, Greece and Switzerland. This international travel was enough to open her eyes to a bigger world and she has not looked back, having traveled to over 15 countries.

Jaime has also spent the past 3 years working as a Personal Trainer in Brisbane.

How it started:

The Idea began in December 2006.
Springing from the revelation that although fulltime RVing was a style of travel previously exclusive to the retired generation, now it could also be an option for us!
Through much discussion and online research, coupled with a desire to do something different, we discovered that it was not only achievable, but possibly the best way to travel!

Over the next 9 months, whilst each working up to 3 jobs at once, we planned a skeleton of a trip that involved spending 3 months trekking around India, 2 weeks seeing the sights in London, Flying to Canada, Buying an RV in the USA and then driving down to the bottom of Panama and beyond! The possibilities were then expanded with the introduction of the new Canadian Working Holiday Program visa, allowing us to spend up to 2 years in Canada working, thus opening up the doors to Alaska!

Catch up with them and their travels at Yackie World Travellers.

Yackie 101: SIM Cards

So I’ve been constantly telling international travelers to get a Yackie Mobile SIM card and I’ve realized that many people don’t know what a SIM card is. So here is another yet another tutorial that breaks down the basics of SIM cards.

What is a SIM card?
The SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card also known as a “smart chip” is basically the “brain” of the phone, providing cellular service as well as many other functions including call log, voice mail and SMS and GPRS (internet connection standards). SIM cards are the size of a credit card but they have a pop-out chip about the size of a postage stamp which fits into all modern GSM phones. The smart chip is embedded with circuitry and when inserted into a GSM mobile phone provides wireless phone service on a particular GSM network. SIM cards are usually available prepaid or on a contractual basis, however Cellular Abroad only offers the prepaid version which is the most popular because of the user’s complete control over how much they spend. There are no hidden fees or surprise charges.

How do I install a SIM card?
SIM cards typically are credit-card sized cards with a smaller SIM chip almost completely floating within the card and attached on one edge of the chip by some perforated plastic. The chip is approximately the size of a standard postage stamp folded in half.

Whether you are a frequent business traveler, or just a tourist seeking a reliable and affordable cell phone solution, the Yackie Mobile International SIM card is the solution. The Yackie Mobile International SIM card makes it easy and affordable for anyone traveling overseas to enjoy the safety and convenience of cellular service! As long as you have an unlocked GSM tri or quad bnd cell phone, you can benefit from using the Yackie Mobile International SIM card.