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The Baja LTVA – Things You Should Know

We’ve compiled some useful tips for living in Mexico from our personal experiences starting with;

Getting Money

Most Mexican Banks have cash machines outside. For example, there is an HSBC bank in Lazaro Cardenas, close to the town of San Quintín. Their ATM machines have both Spanish and English text. You are charged a flat rate of approximately 33 pesos (about $1.80) on the Mexican side and $2.50 by your U.S. bank. As the fee is flat-rate, you pay the same to withdraw $10 as $365. We suggest you withdraw the maximum of $7000 Pesos (about $365) if you will be staying here long enough to use it. Just like the U.S. and Canada, be sure to get your cash during business hours and not late at night. And surprise, you can elect to get U.S. Dollars instead of Pesos at most ATMs.

Eating Out

Many of the local restaurants offer great food at value prices. However, always take a minute and watch them preparing food. Make sure they have water for washing the food and their hands AND that they use it.

Online

Internet service is acceptable when it is up and running, which is most of the time. If you pay your bills online, we do so a day early to be sure we have a good connection. No matter where you are on the planet, Internet crime is a major factor. Additionally, note that when in Mexico, all of your searches and many times, website languages will be in Spanish. You can use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to avoid this. A VPN is a more secure way of using open connections and can also display your Internet-related pages from a U.S. or Canadian address. This can also be a factor from services that you can only access from your native country. We use Private Internet Access for VPN services. It costs $39.95 annually or $6.95 monthly. Summing it up, using a VPN is far safer than an open connection and a VPN lets you change where you appear to be.

Water

While Fidel’s El Pabellon trucks in salt-free water and Los Olivos has informed us they will soon be installing a reverse osmosis system, be aware that salty water can cause damage to your RV’s plumbing, including significantly shortening the life of the water heater. No matter what the source of your RV’s water, whether it be from Canada, U.S. or Mexico, a few drops of chlorine in the RV’s water tank to purify the water is a good idea. Filtering any water for your RV is also advised.

Weather

For those of you who have stayed at the US Southern LTVAs, you will be happy to know that there is far less wind here than there is in the desert. And though you won’t be cleaning up as much dust as in the desert, you’ll be sweeping out plenty of beach sand:). Also note that like about anywhere on the Pacific Coast, you will have many cloudy mornings and more cloudy days than in the desert LTVAs.

Baja Rumors

The worst thing about the Internet is that it gave a voice to people who perhaps shouldn’t have one. Also, people tend to believe the first thing they read without further investigation or thought about the source of the information and whether or not it’s reliable.

We decided to add this section after a person with a medical degree actually asserted with full confidence that Mexico wasn’t right for him because, as he stated, his vehicle wasn’t 5 years old so he couldn’t bring it down here. When asked where in God’s name he got that information, he answered, on the Internet! Worse yet, even after discussing our years of experience with buying and parking brand-new vehicles down in Baja and crossing the border at least 100 times with these vehicles and never having a problem, he still continued to believe the information he read on the Internet.

Another source, perhaps the largest source of misinformation, are Facebook, message boards and comment sections where anyone is allowed to make un-moderated comments. We reviewed a popular blog about Baja where someone posted a legitimate question concerning robberies on the road between San Quintín and San Vicente and asked whether anyone had knowledge about this. Instead of answering the question, the replies were about how to combat would-be robbers with bug spray, hair spray or pepper spray. If there was a legitimate problem with robberies, there was no mention of it.

As for Facebook, we have a rule: never use it as a source for reliable information! Facebook simply makes it too easy to publish and spread rumors, in fact it promotes it with their policies getting users on a quest for likes or to be trending without any thought of the consequences. Here is a simple check. See who is publishing a message board hosted on Facebook. Go to their personal page and see what they are re-posting and from where. Their page and re-posts will generally show their true colors.

We recommend doing research in places like government websites, legitimate news agencies and websites, not message boards, before reaching any conclusions. Having preconceived fears about Baja then reading some fly-by-night blog or message board to reinforce those fears, then communicating that misinformation to others, benefits no-one. Baja is not for everyone. If you’re afraid to come to Baja, just admit that to yourself and stay home. The danger with letting everyone comment online is just not working anymore. Worse, it can put people in danger or negatively affect their lives.

For reasonable people with real concerns, we will be happy to address those concerns honestly and point you to reputable websites with substantiated facts. We want to get you correct information, just as we have provided in this article. So please write us with your questions. Also note that we do not support a public discussion board but rather monitored comments by our members.

Update: Keeping Baja to Themselves. We just got some insight on where these crazy Baja rumors are coming from. A family of “Millennials” from Montreal Canada camped near us for a couple of days with an RV loaded with surfboards. One day we crossed paths where he was forced to say hi to us (ever notice how retirees are invisible to Millennials) and strike up a short conversation. He seemed upset when we told him we were creating the San Quintin Baja LTVA down here to get retirees to Baja.

He asserted that he had been living here for 3 years and made it clear that surfers down in Baja don’t want people to know “just how safe it is” because it is “their Baja”. Just like surfers are territorial in the water, he left no doubt in my mind that he felt the same possessiveness about Baja.

We found the same sentiment with environmental campers, or at least those claiming to be environmental campers, yet ran their generators as they had no solar systems, and bird and whale watchers who want Baja to stay just the way it has been through the years. So maybe these crazy rumors are coming from groups who want to keep Baja all to themselves and have found that scare tactics work best to keep people away.

To be honest, we feel as possessive about Baja as the surfers and the environmentalists we have spoken with. After all, who wants another Southern California down here? But, we feel senior citizens would be a great asset to the area. Their environmental impact will be almost non-existent in their solar powered RVs while their financial impact at local businesses would benefit the community down here.

Our experience with the locals is that most welcome us with open arms and “Bienvenidos”!

The Flip Side

On the other side of the coin are websites that are little more than brochures for Baja. Some are simply in love with Baja and their new home. Others are selling services and products to those visiting Baja. These websites tend to leave out any negative information about Baja and what’s happening here. While we can understand that they wish to combat the rumors posed by the others as outlined above, this can be equally dangerous. Two websites that fit this profile still offer valuable information on many services you will need down in Baja. We like bajabound.com. They sell insurance online and have many how-to articles. We also like mexperience.com which is Mexico’s own award-winning (by the Mexican government) website. Please be sure to use the available information and services from these websites, but use common sense when reading any opinions.

Question our motivation at bajaltva.com as well.

We too have an interest in getting people to Baja and the Baja LTVA. But consider this. There are, according to the BLM LTVA District office managing the main Southern LTVA campgrounds, over 14,000 LTVA passes sold during the Winter season, 11,000 at Quartzsite an 3,000 at Imperial Dam. We currently have only 200 – 300 LTVA sites available. We are dealing with people that will be here a minimum of 6 months at a time and will return every year. We only allow those over 55 years old to receive the highly-discounted rates. Ask yourself what would be our motive to deceive you? Does anyone think we want people down here where WE LIVE, to come knocking on our door because we gave them bad or misleading information?

Our only goal is to provide you with the best information we can, so that you can make an educated decision as to the Baja LTVA being right for you. We know that Baja is not for everyone and we thank God for that, as we have only one kampsite available for every 56 Southern LTVAers.

Please note that both Baja LTVA Kampgrounds and Members, can and will be removed for violations of the Baja LTVA standards. But don’t worry, our standards are about honesty and consideration of your neighbors. In our day we called it common sense and common courtesy. However, this ain’t California and we will do our best to keep it that way. The Baja LTVA.

Contacting Us

While we are building the Baja LTVA, if you want information or to come down this summer, you can contact us at [email protected].

LTVA: Long Term Visitors Area

Note: This article has been updated May 28, 2017 to reflect the recent changes to the BLM’s Northern California campgrounds managed by the Bishop Field Office. Additionally, the BLM website, https://www.blm.gov, has been updated and the links to their field offices and information on LTVAs no longer function. The information about the LTVAs and the long-term campgrounds as cited below is factual unless we get official verification from the BLM that it has changed, at which time we will again update the article.

The Long Term Visitor Areas, or LTVAs, were set up by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) to accommodate “Snowbirds” (ie, northerners who move to a warmer southern location in the winter). While the LTVAs only offer primitive camping, without full hookups, unlike the National Park and other Federal Campgrounds, you don’t have to pack up and leave after 14 days.

In order to stay in most LTVAs, you must be “self-contained”. As the BLM states in its Supplementary Rules, “Camping is in self-contained units only. Self-contained camping units must have a permanent, affixed wastewater holding tank of 10-gallon minimum capacity. BLM does not consider port-a-potty systems, systems that utilize portable holding tanks, or permanent holding tanks of less than 10-gallon capacity, to be self-contained”. There are exceptions. According to BLM’s Supplementary Rules, “The La Posa, Imperial Dam,and Mule Mountain LTVAs are restricted to self-contained camping units, except within 500 feet of a vault or restroom.”

For those who wish to camp year-round without having to move every 14 days, in addition to the southern California and Arizona LTVAs, the BLM offers five campgrounds in northern California that allow long-term stays. The elevations at these northern campgrounds range from 4000 feet to 7000 feet but summer temperatures will still get into the 100s.

Before continuing with information on the LTVAs, we have to interject here about the Bishop Field Office and the “summer alternative” for full-time RVers.

Bishop Field Office

Although never a part of the “authorized” BLM LTVAs, the Bishop Field Office did offer what they called LTVA permit fees for “long-term camping” prior to 2017. At that time, the permit fee was $300 for the season lasting from the first Saturday in March to November 1st. Even then, we did not understand why Bishop charged $300 for permits while the BLM El Centro, Palm Springs and Yuma Field Offices charged only $180 for their permits.

Now, according to the BLM press release, Long-Term Camping Opportunities Available in the Eastern Sierra, dated Tuesday, May 16, 2017, the Bishop Field Office raised their long-term rates by almost 300%. The following is an excerpt from the above-cited press release: “Under the program, visitors may purchase recreation use permits, which allow camping beyond the established 14 day stay limit for campgrounds managed by the Bishop Field Office. Those interested in long-term camping have the option of purchasing either a 30-day or 90-day permit. Under the approved permit program visitors can camp for up to 180 days per year within BLM campgrounds in the Eastern Sierra. The fee for a 30-day permit is $120. The fee for a 90-day permit is $320.”

From our personal experience staying at the Tuttle Creek Campground in the summer of 2016, wildfires seem to come from nowhere and are common and we had to be ready to evacuate at any time. Smoke often fills the air which is already severely polluted due to the draining of its once pristine lake by the city of Los Angeles. The area has a high cost of living and summer temperatures, even at 5000′, get well into the 100s. We made the mistake of staying at a campsite close to the creek which we don’t recommend. People walked right through our campsite to get to the creek and it was a popular place for them to spend the night drinking and partying very near our RV. In our experience, don’t expect help from the Bishop Rangers. There’s a reason Bishop is rated the worst BLM District in the nation. We cannot in good conscience recommend staying at any of the Bishop-run campgrounds.

A Much Better Alternative

After our unpleasant experience with Bishop’s “long-term camping”, we decided to find something better. We discovered the new Baja LTVA and it is a much better alternative for full-time RVers who need a cool place to go in the summer months. The Baja LTVA has contracts with well-established campgrounds offering unheard-of rates in this magnificent “undiscovered country”. A website is in the works providing all the information and documents you need for a fabulous summer, just a day away in Baja Mexico. Long-term campsites start at only $300 for beach access and views and a double-wide 45′ site.

Baja LTVA Update!

The Baja LTVA has announced the availability of Winter Season stays starting at only $300 for the entire 6 month season. Compare this with San Diego where narrow, 23′ beach access lots can go for $100 per day. Every Baja LTVA enjoys the same weather and beautiful Pacific as San Diego but lots are a minimum 45′ wide and average between 60′ and 100′ deep. $500 for beach front, $400 for row 2 and only $300 for lots in row 3 and beyond, for the entire 6 month season. All with fantastic ocean views and access for you and your vehicle. When walking along the miles of pristine Baja beach, you often find yourself totally alone, something that hasn’t been seen in San Diego for a long, long time.

You can contact the Baja LTVA with questions or to make a reservation at [email protected] while their website is under construction. Learn more from the Award Winning Baja LTVA Series.

LTVAs: Winter

The season during the winter months is from September 15 to April 15 and at $180 for a stay of up to 7 months, it’s a bargain. For short stays of up to 14 days, the permit is $75. The America The Beautiful Interagency Passes, or Golden Age/Golden Access Passports are not accepted.

There are six LTVA campgrounds located in southern California and two located in Arizona. The BLM Field Offices and their respective campgrounds are divided as follows:

El Centro Field Office: [Email]

Hot Spring LTVA
LTVA permits are required from September 15th through April 15th. During the off-season, April 16th through September 14th, visitors may stay for a maximum of 14 days within a 28 day period. There is no charge during this time.
Pilot Knob LTVA
An LTVA permit is required from September 15th through April 15th. During the off-season, April 16th through September 14th, visitors may stay for a maximum of 14 days within a 28 day period. There is no charge during this time.
Tamarisk LTVA
An LTVA permit is required from September 15th through April 15th. During the off-season, April 16th through September 14th, visitors may stay for a maximum of 14 days within a 28 day period. There is no charge during this time.

Palm Springs Field Office: [Email]

Midland LTVA
An LTVA Permit for Short-term or Long-term camping is required September 15th – April 15th. Camping is allowed in the LTVA in the ‘off’ season between April 16th – September 14th at no cost, but the standard 14-day limit for dispersed camping on BLM land applies. There is no Camp Host on site during the ‘off’ season.
Mule Mountain LTVA
- Coon Hollow Camp Site
  Short term camping without self-containment is only allowed within the Coon Hollow camp site but not in the dispersed areas (the surrounding desert area). A Special Recreation Permit is required September 15th – April 15th. Camping is allowed in the LTVA in the ‘off’ season between April 16th – September 14th at no cost, but the standard 14-day limit for dispersed camping on BLM land applies. There is no Camp Host on site during the ‘off’ season.
- Wiley’s Well Camp Site
  Short term camping without self-containment is only allowed within the Wiley’s Well camp site but not in the dispersed areas (the surrounding desert area). A Special Recreation Permit is required September 15th – April 15th. Camping is allowed in the LTVA in the ‘off’ season between April 16th – September 14th at no cost, but the standard 14-day limit for dispersed camping on BLM land applies. There is no Camp Host on site during the ‘off’ season.

Yuma Field Office: [Email]

La Posa LTVA
A Long Term Visitor Area Permit is required from September 15th through April 15th each season. From April 16th through September 14th, the fee is $10 per vehicle for day-use, $15 per vehicle for overnight use, or $75 annually per vehicle, for up to 5 people per vehicle. There will be a $1 per person fee charged for each person over the 5 person limit. The maximum stay is 14 days in a 28-day period.
Imperial Dam LTVA
A Long Term Visitor Area Permit is required from September 15th through April 15th each season. From April 16th through September 14th, the fee is $10 per vehicle for day-use, $15 per vehicle for overnight use, or $75 annually per vehicle, for up to 5 people per vehicle. There will be a $1 per person fee charged for each person over the 5 person limit. The maximum stay is 14 days in a 28-day period. For more information, please visit imperial-dam.rvhobo.net.

Long-Term Camping: Summer

The following information was valid prior to the 2017 season and will be updated if any verified changes by the BLM are obtained. Long Term Visitor Area has been changed to long-term as per the BLM’s press release regarding the Eastern Sierra. The Pleasant Valley Pit campgrounds in Inyo County has recently been added, also according to their press release, and information regarding that campground will be updated when the BLM provides it.

Bishop Field Office: [Email]

Tuttle Creek Campground, Elevation 5,120 ft
Open year round.
Campsite fees: First Come, First Served, No reservations accepted. $5.00/night per site, long-term permits accepted. Golden Age and Golden Access passes accepted for daily fee discounts. The annual long-term use season is from the first Saturday in March to November 1st. During this use season, visitors who wish to camp on public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management Bishop Field Office for extended periods greater than 14 days, must stay in the designated long-term campgrounds and purchase a long-term permit.
Goodale Creek Campground, Elevation 4,000 ft
Open mid-April to Nov 30, weather permitting
Campsite fees: First Come, First Served, No reservations accepted. $5.00/night per site, long-term permits accepted. Golden Age and Golden Access passes accepted for daily fee discounts. The annual long-term use season is from the first Saturday in March to November 1st. During this use season, visitors who wish to camp on public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management Bishop Field Office for extended periods greater than 14 days, must stay in the designated long-term campgrounds and purchase a long-term permit.
Crowley Lake Campground, Elevation 7000 ft.
Open mid-April to Oct. 30
Campsite fees: First Come, First Served, No reservations accepted. $5.00/night per site, long-term permits accepted. Golden Age and Golden Access passes accepted for daily fee discounts.The annual long-term use season is from the first Saturday in March to November 1st. During this use season, visitors who wish to camp on public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management Bishop Field Office for extended periods greater than 14 days, must stay in the designated long-term campgrounds and purchase a long-term permit.
Horton Creek Campground, Elevation 4,975 ft.
Open May 1 to Oct 30
Campsite fees: First Come, First Served, No reservations accepted. $5.00/night per site, long-term permits accepted. Golden Age and Golden Access passes accepted for daily fee discounts.
Pleasant Valley Pit campgrounds in Inyo County, Elevation about 4,200 ft.

The Art of Boondocking

Now you know where to stay for extended periods. The trick is to be able to camp comfortably without breaking your budget. Be sure to read our article, The RVHobo Art of Boondocking, written by a couple of seasoned RVers outlining how to stay for extended periods.

Save BIG With Your Existing Cellphone Technology

What the cellphone companies don’t want you to know. Our cellphone savings alone: $2951.40!

Cell Phone charges have become a major expense to almost everyone around the globe. If you want better services and drastically reduced costs, you should read this article.

Our goal was to break away and/or minimize traditional cell and phone charges while providing an even better user experience while saving BIG money! We are going to tell you exactly how to do the same.

If you already have a smart phone and high-speed internet connection with WiFi, you have the perfect infrastructure to start big savings right now. Continue reading Save BIG With Your Existing Cellphone Technology

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Camping With Two Great Danes!

Now what do you do when you need a motor home small enough to get into those great camping spots in National Parks AND you have two Great Danes?

With our 1977 Dodge Establishment motor home, we were really happy with its compact, 20′ length. However, that left two little problems. Where to put our six-year-old Great Danes, Abbie and Ellie?

At first we had them on their bed on the floor by the bathroom, the only place the bed would fit. This of course, caused problems getting in and out of the bathroom. The door would clear the bed but not the Dane on top of the bed, who when sleeping is almost immovable. Having Danes on the floor is always problematic. With a 20′ motor home, our open floor space is about 28 square feet and their bed takes up about 9 square feet of that. Their bed was also at the entrance of the RV, forcing us to run the “doggy obstacle course” when getting in and out. And, although we were comfortable in our bed above the RV cab, it is much colder on the floor for them. And these two do not like it too hot or too cold. They are, after all, Danes.

We have a lovely sofa area at the back of the RV, surrounded by windows. It was a comfortable place to work on the laptop and for watching TV at the end of the day. The sofa also folds down into a 40″x76″ bed. After a few weeks of the Danes sleeping on the floor and us doing the bathroom shuffle, we decided to convert the sofa into a doggy bed. Having them at the back of the RV in their own area solved the problem of hopping over them at every turn. They are also much warmer during the cold months. During the warm months, they get a fan directed at them or, if we’re able to run the A/C, the vents flow the air right on their bed. They are very happy with the arrangement and it didn’t take them any time at all to get used to it.

So now they have about 20% of our living space! We’re also limited to watching TV at the kitchen table. The next project on our RV is going to be converting the kitchen table into a butcher block counter top along the side wall of the RV where we can eat/work. This will eliminate the facing bench chairs so we can put in reclining office chairs. It won’t bring back the sofa, but it will be a lot more comfortable. The kitchen conversion will be the subject of another article.

When Abbie was about two years old, we noticed her stumbling a little when out on walks, with the stumbling getting progressively worse. A trip to the vet revealed she has CSM (Wobbler’s Disease). She has responded well to very low doses of prednisone, 2.5mg every other day. Then, about two years later during a walk, Ellie couldn’t walk. Whereas Abbie’s condition was gradual, Ellie’s was devastatingly sudden. One minute she was running like the wind, the next minute she could barely stand up. The vet recommended a surgeon but after talking with him and his revealing the fact that the odds were she could be worse after surgery, we opted to take her home without the surgery. We spent weeks rehabilitating her and teaching her how to walk again. She now has a gimpy gait, but she does walk. As a result of her Wobbler’s, she has to be helped in and out of the RV as well as onto the bed. She’s also on a higher dose of prednisone, 2.5 mg per day, which has caused her to gain weight. Being senior citizens, we’re very conscious of her weight every time we pick her up! We remind each other to “lift with your legs” to protect your back.

Ellie has never been a big tail wagger and with her Wobbler’s, is even less so. But Abbie’s tail seems unusually long and she’s a huge tail wagger, even with her Wobbler’s. This fact coupled with living in the narrow confines of an RV created a big problem for her. She would wag her tail so violently in the RV (she is a happy dog) that it would actually split it open at the end! Telling her to stop only made her wag it that much harder. A trip to the vet (and many $$ later) produced a bandage at the end and a dose of antibiotics. The bandage didn’t even last until we got home. Searching the Internet, we found that this is a much more common problem with dogs than we realized, and the reason why many breeds’ tails are bobbed (a solution we actually considered!).

We tried taping PVC pipes and pill bottles on the end, but this had devastating effects on any human males in her tail vicinity. After much trial and error, we came up with a solution that has saved Abbie’s tail (and many a male). Using heavy duty, waterproof duct tape and foam pipe insulation, her tail is cushioned and protected and if she beats it against objects or people, it doesn’t hurt. The trick with using duct tape is that as little as possible of the sticky side is against her fur and the “apparatus” is changed often (preferably at night when she wags less) to let her tail breath. Also, we’ve found that prevention is much easier than taping it after her tail is already split open. We’ve outlined the steps of protecting her tail with accompanying photos.

With Ellie’s Wobbler’s, she tends to drag her bad leg. If left unprotected, she would rub her foot, nails and all, down to a nub. We tried pre-made dog booties but found them too stiff for her to walk in. Again, after much trial and error, we came up with a duct tape solution which provides her with a custom-made boot where no sticky side of the duct tape touches her skin. Also, the boot has to be changed every few days to let her foot breath. Her nails also have to be protected because they have a tendency to rub against her skin and cause sore spots.

It’s a delicate balance with walking her. If she gets too long of a walk, it overdoes it on her bad leg resulting with sore muscles. If she doesn’t get enough exercise, her leg muscles atrophy. She already needs help to urinate and defecate so weakening her back leg muscles only makes those tasks harder. Also, she wouldn’t miss our family walks for the world. Everyone who sees here swears she’s actually smiling when she’s out and about. We’ve included the steps for making a flexible, custom-made boot out of duct tape with accompanying photos.

Travelling with two Great Danes does pose interesting problems, especially Great Danes with Wobbler’s. But when you love your pets like we do, there’s no question that every problem has a solution. And considering the alternative, not having these two, has never entered our minds.

GlobalStar: Satellite Phone & “SatFi” Hotspot

GlobalStar, the producer of the world’s best known Satellite phone, has clearly transformed itself since 2002, when we purchased our first sat-phone for our Baja to Alaska trip. Let’s start off with the basics: these phones work, period. Our first phone was about the size of the first wireless house phones, and can be seen at the bottom of this article. GlobalStar’s new sat-phones are much smaller, but still use the same large antenna that was used on our original phone. The fact is, anyone can use the phone to make a call. The main advantage is that you can make a call from just about anywhere (Coverage Map) and you can connect to the Internet with your sat-phone as well. Globalstar’s Service Plans range from $24.99 to $149.99 per month. The minutes range from $2.50 to $0.50 per minute depending on the Service Plan. That is a far cry from the $5.95 per minute rates of our first phone, with the phone itself costing us just shy of $1200. The downside of this great product is that, while it has come down in both size and price, it still carries a $499 price tag, and you don’t get a discount for signing a service contract.

Before we go much further, we want to be very clear on what the Internet connection available on the GlobalStar sat-phone will and will not do. This will most decidedly affect your expectations and whether or not you will be happy with the service. The data transfer rate is 9.6 kbs. For us older folks who remember things like DOS and Windows 3.0, that’s a 9600 baud modem that’s built into the phone. Now before you young kids walk away shaking your head, that was the hottest modem on the planet in the days of the BBS. Here are the GlobalStar Data Services Specifications.

Here are the Good and not so Good, realities of using a 9.6 kbs transfer rate:

Performance Good: texting and emails without large attachments (no photos);
Performance Better than Nothing: text-based websites, small file uploads and downloads (small photos);
Performance I Don’t Have a Choice: weather websites, pictures, files of 1/4 megabyte or less;
Performance Don’t Make Me Laugh: videos, large pictures (1gb+), etc.

GlobalStar offers a system they call Express Data that they claim will increase data transfers up to 5 times. Express Data is data compression software that you install on your computer that they claim, “is used to accelerate web browsing, web-based file transfers, uploading and downloading of all native FTP file transfers, and all types of e-mail and e-mail attachments”. While I have not tested it, experience tells me that it is highly specialized and should benefit users in many, but not all cases. For example, many websites already use HTTP data compression as defined in the RFC 2616 specification. We hope to evaluate GlobalStar’s data services ourselves as soon as we hear back from GlobalStar. Until then, we don’t feel qualified to report as fact the expected effect of their Express Data package. We look forward to an in-depth evaluation of their new data packages and will report a true evaluation here at rvhobo.net.

What we feel you can expect is this: The bottom line on the sat-phone Internet/Modem connection is that it will be there when there is nothing else, and texting and emails (without attachments) will work pretty well. If you have visions of game sites and surfing the web the same way you do from your Verizon or Comcast high-speed Internet connection, or even 3G for that matter, you will more than likely be disappointed. Think cellphones before 3G.

Top Shelf: We have been getting a tremendous amount of interest in these phones and their included Internet service. We mentioned them in our article on saving money with MiFi over cellular service, and how they can fill the gap for RVers who want to go up to Northern Canada and Alaska, or south of the border to Mexico, where cell service is sparse. Up North you also lose traditional satellite Internet service and even your RV’s TV satellite won’t work. They use special 4′ dishes up there. When money isn’t a problem, just get the new GlobalStar sat-phone and sign up for one of their Service Plans, and you will be talking, texting and surfing anytime, and from anywhere, your entire trip.

On a budget? A great surprise for Jenny and me while researching the sat-phone was something new, at least to us, called SPOT Connect. A little larger than a MiFi card, it connects to your Smartphone without a cable via Bluetooth. It is limited to text messaging, e-mail and emergency SOS messages that include your GPS location and a link to Google Maps, pinpointing your location.

If you want to keep friends and family advised of your trip, you can use the built-in interface in SPOTConnect’s Smartphone app and use your Facebook and Twitter accounts. The SPOTConnect device is listed with a cost of $169.99 with a yearly subscription of $99. That gives you SMS texting, e-mail and emergency service from anywhere. The good part is, your first year’s savings will be $712 over the sat-phone with the Orbit 40 Service Plan. That should help us travelers heading North and South of the borders to sleep a little better knowing we can get in touch when we need to, and still be able to afford to go out on the town a few times during the trip.

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