Entertainment Abroad

If you are like me-working a few hours a day financing your new Free as a Bird lifestyle-you will have many hours free each week. You will need to occupy your time with something. Here are some of our favorite distractions to keep ourselves busy and happy.

Digital Photography

As a Free as a Bird photographer you have a big advantage. You see things that nobody else does because usually you choose cities that are out of the traditional tourist circuits.

Why not use that advantage to perfect your photographic skills and show the world stunning pictures of these places.

There is a market for good photos.and selling them over the Internet can make it pay. This is a real and rewarding pastime. All you need to get started is a digital camera and Internet access!. Learn More

PC Satellite TV

Free Access to More than 3,000 Stations in 78 Countries

Television can be a mind-challenging pastime if you want to learn a new language. We use PC Satellite TV almost everyday for one of three things:

• Watching our favorite Canadian TV series in French when we are abroad.
• Learning Spanish by watching Spain TV Series, when we are at home.
• Exploring and evaluating new countries/cities before going there.

The PC Satellite TV is a piece of software that you install on your laptop to gain instant and free access to thousands of stations around the world. We use it both at home and abroad. Abroad we usually watch TV on our laptop. At home, we connect our laptop to our big flat screen TV. It works surprisingly well. In addition, unlike cable TV, you have zero monthly payments once you have it installed.

The quality is good (though not high resolution) and you need a high-speed Internet connection in order to get a good flow. Don't worry, it is 100% legal. See a demonstration here

Reading E-Books

Reading is one of the best distractions you can enjoy when traveling. With a good book you are never alone and time passes quickly during the long hours spent waiting at airports or on flights.

We no longer carry paper books. Following the new set of rules limiting luggage weights on airlines we have migrated to e-books and we love them.

We read e-books on our Nokia 770 Internet Tablet. The Nokia is really an interesting gadget.

First, it is cheap.

Secondly, the screen has a high resolution and it is large enough to view an 800 pixel website. Third, as the screen is back-lit, you can read in full darkness and believe me, the illuminating power of the white screen is amazing. You can even use it as a flashlight in an emergency.

Last, as it is an internet tablet with WiFi capabilities, we can surf the web, write emails, make internet phone calls with Gizmo5, watch videos, listen to mp3s, use spreadsheets, access our address book and dictionary, and even play chess and Sudoku. In fact it is a little pocket computer but it is not a cell phone, like the Apple iPhone. It is somewhere between the iPod and the iPhone. You can buy a used Nokia 770 for around $120 on Ebay. The new 880 is more expensive but much more powerful with a retractable keyboard and even a GPS.

If you like to read e-books click here for a huge selection that it will keep you busy for the rest of your life.