Homesickness Fighting Tech- 11.21.13
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It’s amazing what you can do at home… while away from home these days! In fact, it feels like it gets harder and harder to get homesick even while bouncing around the globe. With internet available while flying, even that oasis is a tough one to claim being completely disconnected. With cell phone roaming getting cheaper and simpler, you don’t even have to worry about changing phone numbers or gasp being completely out of touch. In our first post in this travel series sponsored by Sheraton, I shared ways that internet resources can help you explore new cities like a local. This time, let’s take a peek at the little things you can use that keep you grounded and feeling like home no matter what time it is wherever you are or how many planes you just hopped around on… see the next page!
1. DoorBot + Lockitron - With the DoorBot, you can be anywhere in the world and answer your door. In fact, you can even see and talk to the person at the door on your phone! And if you combine that with their Lockitron, you can even let people in to drop off mail/packages, or perhaps, even let your guests in if they beat you home.
2. Nest Protect + Thermostat - When you equip your home with the Nest Protect Smoke/CO2 Detector and Thermostat, no matter where you are, you can control the temperature (intelligently!) and know if there are any problems - immediately through their mobile/web interfaces - and even do something about it! No more worries about not knowing if things are ok, or not being able to cool your house down if you’re gone during a heat wave.
3. Belkin WeMo Home Automation - Control anything that can be plugged in at home… from anywhere? With the Belkin WeMo Home Automation System you can control their special light switches and plugs from their app! Forget to turn the lights off? And you just landed in London? No problem!
4. Dropcam - Just because you aren’t home, doesn’t mean you can’t watch what’s going on at home and talk as if you were there too! With the Dropcam, you can quickly install a little interior security camera, which is a cloud-based Wi-Fi video monitoring service with free live streaming, two-way talk and remote viewing. Which i suppose gives you similar functions to the DoorBot (only inside, and less doorbell like), only you can watch the kids and remind them they aren’t alone, or keep an eye on your pets while at work, and even talk to them… though it may take some training for them to make sense of your voice coming from the little camera?
5. Video Chats - Wherever you are, so long as you have internet access, nothing makes you feel more at home than being able to video chat with your loved ones! (Or be at work for meetings - digitally!) My go to favorites tend to be Facetime, Skype, and Google+ Hangouts.
6. The World of Nike+ - When it comes to work out tracking, Nike has developed quite a world of apps to keep you going no matter where you are. From their Nike+ Running App that will even give you speed maps of your run (a fun souvenir of your travels?) to Nike+ Move App which makes use of the iPhone 5s’ abilities to track your various types of movements and activity levels day to day so long as you have your phone on you! Of course all of these are competitively tracking you and awarding you points as well as the ability to share and compete with your friends. And for the more hardcore, you can also wear a Nike+ Fuelband to help keep track of your movements where ever life takes you!
7. 7 Minute Workout - After the NYTimes Article about the 7 Minute Workout went viral - tons of 7 Minute Workout Apps like this one from Maria Santoso popped up. They are all a good reminder that no matter where you are, and how little access you have to a gym, etc. a solid (quick!) daily workout is within reach, so you can easily keep your workout schedule/routine of sorts going even when away from home.
