If you are planning a trip abroad, you undoubtedly have plenty of things to worry about—whether it’s getting the necessary visas and vaccinations, packing, or mapping out your itinerary. You are probably also concerned about keeping in touch with your family and friends while you’re away. Fortunately, we live in an age of satellite internet and have countless ways to communicate with those we care about while we’re away. Here are a few suggestions if you’re worried about staying in contact while exploring distant corners of the globe.
1. Internet calling
If you have a service such as Skype, you can make long distance calls to landlines and cell phones for much lower rates than with regular long-distance calling. If the person you are calling also has Skype, you can speak computer-to-computer, and you won’t pay a cent. If your computer is relatively new, it probably already has a camera and microphone built in for video calling; if not, you can pick both up at any electronics store. With video calling, you can talk face-to-face with family and friends as if you were sitting in the same room, provided you have satellite broadband or another strong internet connection.
2. Messaging
Instant messaging and online chatting remain popular ways to keep in touch, especially among younger generations. Chatting is convenient because it allows for multi-tasking; you can surf the web or write emails while talking to your friends and family.
3. E-mail
E-mail, of course, remains one of the easiest ways to keep friends and families updated on your travels. E-mails are a convenient way of keeping in touch when traveling abroad as they can be sent even with a painfully slow internet connection in a remote corner of the world—as much as we would all love speedy satellite internet to be available everywhere, any traveler knows this is not the case. Whether you write a novel or a quick update of a few lines, it is always nice for people at home to find news from you in their inbox. You may choose to write individual e-mails or save time by writing to everyone at once; either way, you can be sure that friends and family will appreciate the updates.
4. Blogging
Blogging has recently become a very popular way of keeping family and friends (and sometimes complete strangers) updated on travelers’ adventures abroad. If you find yourself in an internet café without satellite broadband or another quick connection, you may find it hard to post pictures of your trip, but you can always write text to fill everyone in on what you’ve been up to. The internet is full of travel blogs; these are especially convenient because they allow travelers to update everyone they care about at once. You can adjust your privacy settings to control who views your blog; you may decide to leave it open to public viewing or to limit access to family and friends.
5. Social Networking Websites
Sites such as Facebook and MySpace are popular ways of keeping in touch as well. Users can post pictures and notes about their travels as well as links to blogs. Their friends can comment on posted items, write messages, and speak to them through Facebook’s chat service. Social networking sites are constantly adapting to provide new means of communication, so they are one of the best ways to keep in touch with people you care about.
