Make Your Smart Phone the other Travel Companion

When traveling, your Smartphone/mobile device can be a real friend to you when you're on vacation and/or business trip.


These are tips I use to put my Smartphone to work when traveling. They've saved me a lot of headaches and even made my journeys more pleasurable.


1. Put your passport info in your Smartphone. Take a picture or video of your passport(the information). Incase your passport is lost or stolen, you'll still have your passport information with you. This can save you time and some headaches for accessing that information and replacing your passport.
2. When traveling overseas, keep the contact information of the embassy or consulate offices in your smart phone. For example:, as a U.S. citizen visiting a foreign country, I'll keep the contact information of the U.S. embassy in that foreign country. Put it somewhere in your mobile device where you can access it quickly and easily, i.e. speed-dial or favorites.
3. Before you leave on your trip: make some maps of the areas or places you plan visit and put them in your smart phone. This can help save on your data plan. Particularly in places where there is limited to no internet service. Its great when sightseeing.
4. Inventory checklist. Take pictures or even video of items you have when traveling. If something gets lost or stolen in transition, you'll have visual proof of it. This is especially helpful when traveling with valuables such as expensive jewelry and electronics(camera, laptop, tablet, works of art, etc.) Record the serial numbers or any other identifiable markings of items into your Smartphone.
5. Pocket Ambassador. When traveling to foreign countries-particularly for the first time-have some information about the local customs and culture(s). Depending on where you're going; the kind of clothing you wear and bodily gestures you display can make all the difference between a pleasant experience and a disaster. Remember, something that may seem perfectly normal to you, may not be socially-acceptable somewhere else. Its also a good idea to have some language lessons in your Smartphone(video or audio recordings). You can fill your downtime(sitting in the airport, on the plane)studying the material so you won't be completely "foreign"…in the foreign country you're visiting. Not that you will be fluent in the language and a culture-expert, but it helps to have some familiarity with the local culture/customs, and some basic language knowledge. Depending on your Smartphone, there maybe...an app for that. I highly recommend this  for business travelers.
6. Perhaps the most important tip: before you leave. Call your carrier to make sure you have cellular service in the country of your destination. I can't count the frustrated or sad faces I've seen when a traveler discovers they can't make a call on their mobile device. But this is not a laughing matter, incase of an emergency. This is where it helps to know your plan. For business travelers and frequent flyers, I recommend a plan that allows to call anywhere in the world. For the vacationer, a pre-paid plan or calling cards should be suffice.(Footnote: it helps to have an unlocked phone in my opinion)


The take-away benefit of these tips is having information with you when you travel. Whether you're traveling overseas or domestic, these little details can help you avoid a lot of headaches if a problem occurs. They may even enhance your travel experience in using your Smartphone or mobile device in a whole new way.

How Lonely You Feel Could Impact Your Sleep

Feeling lonely at night? It just might be the cause of you not getting enough sleep.  According to a study from the Dept. of Health Studies at the University of Chicago; a cause for restless sleep or lack of sleep may be linked to how lonely a person is. Lead author Dr. Kurina, PhD. Says, "The relationship between loneliness and restless sleep appears to operate across a range of perceived connectedness.

In the study, Dr. Kurina and her co-researchers compared the degree of loneliness reported by a close-knit population of 95 adults in rural South Dakota by measuring their sleep cycles. Although none of the individuals were socially isolated, their perceived notions of loneliness varied, Higher loneliness scores were linked to significantly higher levels of fragmented and restless sleep. The total amount of sleep and the degree of daytime sleepiness were not impacted.

"Loneliness has been associated with adverse effects on health," Kurina said. "We wanted to explore one potential pathway for this, the theory that sleep -- a key behavior to staying healthy -- could be compromised by feelings of loneliness. What we found was that loneliness does not appear to change the total amount of sleep in individuals, but awakens them more times during the night."

These recent findings, - which appeared in the Nov. 1 issue of the journal SLEEP-were similar to a 2002 study published by the American Psychological Society.  It compared the loneliness reported by college students with their measured quality of sleep. The lonelier the students felt, the more their sleep was broken-up during the night.

The similarities among the studies help point out that loneliness and social isolation are two distinct concepts, Kurina said. Loneliness reflects perceived social isolation or feelings of being an outcast, the often-painful discrepancy between a person's desired and actual social relationships.

"Whether you're a young student at a major university or an older adult living in a rural community, we may all be dependent on feeling secure in our social environment in order to sleep soundly," Kurina said. "The results from these studies could further our understanding of how social and psychological factors 'get under the skin' and affect health."