Telegrams
Wiring Cash and Quitting Your Job
How to get cash to Europe in a hurry - Western Union.
Carpe diem. Vivere bene! Gratia Deo.
Chapter 19 part 4 of
HOW TO EUROPE:
The Complete Travelers Handbook
John Bermont
This entire book is published totally free on-line by the author, photographer, and webmaster, yours truly, with help from my daughter Stephanie. I welcome all questions, comments, compliments, and complaints. For contact information please see NOTE TO READERS. Updated 29 November 2015.
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Believe it or not, people still use telegrams.
This Internet edition of chapter 19 is divided into four parts because it is so big. The four parts are:
- Telephone Europe: Codes, 10-10, cards, cells, PTT.
- Mail: Air Mail, Priority Mail, PTT, Poste Restante.
- Internet and Email: Europe's Cyber Cafes and WiFi.
- Telegrams: Wiring Cash and Keeping in Touch. ⇐ You are here.
TELEGRAMS
PTT
Virtually all post offices in Europe have an international telegraph office. Blank forms are left lying on the counter for you to write your message. Telegrams are expensive but you can save money by allowing them to hold it for a few hours to be sent at a non-priority time. This makes good sense since daytime in Europe is usually nighttime at home and it probably won't be delivered until the next day even if you did pay for immediate service.
Reliability
I've sent telegrams a couple of times from Europe, but I wouldn't recommend it as a regular form of communication. Besides the facts that they are one-way communications and cost more than a quick telephone call, you don't know for sure if they get delivered. My batting average is one out of two so far.
Cash
Keep the telegram in mind though if your wallet is stolen. Western Union can send money by telegram almost anywhere in the world. Phone home collect and ask your closest relative to wire some funds over. This may keep you from starving on a park bench. Telegram services are available over the internet.
Take This Job and Shove It
I was roaming around Europe on a three month leave of absence from my job in Long Beach, way back when. I had requested the leave of absence because I had calculated that my marginal taxes for the last three months of the year would nearly cover an extended trip around the Continent. But somewhere in northen Italy I realized that I would not have time to get to Greece and then back to Caifornia in time. So I stopped in a post office and sent my resignation by telegram. I never had any regrets. Greece was great and I landed on my feet when I returned to California.
FINAL NOTES
Meeting Points
When you're over there traveling around in your newfound world, you might want to meet up with other travelers who you know are going to be in the same area as yourself. Or you might want to split up with traveling companions and regroup later. When you make plans to meet or to reconnect, select your meeting point with care. I recommend hotels rather than Amex offices, PTTs, tourist offices, or park benches. The lounge of a Sheraton, Marriott, or Hilton is a far more relaxing place to sit and wait for the other party. And the coffee shop and toilet facilities are available if needed.
If you agree to meet someone at a specific time and place, keep the date or send word that you can't make it. It might seem easy to assume that if you don't show they won't care, but it is not so. It will be cause for alarm and your friends will waste a lot of time waiting for you.
If you are meeting someone who is arriving on a later plane and you want to meet in the airport I suggest a coffee shop. Meeting someone outside Customs is problematic if there are multiple exit doors. There is always a crowd gathered and you never know when your partner will pop through the door.
Homeland Security
It's a good policy to keep in regular contact with someone who cares about you. Send a card once a week saying where you are and where you plan to be in the next couple of days. Or phone home on a regular schedule. It may cost more but sometimes it's worth it. Or drop into an internet cafe or public library and send an email. Don't break the communication chain or you risk generating unnecessary worry over your safety.
MORE COMMUNICATION INFORMATION
This Internet edition of chapter 19 is divided into four parts because it is so big. The four parts are:
- Telephone Europe: Codes, 10-10, cards, cells, PTT.
- Mail: Air Mail, Priority Mail, PTT, Poste Restante.
- Internet and Email: Europe's Cyber Cafes and WiFi.
- Telegrams: Wiring Cash and Keeping in Touch. ⇐ You are here.
Have a good trip!
NOTE TO READERS
I welcome questions and comments. If you have any concerns about your trip to Europe that have not been covered well enough in this section please do not hesitate to write and ask. When you write please include relevant details, per the folowing paragraphs.
I do not open attachments. I do not click links to web pages of any kind. I will reply in a day or two, usually.
Do not forget to smell the hyacinths. At your liesure scroll through the Table of Contents of How To Europe: The Complete Travelers Handbook and read all 30 chapters, FREE on line. Good deal! You'll probably find the answers you seek, and some you didn't know you needed.
My email address is [email protected].
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Plug adapters are needed throughout Europe. There are at least five models used in different countries.
Note: The highlighted #E number is purely arbitrary. It is meant to help quickly identify products in this advert column when you write in for electrical advice.
See NOTE TO READERS.
This adapter is for the standard grounded plug in France, Germany, and northern Europe. It does not fit in outlets of Italy, Switzerland, Ireland, and Britain.
#E-010
Grounded Universal 2 in 1 Plug Adapter
European Schuko plug.
4.8 mm prongs.
Equivalent to type E and F.
You can use this ungrounded Euro plug in some European countries.
#E-020
Universal 2 in 1 Plug Adapter
Euro Plug
4.0 mm prongs.
Equivalent to type C.
This is a universal plug adapter for the UK and Ireland.
#E-030
AC Adapter Plug for use in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland
Equivalent to type G.
Here is the Swiss version.
#E-040
Grounded Universal 2 in 1 Plug Adapter
Type J for Switzerland
Here is the grounded Italian model.
#E-050
Grounded Universal 2 in 1 Plug Adapter
Type L for Italy
This will come in very handy very often.
Fenix LD15High Performance
LED Flashlight