4: Bring Your iPhone

That's a screenshot of my iPhone showing the travel apps that I got. They were all free. They've already proven instrumental in helping me pack efficiently, start to explore Spain, and visualize my flights. I'm not using my iPhone for calls because AT&T won't unlock it.

So why am I bringing my iPhone in the first place? Why bring two cell phones when I'm only planning to use one for calls within Spain? Doesn't that go against the very principles of packing light?

It's because the iPhone can do so much more than just make calls and send texts (in fact, the use of apps on any mobile Apple device rivals the use of its intended functionality). I can set alarms, use it to track my expenses, and take notes on the fly. Its camera is good enough that I can use it to take quick pictures. In moments of boredom, I can play games or listen to music. Most importantly, I can use the phone with just wifi to Skype with friends and family back home for free. I can post blog entries right from my phone! All I have to do is put my iPhone in Airplane Mode (so that it doesn't even try to find a radio or 3G signal, ensuring that I don't make or receive any calls or texts while abroad) and find a wireless internet hotspot.

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The Hulk

Tonight I tried for the first time to pack all of what I plan to bring into my 40L backpack, REI's Lookout for women. It's green and grey and got all puffed up, so I'm going to name my pack The Hulk.

Now as long as my bag doesn't get weighed at the gate, I'm good...!

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3: Get an International Number

Cell phones are ubiquitous these days. They're mutlitasking little pieces of technology--used for making calls, sending texts, checking email, taking photos, and listening to music, among a litany of other things. I'll admit that my phone has practically become an extension of my arm because it does so many things, all with a light tap on the screen.

But what happens when I go abroad? If you're like me, you'll still want to be able to call and text other people. During the program in Spain, it will be helpful even if not everyone has a cell phone because I can be the main point of contact for a group of people. Since I'm planning on couch surfing after the program is over, I will need a number so that I can contact my hosts, and vice versa. And if my friends or family ever really needed to hear my voice in the next two and a half months, it can happen inexpensively.

After researching AT&T's international roaming plans, I decided against using my iPhone as my primary phone while in Europe (but since it is an extension of my arm, I'm still going to bring it--more about that later). The cheapest way, I've found, is to use a phone that you already own with an international SIM card. Without getting too technical, the Subscriber Identity Module card stores information about the phone's number, the contacts stored in the phone, and, most importantly, the network that the phone can use. Because phones are usually locked into one network regardless of what SIM card is used, the phone must be unlocked before an international SIM card will work.

I have a cheap Samsung A107 GoPhone that I used for a week when I was waiting for a different phone to be repaired--good thing I kept it. AT&T gave me an unlock code, but the screen still displayed "WRONG CARD" with the international SIM card in it--I wasn't even given a chance to enter the unlock code! A quick Google search, though, led me to a sketchy string of numbers that I entered into the phone... and BOOM! It worked!

And now I have a number based in the United Kingdom that will cost me $.59 per minute for outgoing calls and $.40 per outgoing text message. But incoming calls and texts are free! I got my international SIM card from GO-SIM.

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2: Have a Purpose

Historically, the Grand Tour was a traditional trip through Europe to study Classical architecture, a rite of passage for the young architect. An analogous tour for an Architecture student like me in today’s modern, global context is both strikingly similar yet completely different in purpose.

I am doing an Architectural Summer Studio in Guardamar de Segura, Spain, because it will be my Grand Tour to support my educational and career goals.

Studying at UC Berkeley has shown me how internationally connected the architectural profession is, which makes understanding other countries’ histories and cultures increasingly important. This is especially urgent in a world where attention to sustainability in environmental design is a global concern because it affects everyone on the planet. My education in Spain will provide a global understanding of the world, a competitive characteristic especially in these economic times. This new understanding will benefit my career because I will be able to approach design problems in different ways and use my experience to start to create a global network that connects me to architects in other countries. 

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1: Research Never Ends

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Hello World

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