Really, what more could you ask for? Buenos Aires on New Year's Eve. Holy Cow. What a vibrant city. These people are wonderful, accomodating, a pleasure to be with.
I need to stop for a moment with all this gushing and talk a bit about the point of this blog as it relates to this trip. I am ALWAYS amazed at the fact that I can be in another country and experiencing another culture while still getting my work done. My biggest vacation problem in the past (we won't talk about all the other problems) has been my anxiety level. Without fail, every day of my vacations in years past, I worried about my clients and my work. Yes, I know it's stupid. I deserve a break. I should be able to walk away. Blah Blah Blah. Just never happens for me. I worry. That's just the way it is. So the idea that I can open my eyes in another country, have a great time all day, work a few hours then go back to the party, is an incredible breakthrough. Most people wait till they retire for this stuff but here I am, staring at the tango dancers in the park. One more Holy Cow, if you don't mind.
The ideal living situation on thyis kind of trip is to have a nice bedroom and a separated office with a great internet connection, preferably a plug in. However, a strong wi-fi will do though not as well.
In Buenos Aires, I came close to the ideal. No plug in, however. I played from about 9am until 3pm then worked until 7 or 730pm. Those times translate to waking up at 3am and working 9am until 1 or 130pm Pacific. Not bad.
I have found that Skype is inconsistent in its signal. Sometimes good. Sometimes a lot of echo or the other side simply hears nothing for a few seconds. Callvantage by AT&T seems to work well but all these services work best when you are plugged in not wi-fi.
What about snail mail? Yes, it still is a slight problem. I have an assistant who picks up my mail at a pobox then faxes it to me which I receive as an electronic file. The paper mail is probably the only real problem but easily solved with a little help from my friends. There are a couple of services that will scan and send to you. Earthclass Mail is one example. The problem with it is that you are charged by the number of pages they scan and send to you. So, suppose you get a letter from the IRS and IRS includes a letter to you that says your world will be ending on a particular day. IRS will also send a couple of publications that are generally worthless and probably don't pertain to you. The only page you need is that letter, one page. However, the mail service will scan in the publications as well. Needless to say, your bill just went up significantly and you really need 40 scanned pages in publications you don't need or want. I believe the problem will be worked out soon or, at least, so I am told.
