As a producer for ABC News's investigative unit, US-based Simon Surowicz finds that a single trip can take him from Poland via Austria to London in pursuit of stories as varied as international trade in rare animals, mad cow disease and offshore tax shelters.
He must be instantly accessible to his colleagues wherever he is. He is always available, he says, thanks to his "world phone" - a mobile phone with a New York number, in his case, which he can use to make and receive phone calls no matter where he is on the planet.
"It's a must-have when I travel abroad," says Mr Surowicz. He likes the fact that he can rely on a single system so he does not have to get used to a new one when hopping from one country to another. About half a dozen companies - Bosch, Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola, Globalstar and Nextel - make mobile phones with a single number that can work anywhere.
This makes them attractive for US-based travellers or visitors to the US. They come embedded with a geo-sensitive chip that can recognise a location and find local cellular service providers. In Globalstar's case, when a normal mobile phone service is unavailable, the chip finds a satellite signal.
World phones have voicemail and often e-mail and fax capabilities; the Motorola Timeport P7389 also has web-browsing capabilities. They can be used as a modem for a laptop. Speeds, alas, are not high but at least the links are often cordless, thanks to infrared and bluetooth technology. Some have short-messaging capabilities, too.
The latest models allow users to check e-mail - if they are too voluminous to read on the phone they can be forwarded - so travellers can keep up with messages without having to open their laptops.
World phones are extremely chic in the US. Even non-globetrotters covet the Nokia 8890, a brushed aluminium item with accoutrements such as an infrared port for linking to personal digital assistants (PDAs) and laptops, voice-activated dialling and a slide-away cover for the keypad that protects the keys and places the microphone near the user's mouth.
The crew of the US television programme Survivors used a Globalstar phone when filming in remote parts of Australia, so as to tap into satellite signals when necessary. At 14oz, it is four times bigger than a normal mobile phone but still much smaller than other satellite phones, which tend to be suitcase-sized. They are pricey - the Globalstar costs $1,200 (€1,400), the Motorola Timeport about $400, the Nokia $400 to $600, and the Nextel i2000plus about $199 in the US. The charges for the service can range from less than $1 a minute to $6 plus, depending on time, place and service. The phones can also be rented for about $35 per week plus $2 insurance.
Maria Granata, operations manager, North America for Hirefone, says that 85 per cent of her company's rental business is corporate. She routinely handles calls from executives who need a world phone for an overseas trip they are starting in about an hour's time. Many of her customers are on short-term overseas assignments.
Cellhire, another rental company, rented out about 1,000 of its French-number phones during the Cannes Film Festival this year. Jay Chalnick, director of marketing and client services, says that it offers lower rates and French-language voicemail. While travelling in Iceland recently, the car he was in slid into a ditch. He used his world phone to call for a tow.
The telecommunications industry has been dogged by disappointing news recently, but for globetrotters there is a possible exception that is both useful and fun - and that's an elegant little world phone.
Karen Bellis has dumped her laptop and opted for a combination of mobile phone and palm top device. She believes this will be better for writing reports and keeping in touch with her London base when overseas.
As manager of the youth enterprise programme of the Shell Foundation, she travels abroad twice a month. Her destinations have so far excluded North America but she is about to start visiting there too. This was what at last pushed her to buy a tri-band Nokia 8890.
"I got rid of the laptop because it does too much anyway for the work I can do when travelling and I do not want to lug around a big, expensive thing that could make me a target for crime," she says.
Ms Bellis travels overseas to assess and report on the suitability of new locations for Shell LiveWire youth enterprise programmes or, where a similar project already exists, whether the Shell Foundation could offer assistance on advising young people setting up in business.
"I need to be able to make good notes, draw some conclusions and construct a report while I am on the move - and the HP Jornada 710 is good for working on Word documents. "The Nokia 8890 is stunning - it is light and has a really good battery life, as well as a slide cover and a vibe-alert. I also like the menu system."
