At The Airport In Korea

My four week vacation to the states has come to an end and that means back to Japan and life as usual. Which includes time for blogging.

This was my first experience in North America with my new found mustachian ways. My trip opened my eyes (or rather brought back from memory) the strong current of consumerism the runs so rampantly through North America (yep I'm looking at you too Vancouver BC). Transportation, shelter, health, entertainment is all ingrained in spending money. It's not an easy stream to cross once you've been caught up in it.

But that doesn't mean I didn't try. For example the last few years when I came back to visit I always reactivated my cell phone so that I would have it to contact my buddies, family, and of course emergencies. On this trip however I decided to go without. I did this for a few reasons. The first, obviously, was money. To reactivate and use my cellphone costs me capital which I would rather invest. Also my girlfriend and I often travel between the US and Canada and have used the phone while roaming. This can really jack up the bill. Previous years saw me shelling out about $100 plus for just a voice plan and roaming.

Another reason was I wanted to see just how difficult it would be to rely on things like free wi-fi at shops, restaurants, and hotels. I have an iPhone 4 in Japan and can still use it in the states when I can find wi-fi. Free wi-fi hotspots are more prevalent in the USA and Canada than Japan. With email, Facebook, and iMessage, and Skype I'm just about covered for all my friends that I need to contact (not just in the USA but ALL my friends ALL over the world). I just let them know ahead of time that I don't have a phone but would contact them in one of those previously listed ways.

So how did it work? Well at my parents place where I spent most of my days I was able to contact my friends, family, and my girlfriend in Canada for absolutely no money. Even when I ventured into my little town I quickly found the shops or restaurants that offered free wi-fi. I would generally just connect send out my message and be on my way. I didn't really feel guilty about this one bit. Their huge bill boards and shop signs expose me to the advertising so I figure I'd expose my phone to their free wi-fi. If I really had to make a call I would use Skype which cost about 2 cents a minute. I'll admit the Skype was iffy at times but I wasn't relaying life or death medical procedures I was usually scheduling a meeting with someone (which is content for a different blog post).

Even in emergencies this worked out. For example, on our way out of Canada to the US the alternator on my sweet ass right hand drive Honda Prelude went out. I know, I know. Not so sweet. But we were just a block from a Holiday Inn and the nice guy manning the counter there let me connect to the hotels wi-fi to contact my parents and strategize a plan of action (THANKS JASON!)

Now the car was a whole other emergency (and a topic for a whole other blog post) but my point is is that I was able to find communication with just a little bit of leg work. I'm not saying people should absolutely go without cell phones. But do you really need that bloated voice and data plan?

In the service of full disclosure I did keep my cellphone with me and charged so I could dial 911, or if I really needed it I could dial 611 and reactivate it. So it's not like I was totally out on a ledge without a twig to stand on. But my point is is if you learn where the free wi-fi spots are (libraries, coffee shops, hotels, your friends house, etc.) you could probably make it without a plan at all (assuming you have a smartphone that connects to wi-fi). It's also not all that bad as I couldn't text and drive or talk on the phone in the car. Plus it felt good to put some distance between me and the internet.

This is the kind of unconventional thinking that can save you thousands of dollars over the years and I didn't really feel a drop in security or ability to connect with my friends. Maybe it won't work for everybody but I'm now challenging myself to find situations like this in my life and find a more unconventional solution. What about you?