Following is a list of links, tools and services for expatriates of all kinds living overseas and abroad worldwide. Many of these links and services have been very useful for us.

Home -> Links, Tools and Resources

Getting the News

I highly recommend signing up for the daily BBC news headlines delivered by email fto stay on top of world news.  Choose the categories of headlines you want to see.  Google News is also worth checking for a broad spectrum of current and breaking news. You may enjoy Wired News for the technical reporting, and the New York Times for the focus on US news.  For longer articles, check out Time Magazine (and Time Europe and Time Asia). Finally, just to cover all the bases (and sometimes the news before it breaks) try reading the Drudge Report.

For a daily dose of Dilbert by email, sign up at Dilbert.com.  More comics by emails are available at Comics.com and KingFeatures.com.

Blogs

Blogs ("web logs") are "IN" and a great potential source of news, humor, insights and anything you can think of.  The best way to explore blogs is to start with a few that you like, then start following the trail of other blogs linked to each other.  Normally, I recommend Google to find anything, but blogs are a more organic and personal thing than mere information.

Here are a few examples that can help get you started:

• Instapundit - is a super popular news blog with short texts and links to breaking stories

• Photosensibility - is a photo blog about life in Japan (and Asia) written by yours truly

• Huntington Post is a leftward leaning group blog and Andrew Sullivan has a thoughtful blog that tilts to the right

• Wayne Jacobsen - has a very interesting blog about living in faith outside the box of religion

• JordonCooper.com - is simply eclectic and a good read

There are MANY more (probably 10 million or more by now).  You can take it from here.  And if you want to start your own blog, you can read blogs to learn how.

Cool Services

I'm a big fan of Amazing Mail. Use Amazing Mail from anywhere in the world to create high quality, full color postcards.  AmazingMail will print your postcards (on good paper with a glossy, protective coating) and send them by postal mail. The total cost, including first class delivery anywhere in the world, is less than $1 per card. 

Cheap Long Distance Rates

See Dial-Abroad.org for very cheap long distance rates. You'll find sections with cheap rates in the USA and for cheap rates worldwide, including articles and tips. If you're in a country with super high international rates and seemingly no alternatives, don't miss the callback service from UWT.

PayPal is another great service, and it's almost essential if you shop on EBay.  I've had no trouble finding sellers on EBay willing to deliver to international addresses.  It's a great deal, and PayPal is one of the best web services ever conceived.  I went through a lot of hassle to set up another bank account (with Wells Fargo) just so that I could use PayPal.

Finally, here are credit cards that I recommend for people who live or travel abroad .

For Expatriates

You'll find plenty of information and links at Escape Artist.com, the mother of all expat sites.  For less chaos and more readily accessible information, you may appreciate Transitions Abroad.com.

I really don't want to start listing more expat links here, because the two sites above have it covered.

Many expatriates living overseas are missionaries, so here are a few sites just for you.  Go to Brigada.org and sign up for Brigada Today (an email list with thousands of subscribers).  Oscar.org.uk has loads of links and information.