Comments on: A Nation Without SIM Cards? http://www.contemporarynomad.com/2009/08/a-nation-without-sim-cards/ Adventure, Culture & Travel Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:10:12 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: myeurop http://www.contemporarynomad.com/2009/08/a-nation-without-sim-cards/comment-page-1/#comment-584 myeurop Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:08:31 +0000 http://www.contemporarynomad.com/blog/?p=1679#comment-584 Hi guys. sending this message from Trent, my hometown, with a toasty 34 degrees today. (Last week in Madrid it was 44!!) I am not sure i should say "welcome back to the US". From your posts it doesn't really sound like you are feeling very welcome there. One word on alternatives to SIM cards: you can always buy a phone card and use it from any phone; or you can sign up for google voice (now free in the US only), or just try life without a cell phone ( that ain't bad either!). As for the "paperwork" now required to enter the US, keep in mind that foreigners are now under the domain of the DHS ( they used to fall under the DOJ). This means that the primary issue when it comes to foreign visitors is security. Foreigners went from being a "legal issues" (DOJ) to being a "security issue" (DHS) That's right: foreigners are first and above all a security threat. the DHS's job is in fact to deal with such threats. You may think that the treatment people get at the border is insane. It actually makes sense from the vantage point of the DHS: a threat is a threat, it doesn't matter if it breaths and walks. so, if i can't say "welcome to the US," i can at least welcome you to the third freaking millennium. O. Hi guys. sending this message from Trent, my hometown, with a toasty 34 degrees today. (Last week in Madrid it was 44!!) I am not sure i should say “welcome back to the US”. From your posts it doesn’t really sound like you are feeling very welcome there. One word on alternatives to SIM cards: you can always buy a phone card and use it from any phone; or you can sign up for google voice (now free in the US only), or just try life without a cell phone ( that ain’t bad either!). As for the “paperwork” now required to enter the US, keep in mind that foreigners are now under the domain of the DHS ( they used to fall under the DOJ). This means that the primary issue when it comes to foreign visitors is security. Foreigners went from being a “legal issues” (DOJ) to being a “security issue” (DHS) That’s right: foreigners are first and above all a security threat. the DHS’s job is in fact to deal with such threats. You may think that the treatment people get at the border is insane. It actually makes sense from the vantage point of the DHS: a threat is a threat, it doesn’t matter if it breaths and walks. so, if i can’t say “welcome to the US,” i can at least welcome you to the third freaking millennium. O.

]]> By: carrieannmarco http://www.contemporarynomad.com/2009/08/a-nation-without-sim-cards/comment-page-1/#comment-575 carrieannmarco Tue, 11 Aug 2009 12:07:35 +0000 http://www.contemporarynomad.com/blog/?p=1679#comment-575 Marco had this problem 5 years ago as well. It is funny, because after all the traveling I have done recently in third world, DEVELOPING countries, I find myself saying/questioning, "Wow! America is developing too; or is it?" And, I was going to comment on your blog about entering the US and all the paperwork. Marco got sent to a seperate room for interviews because he never reported that he was leaving America when we moved to Switzerland. He is not American, so he did not know that by law he was supposed to report his going home to immigration. Marco had this problem 5 years ago as well. It is funny, because after all the traveling I have done recently in third world, DEVELOPING countries, I find myself saying/questioning, “Wow! America is developing too; or is it?”
And, I was going to comment on your blog about entering the US and all the paperwork. Marco got sent to a seperate room for interviews because he never reported that he was leaving America when we moved to Switzerland. He is not American, so he did not know that by law he was supposed to report his going home to immigration.

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