kndb

Hey everyone:

I have been out of the country (United States) for about a year and a half, and one thing I was really missing out on was the access to text messages on my US cellphone. Before I left I was using Cricket Wireless (for $35/mo), and unfortunately my phone number was associated with so many services that just "love" sending text messages for verification. So I was locked out of some of them.

I tried switching to Google Voice, that allows to receive text messages and calls via Wi-Fi pretty much anywhere in the world, but the problem is that some services do not accept VOIP phone lines, like Google Maps. (Examples of such service: Coinbase, Experian, etc.)

So my question. What do you guys use to receive text messages for your US-based phone line while abroad? Ideally I'm looking for a service that would allow me to read text messages via their website.

PS. I am talking primarily about 2FA codes that companies "love" to send to cellphones. I am obviously not using it to communicate with friends and family. I use WhatsApp for that.

Please share your experience too. I see quite a lot of businesses that provide virtual mailbox services and it’s hard to pick.

I’ve been living outside of the US for the last couple years. And for now I’ve been asking friends and relatives to check my mail at my physical PO Box but it’s helluva inconvenient for everyone. So purely by chance I stumbled upon this virtual mailbox idea and so far I’m loving it.

I almost signed up for one service until I looked them up on Trustpilot and pretty much everyone was giving a lot of horror stories about that particular service. So I decided to hit the brakes for now and do the research first.

I need it basically for the following:

• scan incoming mail that I can access via their website (hopefully in a secure way)

• forward some letters to my friends address in the US upon my request.

• it would be ideal if they can deposit an occasional check or two for me.

• I don’t receive a lot of packages, but in case one comes it would be nice if they can forward it for me.

My concern is that most services have a limit on how many pieces of mail they can process per month. Tbh, I get maybe 2-3 important pieces of mail and the rest is just junk. I wonder if they will make me pay for 100 promotions from the insurance or credit card companies.

Anyways, your insight is appreciated!

Hey everyone. I’m a U.S. citizen. I’ve been working remotely since about Covid hit. And I’m loving it. I’ve been living in a few places outside of the US for 2+ years, and even though most of it is great I want to hear your advice on one little issue.

I’m co-renting an apartment with my buddy near Portland, OR. I mostly do it to keep my stuff in and to have a U.S. address to run my computers from, which I remote-access into. This works great.

But, since I left last time (about 1year and 8 months ago) I left my car in an outside parking lot at this apartment complex that we live in. Now that I got back, cold Portland weather had played a nasty trick on it. It is literally covered in moss, the battery is totally dead and tires are in a bad shape. So to fix it I will need to spend around $1k to get it back into a safe operating condition. And that not counting $35/mo that I’ve been paying to the apartment management for the parking spot.

So I’m wondering now, what do you guys do about getting a ride when you get back to US? This time I will have to spend over a month here. Do you rent a vehicle, lease, ride an Uber? Just curious how to solve the car issue now.