Bicycle Touring 101: Pocketmail device

These three pictures show how easy it is to use the pocketmail device to upload and download email.
The top picture shows the pocketmail device right next to the phone handset.
The last two pictures show the pocketmail device hooked up to the phone. All that's left to do is to press the big blue button and wait while your email uploads and downloads.
Click to enlarge.

The only thing I needed to do was to subscribe to the service to obtain an email account and register the device against that account.
Initially I wasn't sure how I would feel about this device. As it turned out I will likely never tour again without one!

With the pocketmail device I can easily keep in touch with people as long as I can find a telephone at some point during the day or week.

To use the device you simply place the speaker and microphone against a standard phone and call a toll free number to upload and download your email.

This device also works to keep your crazyguyonabike website updated so in addition to letting your friends know how things are going you can also keep your journal alive while you travel.

I've noticied that other people use internet cafe's and public libraries to do the same thing. Just to be fair I did that a few times myself to do a comparison.

Using the pocketmail device I can update my journal and compose/answer emails while sitting near my campstove while it's cooking dinner or just before going to bed. Other then the initial account fee there are no additional monetary concerns either since you dial up to the service using a toll free or local access number depending on where you are worldwide.

With the internet cafe/public library alternative I have to either pay more cash to obtain a computer or I need to wait patiently for a computer to become available and even then it's limited both in terms of time and the software that's available for me to use.

For me the convenience and low cost of the pocketmail made it an excellent touring tool!

For me my next tour will include the pocketmail device. To find out more about the device go to the Pocket Mail website.

At the website you will find a picture of the device showing the speaker/microphone setup as well as the full keyboard and screen that you use to type in your email.

The Pocketmail device