Without Your Own Computer--It's hard nowadays to find a city that doesn't have a few cybercafes. Although there's no definitive directory for cybercafes -- these are independent businesses, after all -- three places to start looking are at www.cybercaptive.com, www.netcafeguide.com, and www.cybercafe.com. Larger cities in northern New England, such as Portland and Burlington, always have a couple of cybercafes; in small towns, though, it's hit-or-miss (usually miss).
Most youth hostels nowadays have at least one computer from which you can access the Internet, and New England's public libraries are good at offering Internet access, nearly always for free (you may need to submit a driver's license or library card or other piece of identification as a deposit). Avoid hotel business centers, which often charge exorbitant rates.
Most major airports now have Internet kiosks scattered throughout their gates. These kiosks, which you'll also see in shopping malls, hotel lobbies, and tourist information offices around the world, offer basic Web access for a per-minute fee that's usually higher than cybercafe prices. The kiosks' clunkiness and high price means they should be avoided whenever possible.
To retrieve your e-mail, ask your Internet Service Provider (ISP) if it has a Web-based interface tied to your existing e-mail account. If your ISP doesn't have such an interface, you can use the free mail2web service (www.mail2web.com) to view and reply to your home e-mail. For more flexibility, you may want to open a free, Web-based e-mail account with Yahoo! Mail (http://mail.yahoo.com). (Microsoft's Hotmail is another popular option, but Hotmail has severe spam problems.) Your home ISP may be able to forward your e-mail to the Web-based account automatically.
If you need to access files on your office computer, look into a service called GoToMyPC (www.gotomypc.com). The service provides a Web-based interface through which you can access and manipulate a distant PC from anywhere -- even a cybercafe -- provided your "target" PC is on and has an always-on connection to the Internet (such as with Road Runner cable). The service offers top-quality security, but if you're worried about hackers, use your own laptop rather than a cybercafe to access the GoToMyPC system.
