How to stay connected during travel season

If you're planning a summer trip, you need to do more than just figure out a way to pay for your ever increasing airline tickets, hope your flights aren't cancelled, take out a second mortgage to finance your gasoline or, if you have an electric car, figure out where you can charge it.

You also need to think about connectivity.

Your first thoughts about connectivity should be whether you even want it. You probably do want to be able to make and receive calls (hopefully not work related), and if you're driving, have access to your navigation app. But, if you're trying to get away from it all, you might want to take a holiday from email and work related messaging. If so, before you leave, see if your email system can send automated “out of office replies” so people who write you know not to expect an immediate answer. Also, consider disabling any work related messaging apps you might have or at least turning off those app's ability to send you notifications. Several years ago, my son and daughter booked a family vacation at a Mexican resort that had no cellular or internet access to force me to get off the grid. It was hard at first, but after a couple of days, I started to appreciate being unplugged from the world.

If you need internet, make sure you have a plan that won't cost you a fortune. If you're traveling within the United States, it's probably not an issue, but if you're leaving the country, be sure to see if there are roaming fees, which can sometimes add up to hundreds of dollars if you're not careful. Most carriers charge a lot extra for text messages and incoming and outgoing calls when you're out of the country, but they typically offer roaming packages that can reduce or eliminate those costs. AT&T, for example, has a $10 a day “international day pass” that