Adapting local power supplies to imported equipment can be quite time consuming, particularly in an unfamiliar city in a foreign country. Embassies, travel agents, libraries and occasionally your own power authority can usually help with information about the electrical supply in another country. See also Power supply / I15.
Voltage varies between countries. Foreign equipment may require voltage adapters or transformers. Electrical current (measured in amp[ere]s (A or Ma) and frequency (measured in Hertz (Hz)) can also vary and is critical for certain equipment. If you take your own equipment, check the specifications first. You may need to contact the manufacturer also.
Electrical plugs and sockets of different configurations can now be accommodated by two-way or universal adapters which are reasonably easy to buy from electrical and travel shops.
You cannot assume that all powered sockets are earthed in different countries - and it may be that the sockets for earthed and non-earthed circuits are the same! Make sure by asking.
Paper
Paper is not identical around the world. Size standards and quality can vary considerably (see Paper / I1). Local paper size may be important if you use desktop publishing software or foreign-made printing and photocopy machines with non-adjustable paper trays. Paper quality or grade can be critical for uses which require certain standards of density and surface - such as photocopiers. An all-purpose standard is bond paper of around 75-85 gsm (grams per square meter).
Language/Character Sets
Keyboards vary. The standard "QWERTY" keyboard used for the English language is replaced or modified to some degree in other countries which use the basic Roman alphabet. This has implications for touch-typists.
Modern computer software enables keyboards to be tailored according to the country you are in (again within the basic Roman alphabet). Software often has strong cultural bias for example, WordPerfect is strong in accommodating accented characters used in northern American and European languages but weak in southern eg. Spanish/Portuguese. With a few more keystrokes it is also possible to generate any character directly from basic ASCII character sets or to compile characters. Functions such as macros are useful shortcuts.
Other language groups may have less sophisticated typing technology. Standard practices should be checked in advance. Hand writing should not be discounted as a possibility.