If you are like me you will find a reason to use email while you travel. If you have a Blackberry you are probably set as long as you have connectivity (and the right data plan). Sometimes the internet cafe, library, or other ‘insecure’ location is your only or best option.

There’s lots of articles on how to safely use public internet access, but frankly, if you don’t own the environment you are subject to keyloggers and other nasties that makes it hard to truly have peace of mind on using your precious email account.

from EDgAr H.'s photos / via Flickr

So why risk it at all? If all you are trying to do is send a safe-arrival email, remind the neighbor to let the cat out while you’re traveling, or send a quick digital photo to a friend, simply create a ‘throw-away’ email account that you don’t care if it gets compromised.

The fastest and easiest way to do this is by using gmail. Simply send your main email an ‘invitation’ on the bottom right. When this email arrives a few moments later, create a new email account. If your main email is foo@gmail.com, you might use travel.foo@gmail.com for ease of memory. It’s probably a good idea to change up the password a bit as well from your normal password.

When you travel, simply use that email to send and receive email. Tell your friends if you like or send them a quick mail as you go (from that account) saying that you’re travelling and using this email for a bit. They may not remember or use it - to be candid if everyone had a different email while travelling it would be pretty annoying, but if you need to carry on a dialog with a specific person it will work (especially if they can just reply).

Since your travel email has nothing to do with your ‘normal’ email there’s no risk and you don’t have to bother with over-complicated security rituals. To be clear - your new email protects your main email because they are completely disconnected. If you start to create online banking accounts, trade stocks, or send gushy love letters with your travel mail, any mail you send and receive under that account is not auto-magically protected! It’s just a separate email with no ‘history’.

You can also forward select mails from your mail account by filtering to your travel email. Obviously if you are too comprehensive with the forwarding you’ll defeat the purpose of the travel email. You might forward mail from a few selected friends or work colleagues and not sensitive mails from banks, etc. Or just the opposite - allow alerts from your bank or financial instituation to go through and nothing else.

There are other alternatives - such as using a ‘catch-all’ email account associated with a personal domain, or a pre-existing but rarely used email (perhaps one left over from your DSL/Cable account you never use?). But I prefer the disconnected-ness of the throw-away gmail account.

When you return either retire the gmail account or use it on your next trip!