Obviously
we can't give you advice on your particular country: what you need to
thrive in Nepal versus what helps in Ghana is beyond our scope. But
here are some universals about being an American abroad:
Voting
Arrange for this before you leave. My home state of Washington has already moved to voting by mail, so the procedures for expats (and military folks stationed abroad) are shockingly easy: they email you a notice to get your ballot online, you fill it out, print it, sign it, scan (or fax) it back,and you're done. Other states may require more onerous procedures and might need you to show up in person before they believe you're relocating to Botswana and can't come to the polls on election day. The requirements for overseas voting should be available on your state's elections web page.
For you recent grads who have lived (and registered to vote) in multiple states in the last 5 years, if you have a choice of "permanent" addresses (parents, your former residence, your grad school residence/ the person acting as your mail drop), researching the absentee voter laws in the possible states might help you decide which is the better choice. But if your parents (or mail drop friend) have moved on to a place you have never lived, don't choose them as a voter registration home, because that's fraud. Again, some states are stricter than others about how long you can be away and return before you (re)register and where your "home" is when you're overseas- most state election FAQs will cover this.
In most cases the US Embassy can 't help you vote while you live abroad. so don't go over thinking you can get a ballot for presidential elections there. But DO register with the US embassy when you arrive; in the case of emergency (in my case, tsunami alerts) they will keep you updated as to emergencies that may require evacuation. You may also get invited to their official events (4th of July, election day party, etc)- or you may not; it depends on the embassy.
What about online stuff? (or, can I keep my Netflix and Hulu subscriptions)
Depending where you live, it may be a good idea to get a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to obscure your online traffic. Even before all the Snowdon news, there were countries that openly admitted that they monitored the online activities of residents. Look at a place like Thailand: it went from "stable but under a questionable government" to martial law over a pretty short period of time. Even if you don't intend to post blog entries critical of the current government, a VPN might be a good precaution in case you write something accidentally provocative. I've used hidemyass.com just to keep my nose clean when chatting with folks back home or looking at facebook links from sources I don't entirely recognize.
If you are already subscribing to a VPN to make it appear that your online activity originates in the USA, you might find this also makes it appear that you are currently in the US when you access other internet sites that prefer you to be in America before you can watch TV episodes.
Alternatives to Amazon
You may find that amazon doesn't ship to where you are, or that the fees and duties are not cost effective. Consider using a re-shipper (see below) or choosing an alternate vendor. http://www.bookdepository.com/ doesn't have the deep discounts of amazon, but provides free shipping to many parts of the world not served by amazon. Many of my friends in Fiji swear by them. You might also consider purchasing e-books (even if you don't have an e-reader, you can get an emulator for your laptop) online, or download for free from your public library back home.
A strategy that often works is to determine when other expats at your library/institution or in your social circle are going to the US/Western places and have them bring things back for you- and be willing to return the favor in your travels. I have brought back requested things that were difficult (or impossible) to find in Fiji (a Frisbee brand frisbee) that took up minimal space in my luggage but were appreciated way beyond the US$8 I spent on them.
When ordering online or having things brought over, be wary of voltage/plug/format issues. It's fine to ask someone to bring you books or art supplies from Hong Kong, but an electric toothbrush or DVD from there may not work where you are.
Using re-shippers
Re-shippers give you an address you can have goods shipped to, and then they will re-ship those boxes to you in your foreign country. For example, I use Aramex Shop and Ship service (https://www.shopandship.com/home) which gives me a shipping address in the following countries: UAE, Germany, Hong Kong, Istanbul, South Africa, the UK, India, the US, and China. I can buy goods in any of those countries and use the assigned Shop and Ship address for that country. Once a package arrives at the receiving center with my Shop and Ship address (which includes my account number), the receivers then re-route my packages to whichever country my real mailing address is and charge me a much lower shipping fee than I would pay to have goods sent directly to me from merchants in the foreign country, if you can even get that vendor to ship out of country. For example, many US companies don't ship overseas, but with my New York Shop and Ship address, I can order from any US company and have it re-shipped to me in the UAE. I have also bought shoes from a UK country using my London address, and received them 3 days after I ordered them!
Re-shippers usually only ship between the countries that they have established shipping stations, so for me that would be between the 9 countries listed above. Shipitto.com seems to be a popular re-shipper/mail forwarding service for Australia. I use Aramex because that is a very popular service here and my friend/boss who was already here told me about it before I came. Ask around your work place to see if anyone uses a re-shipper or mail forwarding service that they like.
I have long been a fan of Amazon.com (although lately their corporate behavior is giving me second thoughts), and Amazon Prime is a great thing for re-shipping. If I can avoid paying the shipping charges within the US, it makes the bite for the US to the UAE less annoying. I pay about $12 a pound for shipping via Shop and Ship, which seems high, but even when the shipping is more expensive than going through the regular postal mail system (Emirates Post) I get my packages about 4 days after they arrive in New York, versus the speedy 12 - 16 days it takes to receive International Priority Mail through Emirates Post.
Voting
Arrange for this before you leave. My home state of Washington has already moved to voting by mail, so the procedures for expats (and military folks stationed abroad) are shockingly easy: they email you a notice to get your ballot online, you fill it out, print it, sign it, scan (or fax) it back,and you're done. Other states may require more onerous procedures and might need you to show up in person before they believe you're relocating to Botswana and can't come to the polls on election day. The requirements for overseas voting should be available on your state's elections web page.
For you recent grads who have lived (and registered to vote) in multiple states in the last 5 years, if you have a choice of "permanent" addresses (parents, your former residence, your grad school residence/ the person acting as your mail drop), researching the absentee voter laws in the possible states might help you decide which is the better choice. But if your parents (or mail drop friend) have moved on to a place you have never lived, don't choose them as a voter registration home, because that's fraud. Again, some states are stricter than others about how long you can be away and return before you (re)register and where your "home" is when you're overseas- most state election FAQs will cover this.
In most cases the US Embassy can 't help you vote while you live abroad. so don't go over thinking you can get a ballot for presidential elections there. But DO register with the US embassy when you arrive; in the case of emergency (in my case, tsunami alerts) they will keep you updated as to emergencies that may require evacuation. You may also get invited to their official events (4th of July, election day party, etc)- or you may not; it depends on the embassy.
What about online stuff? (or, can I keep my Netflix and Hulu subscriptions)
Depending where you live, it may be a good idea to get a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to obscure your online traffic. Even before all the Snowdon news, there were countries that openly admitted that they monitored the online activities of residents. Look at a place like Thailand: it went from "stable but under a questionable government" to martial law over a pretty short period of time. Even if you don't intend to post blog entries critical of the current government, a VPN might be a good precaution in case you write something accidentally provocative. I've used hidemyass.com just to keep my nose clean when chatting with folks back home or looking at facebook links from sources I don't entirely recognize.
If you are already subscribing to a VPN to make it appear that your online activity originates in the USA, you might find this also makes it appear that you are currently in the US when you access other internet sites that prefer you to be in America before you can watch TV episodes.
Alternatives to Amazon
You may find that amazon doesn't ship to where you are, or that the fees and duties are not cost effective. Consider using a re-shipper (see below) or choosing an alternate vendor. http://www.bookdepository.com/ doesn't have the deep discounts of amazon, but provides free shipping to many parts of the world not served by amazon. Many of my friends in Fiji swear by them. You might also consider purchasing e-books (even if you don't have an e-reader, you can get an emulator for your laptop) online, or download for free from your public library back home.
A strategy that often works is to determine when other expats at your library/institution or in your social circle are going to the US/Western places and have them bring things back for you- and be willing to return the favor in your travels. I have brought back requested things that were difficult (or impossible) to find in Fiji (a Frisbee brand frisbee) that took up minimal space in my luggage but were appreciated way beyond the US$8 I spent on them.
When ordering online or having things brought over, be wary of voltage/plug/format issues. It's fine to ask someone to bring you books or art supplies from Hong Kong, but an electric toothbrush or DVD from there may not work where you are.
Using re-shippers
Re-shippers give you an address you can have goods shipped to, and then they will re-ship those boxes to you in your foreign country. For example, I use Aramex Shop and Ship service (https://www.shopandship.com/home) which gives me a shipping address in the following countries: UAE, Germany, Hong Kong, Istanbul, South Africa, the UK, India, the US, and China. I can buy goods in any of those countries and use the assigned Shop and Ship address for that country. Once a package arrives at the receiving center with my Shop and Ship address (which includes my account number), the receivers then re-route my packages to whichever country my real mailing address is and charge me a much lower shipping fee than I would pay to have goods sent directly to me from merchants in the foreign country, if you can even get that vendor to ship out of country. For example, many US companies don't ship overseas, but with my New York Shop and Ship address, I can order from any US company and have it re-shipped to me in the UAE. I have also bought shoes from a UK country using my London address, and received them 3 days after I ordered them!
Re-shippers usually only ship between the countries that they have established shipping stations, so for me that would be between the 9 countries listed above. Shipitto.com seems to be a popular re-shipper/mail forwarding service for Australia. I use Aramex because that is a very popular service here and my friend/boss who was already here told me about it before I came. Ask around your work place to see if anyone uses a re-shipper or mail forwarding service that they like.
I have long been a fan of Amazon.com (although lately their corporate behavior is giving me second thoughts), and Amazon Prime is a great thing for re-shipping. If I can avoid paying the shipping charges within the US, it makes the bite for the US to the UAE less annoying. I pay about $12 a pound for shipping via Shop and Ship, which seems high, but even when the shipping is more expensive than going through the regular postal mail system (Emirates Post) I get my packages about 4 days after they arrive in New York, versus the speedy 12 - 16 days it takes to receive International Priority Mail through Emirates Post.
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