You can't assume that there's always going to be a hardware store or a Circuit City close to where you're staying. I'm out in the country, about 30 miles north of Vienna as I write this. My backup plan, should my phone cord go missing, is to either wait until I go to town or just not do any work. I don't like either choice. I probably could have planned this trip better.
Travelers make all kinds of assumptions about their phone lines, power and hardware.
Now I could go on ad infinitum about the virtues of GSM versus the analog clunkers we use here in the States. And some of you would probably then write in telling me how I got it wrong. Let me spare you all that. Instead, a gentle reminder of the various standards that are used worldwide. I'm currently testing a Motorola satellite phone that pretty much renders these differences irrelevant.