FreeMind

We all know that the fee our mobile carrier charges on international roaming is a rip-off. But on the other hand you do want to stay connected with your folks back home. What are your plans to avoid this outrageous cost while still be able to make calls?

Carrybean

What's wrong with email?

Carrybean

Oh, almost forgot. Phone cards - cheap & available most everywhere.

abram

When we're on vacation, we don't stay in touch with family at home.

Jen

Send texts... much cheaper to send and receive than a phone call.

Fodorite018

Texts. We don't keep in touch often though when we are away. Last time I did call my DH to let him know we arrived ok, but after that it was only one or two texts. Plan on doing the same thing on our trip this summer.

MLTimes

Email via my blackberry. When I travel, I really only keep in touch with my office and my parents. My mother isn't adept at texting, but I do love "chatting" with her by email while we have a coffee or glass of wine in our respective time zones.

dutyfree

Most of the European countries sell phone cards at Tabac shops for about 5 euros or 5 pounds. You get about 200-300 minutes to call back to the US so I always use them when I am calling home. My ATT overseas service never seems to work over there when I want it to.

november_moon

Text messages and email. I like sending pictures I take with the blackberry to a few folks.

suze

Where are you traveling? The answer to your question varies depending on destination.

Myself, I just use internet cafes (for email or long distance). That works for me in Europe, Mexico, and Hawaii.

For the US I just buy a Walgreen's phone card.

LSky

We don't stay away from home long enough to miss anyone but the dog and she never answers the phone.

Last year when my mom was sick, I did call my brother and used my T-Mobile phone. 99 cents a minute so it was a quick call, "everything okay?", "Yep", "How's the dog?", "I sold her" "great, hope you got a good price, bye"

When I'm traveling in the States

travelerfromtx

Interesting question. This seems to come up a lot and the answer is often different for different destinations. It seems getting a cheap cell phone or a phone card in your international destination is a good option at many places.

We don't bother. We are usually only gone 7 or 8 days and we just don't need to stay in contact for that short period of time.

suze

That's true for me too. I never call home. I just use email to keep in touch.

thursdaysd

Internet cafes for email, although I'm thinking of buying one of those small notebook computers for my next trip. I also have an unlocked quad-band cell phone for which I buy international SIM cards, but I seldom use it.

lucy_d

Abroad, I rely strictly on email, usually from hotels. I've rarely used an internet cafe. If the hotel doesn't have internet, I wait it out until I get to one that does. I've rarely called home.

thursdaysd

I use internet in my hotel if it's free, or a reasonable price. Some hotels charge ridiculous amounts that can easily be undercut by just walking a short distance.

tld

I have barely-grown children and I like to keep in touch when either they or I am traveling. I generally use SMS and email, but on my next trip in a month or two I'm going to test out Skype on my little Asus Eee PC.

bdjtbenson

I use PIN cards for cheap calls home. I still haven't settled on the best way to carry and use a cell phone but I'm working on it.

Another option is using internet cafes for calls (in addition to emails). I've had some really good deals on international calls.

dfr4848

Skype - it's great and from computer to computer it's free.

jewela

I have the Asus Eee PC as well. I love it. It is so much easier than dragging along a larger laptop. I use a portable DVD player as a carrying case. It will slide right into my carry on.

I keep in touch by e-mail, and use my cell phone for important calls to the office. I usually only use about 10-15 min. on calls. I don't want to waste time looking for a pay phone.