I interrupt my usual travel blog for a message of self pity and annoyance. One interesting thing about traveling internationally is that you suddenly find yourself locked out of internet services based on the location you are logging in from. The internet originally was a borderless open access utopia where anyone in the world could access any information. More and more the internet is drawing lines in the electronic sand and closing out services to people based on location.
For instance, on my second trip to India I was unable to access my BofA account at all simply because my IP address showed India. There are several services I fork out my hard earned cash for that I cannot access outside the US, i.e. Netflix Online. The one service that irratates me the most when I am overseas is the inability to access Hulu.com or any video streaming service. Generally I am able to overcome these little techincal difficulties with a bit luck and knowledge. One thing that I have yet to overcome is the streaming video blocks on users outside the US!! All the solutions are either completely unworkable or too frustrating for words.
What I don't understand is why I, as a US citizen, am unable to get access to services that I pay for in the US. I can cheerfully download plans to build a bomb but god forbid we allow people outside the US to stream Fantasy Island episodes. Surely there is someway they could find that would allow US citizens traveling internationally to access the same services they receive at home? An electronic passport?
End self pitying post... will return you to the usual travel stuff later.
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