Soon to be expat has questions

[Ohilly]

My husband and I are planning to be expats for a few months over every winter in Buenos Aires. I work/he does not and I speak fluent Spanish/he does not. I wondered if there are any English speaking walking groups (he likes to walk) and also since I will be working via my computer (I'm a therapist and do online therapy) maybe some of you digital nomads out there can give me advice about how I would handle the mail I get in my office when I'm going to be gone for 2 months and also if there is a way I can get and make phone calls free or very low cost from my office phone in the U.S. Any information would be appreciated. Thank you! Ohilly

 

[shanmerc]

Hi, you will love buenos aires. check the forums here and talk to locals to get up to speed on some street smarts. with that knowledge, you will absolutely adore it. i wanted to see if i can give you any direction on the mail and also the phone calls. can you please clarify your goals with the mail? do you want to be able to read it or is it sufficient for the post office to simply hold it for you? and as far as the phone calls, are you wanting to call to the USA while you are physically in argentina? All my best.

 

[Ohilly]

Hi, you will love buenos aires. check the forums here and talk to locals to get up to speed on some street smarts. with that knowledge, you will absolutely adore it. i wanted to see if i can give you any direction on the mail and also the phone calls. can you please clarify your goals with the mail? do you want to be able to read it or is it sufficient for the post office to simply hold it for you? and as far as the phone calls, are you wanting to call to the USA while you are physically in argentina? All my best.

Thanks for replying, Shanmerc. So I am a therapist and can run my practice online from anywhere. I have a business landline, and I want to be able to call it and access my voicemail while in Argentina, and I also will need to be able to call clients from Argentina. Online I found an app called Yolla. Is this what people use for this purpose? Regarding mail, I want to be able to get and review the mail that comes to my office. I also saw online that some people use a service called Traveling Mailbox. Do you know about this service or others? Also, what if paper checks come to my office? Is there any way to get and cash them in Argentina (I would only be gone for 2 months maximum in the winter, so I suppose I could get and cash them when I get back?). Last question: I speak fluent Spanish, but my husband does not. I am looking for activities for him to do with other English speakers (he's retired). He does a lot of walking groups in the U.S. Are there walking groups in Buenos Aires? Thanks in advance for your help. Sincerely, Ohilly

 

[carride]

I've been using Google Voice for 15+ years to send and receive free unlimited (4 hours per call max) calls and SMS to USA. From Argentina. That is what I recommend based on your explanation, though would also suggest learning how to forward your office phone to your new GV USA number during your work hours. Your office manager probably has a better solution, letting you just plug in one of their office phones/router here, or a software solution that just works here.

I guess you should also have a backup plan, and Vonage is the simplest with a robust hardware device to bring and plug-in to your rental house network (some technical challenges maybe). The unpublished $9.99 per month is what I used for many years.

Yes it is great city to walk aimlessly. Look for walking and running groups on IM. There are many. Titled as running groups, but many have enough walkers to group together. Plus things like this https://www.openhousebsas.org/actividades/camina-buenos-aires

 

[mageesa]

I'm curious about these walking groups too! What is IM in this context: "Look for walking and running groups on IM"?

 

[carride]

I'm curious about these walking groups too! What is IM in this context: "Look for walking and running groups on IM"?

IM is short for Instagram. That is the source I find the least annoying for referencing goings-on in Argentina. For many that is their only “website”, where you will then find their WhatsApp contact which is probably also the only way they comunicante directly or as a group. Though just a simple search maybe just as efficient to find those IM profiles plus the other web resources where walking groups organize.

@Ohilly
Are you able to clarify if you are thinking to visit during Argentina winter, or USA winter?

 

[Cordoba]

I have an AT&T premium plan that has unlimited talk, text, and data when I'm in Argentina. Having the hotspot, and ability to use non-wifi calling/text has helped during power/internet outages. My work isn't appointment sensitive, but I would probably consider Starlink and battery backups if it were.

 

[carride]

IM is short for Instagram.

I'm curious about these walking groups too! What is IM in this context: "Look for walking and running groups on IM"?

Oh. And silly me IM, is not what I meant to say. IG would be the more common shorthand for InstaGram. I hope I have not used that reference before. Thanks for calling my error out!

 

[Ohilly]

IM is short for Instagram. That is the source I find the least annoying for referencing goings-on in Argentina. For many that is their only “website”, where you will then find their WhatsApp contact which is probably also the only way they comunicante directly or as a group. Though just a simple search maybe just as efficient to find those IM profiles plus the other web resources where walking groups organize.

@Ohilly
Are you able to clarify if you are thinking to visit during Argentina winter, or USA

 

[Ohilly]

I would be living there during the winters. Also another question: I researched out about Google voice as opposed to Yolla. Yolla sounds better although not free (it's low cost) because it would show my actual business number to callers instead of the google number. Any of you have experience with using Yolla? Ohilly