Late June, we had a wonderful vacation with a 7-day cruise to Alaska out of Seattle, Washington. Since I wanted to be able to download pictures from the camera, we brought our laptop along. Partly wanting to copy pictures back home (in case the laptop got stolen/damaged) and partly wanting to have Internet access in general, I decided to borrow one of the Verizon EVDO cards from work. It worked out quite well even though signal was quite variable even when in port.

Unfortunately, the last night of the cruise was in Victoria, B.C. Signal was strong so I was able to sync up our photo album and do a little surfing. Yesterday, I was asked by our admin if I used the card in Canada. Having just recently paid our AT&T cell bill, I had learned that data also has roaming charges just like voice so I asked “how bad is it?” Try $736.38. At $.02/k it adds up quick, don’t it?

She’s going to talk to our account rep and see if they would be willing to reduce the charge any. We’ll see. Worst case, it’s another glorious “live & learn” moment.