staying in touch
Communication in all its forms is so much a part of our daily lives. Before you set off on your travel's here are a few things to bear in mind before you go: Tell friends and family your plans before you go and keep in regular contact, especially if you change your plans. If there's an emergency, at least people will know where to start looking for you.
Consider taking a roam-enabled mobile so that you can contact people at home and vice-versa. You can also store important phone numbers, which you may need if you get into difficulties.
Set up an email account such as Hotmail, that you can access from anywhere in the world. There are internet cafes in most major cities around the world and it's a good way to inform those back home of where you are and what you're doing.
To get free internet access find the nearest library to you. Most libraries will allow you to use their computers for at least an hour at one time, giving you plenty of time to check your emails.
Don't tell your parents you'll call home every day it's unrealistic and will only cause them to worry when you don't.
If you are going be out of reach for a few days, let family and friends know where you're heading to and with whom. Also let them know when you plan to be back in touch.
If you can, check out the communications available in the countries you are visiting and see how reliable the national telephone system is.
INTERNATIONAL DIALLING CODES
If you want to call home whilst travelling anothertravel.com has put together a complete list of international country and city codes and IDD numbers for your reference.
Click to access the required international dialling code.
PHONE CARDS
One alternative when travelling is to take a pre-paid phone card. You operate the system by using a call back number and a PIN that links you into the system, you then dial the number you want. On some cards you have the option to top up the call time using your own credit card. Using phone cards is cost effective, secure, reliable and means you have less to carry.
MOBILE PHONES
Your network provider will have a partner network in most countries. If you do not have a roaming facility, ask your network provider to facilitate one before you leave, but check the tariff. It may prove cheaper to change the SIM card to a local pay-as-you-go card and top up as necessary. Before you leave, ask yourself do you really need to take a mobile? It's just another thing to look after.
INTERNET ACCESS
By far the most practical way to use the internet is to set up a free email account. The advantage of this is that you can access your mail from just about anywhere in the world. There are plenty of free services for you to choose from. But using a well known service such as Hotmail or Yahoo is most common and these services seldom have technical problems.
If using a free service account, do remember not to become a dormant user. All of the free servers tend to have a regular clear out of addresses that are not being used. The usual time is around 90 days.
Remember the speed of access to the internet can vary as countries national phone systems can be very different from each other.
SNAIL MAIL
If nothing else a hand-written letter can give the recipient grate pleasure when they receive it, and is something they can keep from your travels.