How To Tweet & Blog From (Almost) Anywhere In The World

As National Geographic’s Digital Nomad, it’s my job to be connected—all the time. While on assignment, I have tweeted from all seven continents, from the middle of the ocean, from the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, and from the of inside King Tut’s Tomb. How do I do it? It’s not always easy, but after a few years and a hundred odd countries, this is what I’ve learned:

Wi-Fi

• Hotels

  : Before checking into any hotel room, I always open my phone or laptop settings and see if I can pick up a strong signal. If I foresee problems, I request a room with or next to a router. Though they are beautiful, old and elaborate European buildings made from stone are often the very worst for Wi-Fi connectivity. I have been known to check out of a hotel because the Wi-Fi is too slow or non-existent.

• Airports

  : I believe in free Wi-Fi and hope that someday it will become the norm. Already in the United States and Europe, several major airports offer free Wi-Fi, though the quality of connection ranges from ok to exceptionally bad. That is why I have an account with Boingo, which I use in every airport I travel through. It’s always reliable and strong. When all else fails (often in farflung foreign airports), I find the business class lounge with the strongest connection, bum the password off someone, and then camp outside the doorway, blogging away.

• Airplanes

  : More and more airlines are offering in-flight Wi-Fi, which is a trend I am highly in favor of. Unfortunately, having a present signal in the cabin does not equal high functionality. In my experience, I might be able to send out a few tweets and have a very stilted in-flight Facebook conversation, but forget trying to send or receive large images.

• Cafés

  : Gone are the days of “internet cafés” per se—Now we just expect all cafés to have internet and lots of it. When I need to upload blog posts, images, or video, I will camp out at a (quiet) café and let the strong Wi-Fi pour right over me. But like hotels, I will open my laptop, log on to the network and try out their upload speed before placing my order.

• Ask & Receive

  : The success of my job depends on being able to gain access to private Wi-Fi networks in restaurants, bars, offices, gas stations, and even peoples’ homes. “Please” works wonders.

• These things change all the time, but for the record, these are a few countries where I’ve had good Wi-Fi experiences: Mexico, Russia, Iceland, Argentina, UK, Switzerland, Peru, South Africa, India. And Countries where I’ve had poor Wi-Fi Experiences: Australia, Germany, Tanzania, Tahiti, Ecuador, China, Senegal, Zimbabwe.

Mobile & Cellular

• Service Providers

  : I do not advocate one cellular network over another. For example, even though I use AT&T, I find that Verizon works much better in remote parts of the United States and Canada—for me, I use whatever works best in the most places, which changes month by month.

• International

  : When I’m outside of the United States, I activate my AT&T international roaming plan. Presently, the maximum data package they offer is 800 MB for $120, which is a lot of data, but not enough for conspicuous consumption. To conserve data, I switch off any apps and functions that I am not using (especially email or Facebook). Apps like Tumblr and Instagram can suck up huge amounts of your data. Often, when traveling internationally, I only use 3G to transmit to Twitter, and I reduce images to the minimal size.

• Local Networks

  : I travel with a few unlocked backup last generation iPhones which I use with local chips in countries that are not covered by my international roaming plan (like South Africa of Zimbabwe). This is a much cheaper option and lets you pay as you go. (Surprising yet true, some less-developed countries often have much more comprehensive cellular networks than North America and Europe.)

• Accessing Internet with 3G

  : In Africa and India, I often use cellular USB dongles that plug into my laptop and let me to use the internet via the local 3G network. These are miracle-workers that get me online in the remotest of places. How did I blog from the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro (At 19,300 ft)? With an AirTel dongle connecting through a faraway cell tower in neighboring Kenya.

• Mobile Wi-Fi hotspots are terrific and growing in capacity. These are especially useful if you’re traveling in a car or changing camp from night to night.

Satellite

• Satellite technology is rapidly advancing to the point of being very accessible to everyday users. The downside of data transmission by satellite is that a split-second disconnection may cause you to lose everything and have to start over again. On occasion I have uploaded a video by satellite only after 3 or 4 attempts at 6 hours apiece.

• Getting a Strong Signal

  : Lean which satellites you’re most likely to connect with. Equatorial satellites are tricky when you are traveling in the polar regions because you are connecting at a very sharp angle. If you’re behind any mountains (even if you can’t see them), it can block your signal. Flat, open spaces are best for satellites, which is why I love deserts and prairies. Weather is also critical—the clearer the better.

• Portable Systems

  : If I am traveling to extremely remote places (Australian Outback, Sahara Desert, Siberia), I might take a portable satellite system with me. These are most effective in good weather and can transmit at speeds up to 500 kb/s, although I remember one time it took me 4 hours to upload a single image from a sailboat over the Great Barrier Reef.

• Satellite Phones

  : Every few months (it seems), a smaller, stronger, and more affordable satellite phone is released onto the market. These are great for emergency voice calls, and still improving when it comes to data functionality. For conventional satellite phones, I set up Twitter’s “text-to-tweet” function which allows me to send text messages from the sat phone that automatically publish as text-only tweets on Twitter.

• Access Points

  : To use Twitter at full capacity, I use satellite phone access points (like this one by Iridium) which creates a Wi-Fi hotspot from which I can tweet and upload photos (and sometimes blog) from my iPhone. This is not as easy as it might sound and I have found it to be a complex process. It can also become rather expensive when you start counting the minutes it takes.

• On Ships

  : Shipboard Satellite Internet comes with a fixed bandwidth, which means that it is limited. Whenever I upload videos or images from aboard the National Geographic Explorer, I wait until well-past midnight when all other passengers are asleep. Having maximum bandwidth to myself is imperative when sending anything over a few megabytes. Some of my one or two minute YouTube videos can take an entire night to upload when I’m out at sea.

There Is Always A Way

• Above all, never give up hope. I have spent up to 4 hours trying to send a single tweet from the field—and finally made it. When a tweet doesn’t go through, I keep sending it, over and over, until it does. Sometimes Twitter posts the tweet but doesn’t show you (which explains my repeat tweets).

• Be persistent and innovative. When it comes to connectivity, never accept the status quo. Whenever someone tells me “there really is no signal out here”, I take it as a challenge to find a way to transmit—and I always do. At the same time, never let the ongoing search for a signal compete with enjoying the place where you’re traveling. Telling the story is always secondary to living the story.