tranfree issue 47 - 25 April 2002

Working While Abroad - the detailed followup

By Alex Eames

In tranfree issue 38 - 21st August 2001, I wrote an article about working while abroad. The background to this is that we spend time every year in Poland. Many translators are in a similar position. They want to spend time abroad with friends and family - often in their home country.

But at the same time, we do not want to throw away the businesses that we have worked so hard to build. So how can you have your cake and eat it?

After the last article, several people wrote asking for more information about specific issues facing the travelling translator. So, since we are in Poland for Easter, I've had the chance to re-visit some of the main problems. And I've also managed to get myself into a couple of new problems.

This material is mostly based on the person wanting to translate from one of two or more 'base' locations. Some of the ideas could be adaptable if you want to travel more extensively.

Voltage

Before we start, you must make sure that the voltage in the country you visit is compatible with your equipment. And aso that the plugs on your equipment will fit (or buy adaptors).

In the UK, we use 240V, In mainland Europe it's 220V, but this works fine on 240V equipment. In the USA, I believe it's 110V.

Hardware

Let's start with the hardware. To be a travelling translator you will need to have all of the following...

• Computer
• Printer
• Phone line
• ISP - local or global
• modem + cable(s)
• telephone adaptors (always cheaper in-country)
• Fax to Email service
• Call divert or someone to relay your contact details. Call divert is better because it is seamless (and you pay the extra - which is fair)
• Mobile phone - divert main phone to this unless you are static

Let's look at each of these in a little more depth...

Computer

It can either be a desktop, which you leave in your destination or a laptop, which you carry backwards and forwards.

It depends how mobile you are or plan to be. It also depends on your mode of transport. If you go by car, you can pretty much take whatever you like. We usually have two main destinations in Poland, and travel by plane, so we bring our laptop's with us.

You might be tempted to bring your last year's model desktop over and leave it in your 'occasional' destination. but you quickly get use to this year's technology and the frustrations of having to go back might outweigh the benefits of this approach.

Plus all your email address books, web bookmarks and other things that save you time will probably be out of date on your old computer. You'd be surprised at how many changes you make in just a few months.

Printer

Don't deceive yourself that you can manage without one. You absolutely can't! There will never be a good substitute for a full readthrough of a printed copy.

We have a fairly old Hewlett Packard Deskjet 340. It's a portable printer which we leave in Poland. The fact that it is portable means we can take it between our two locations in-country conveniently.

I'll be honest. I detest this printer. The sheet-feeder doesn't work properly and the cartridge keeps jamming. But since we only use it occasionally, it has not been thrown across the room just yet.

When we come here by car, usually once a year in summer, we bring a 'proper' printer with us.

Phone line

Unless you're planning to rack up huge mobile phone bills for a very slow connection, you'll need a conventional phone line. In most countries this is not a problem these days, but there are still some areas where not everybody has a phone.

ISP - local or global?

You will need an ISP - Internet Service Provider in order to collect and send emails, have access to the web etc.

I used to use CompuServe, since they had agreements with companies in all countries. But for some reason, the one in Poland stopped working last year. So at that time I was forced to look for a local provider. I'm glad I did.

I found a local provider through a friend and the benefits are...

• calls are local rather than between towns (much cheaper)
• access speed is quicker than the old CompuServe network

So my recommendation is to go for a local provider if you can find one that other people recommend.

A global provider may be desirable if you plan to move around the world a lot.

Modem + cable(s)

No problem, I thought. My wife has an identical modem. Her cable is bound to be in her laptop case. :( It wasn't!

Rats! - How am I going to run my web business for the next 2 weeks without internet access?

Then I remembered that we left an old Motorola 28.8 modem in Poland. I wonder if the drivers for that are included as part of Windows 98? Hallelujah - they were!

I never thought I'd be saying Hallelujah for 28.8 internet access when I have a 500k cable connection at home, but there you go. It's an awful lot better than nothing at all.

You will need a modem. I recommend a 56k portable modem. And don't forget to take all the modem cables and attachments with you. :(

Telephone adaptor(s)

You can buy telephone adaptors for all countries from PC catalog companies. But they are ALWAYS cheaper in the country where you will be using them. In 1997 we paid 40 GBP, that's ~60USD for a Polish telephone adaptor (bought in the UK). I think you can buy a whole set for that price now, but...

Do you know how much they cost in Poland?

1 GBP, (~1.5USD)

Some difference. But if you want the peace of mind in advance it can be worth paying the extra - Your choice! Unless you are going to a really primitive place, you'll probably be better off buying when you get there. Many phone systems accept the American style plugs, or have adaptors for them anyway.

Fax to Email service

There are several services dotted about the web which will give you your own dedicated fax number free. The great thing about this is that you give them your email address and if any faxes are sent to your number, you will receive them as a TIFF file in your email.

So this means that you can receive faxes while away from your base. As long as you have an internet connection that lets you collect your email.

This is an important facility to have because many of our translation projects still come in by fax.

One of the largest of this kind of provider is...

http://www.efax.com/

But there are loads more if you search under the terms... "fax to email"

Call Divert

This depends on your telephone provider. We have an account with British Telecom and we pay for a service called "call diversion".

When we go away on a "working holiday", we set it so that whenever anyone calls our phone number, it is redirected to our mobile phone. [Of course we don't do this when we're having a proper resting holiday.]

So wherever we are in the GSM world, we are available to take calls if we have our mobile phone switched on. The only part which does not work in Poland is the voice-mail on our mobile service (but it works in Germany). So we make sure that the phone is switched on during UK working hours.

We also try to keep calls fairly short because we have to pay the "international" part of the charge.

In fact I usually tell clients fairly early in the conversation that we are in Poland. Then they...

• realise how dedicated we are
• keep it short naturally

Mobile Phone

I've already covered this in the previous section. Unless you are going to stay in the same place all the time while abroad, you definitely need one of these.

Check that the one you have/buy will work properly in the country(ies) you wish to visit.

Summing Up

Taking advantage of the technology available to you, it is definitely possible to keep your business going even while you are abroad.

Do it as I describe above, and it will be possible to run your business almost as if you were back at your base. I still miss my cable connection when I go abroad though. :(

If you want to spend time abroad with your friends or relatives, this situation is ideal. If you hate winter and want to escape to a warmer climate, it is also ideal.

But if you buy an expensive holiday somewhere really nice, leave your computers and mobile phones at home and enjoy the rest. [We're going to Egypt for a week and it'll be no computers for a whole week - just diving, snorkelling and taking pictures of colorful fish.]

Alex Eames is the founder of translatortips.com,
editor of tranfree and author of the eBook...

How to Earn $80,000+ Per Year as a Freelance Translator
http://www.translatortips.net/ht50.html

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