Five minutes to use the Internet in a café abroad — so much to do! Bills to pay, bank balances to check, the obligatory “I’m still alive” e-mails to send home. A weary and hurried traveler sits down after paying only to be faced with an utterly unfamiliar keyboard. Hunting and pecking at mysterious figures, trying to crack the familiar passwords from back home, hoping that loved ones will be able to decipher the code and know that their favorite traveler is alive and well, not desperately pleading for help.

The joy of traveling lies in the unfamiliar, but sometimes a familiar old keyboard makes things so much easier when time is short and patience is low.

Thankfully, there is Gate2Home’s Virtual Keyboard. This free on-screen keyboard emulator lets travelers type in their native language on a familiar keyboard.

With dozens of languages to choose from, Gate2Home will display the chosen keyboard on the screen, while allowing the user to type regularly on their keyboard.

This is a great tool when Internet café owners are unwilling or unable to let a traveler modify the computer’s language.