Staying Connected While Overseas

Part of the fun of travel is being able share your experiences with friends and family back home. This is easy to do in many places, but in seriously remote locations or less developed countries, communicating with the outside world can be rather difficult. However, in the age of satellites and internet, there is no place in the world that cannot be reached by some sort of communications device.

OK. The previous sentence is a little overly dramatic.

Here’s my take on the ways one can keep in touch while traveling abroad.

Most cities and even many smaller towns have internet cafes. These can range from plush, air-conditioned rooms to a row of computers and plastic chairs jammed into a storefront. Prices generally range from a few cents to a few dollars an hour. Cheap, by any measure. Sometimes the speed of the connection is turtle paced, but, hey, if you’re on vacation what’s the hurry.

Once in a while, though, email is not enough. Perhaps your mother will worry unless she hears your voice. Perhaps a significant other is having doubts because of your long absence. Whatever the reason, international calling is not cheap. I’ve usually had the best luck at public places like post offices, which usually offer cheaper rates than, say, hotels or travel agencies. In many countries that I have visited, phones are in phone boxes (like the ones superman used to change in). This offers a bit of privacy, or at least the illusion of it.

In some countries, it is possible to buy an international calling card, which is worth a certain number of minutes of phone time. It can be expensive, but at least you know exactly how much time. It is best to buy these cards in the country you intend to use them in rather than at home.

Internet phoning has vastly improved. It was just a couple of years ago that a traveler would have to sit in front of a microphone in an internet café, and shout into a microphone while all the other patrons tried to look like they weren’t listening to the intimate details. These days, anyone with the least amount of computer savvy can use services like Skype to communicate with those abroad. The quality is much better than it used to be, though the person next to you at the internet café is still liable to hear about your rash.

For the truly remote locations, Satellite phones can provide a way to keep in touch with the outside world. Thes phones can be rented, but are usually not cheap unless you can somehow get them from an employer. I knew several employees of a certain oil nameless company (hint: it started with a B and ended with a P and had two letters) who would use the company’s satellite phones to arrange dates with local girls while they were still on their oil rigs. Satellite phones are an expensive option (even renting one can run $40 a day). Unless you are heading deep into the wilds of Borneo without a guide, lugging alone a sat-phone would probably be overkill.

There you have it. There’s no reason for your mom to worry.