How to phone home cheaply from overseas

One of the most frequent questions found on “generic” travel boards is how do I phone home cheaply from overseas.

USA Today has put together an article on just how to do it:

How to Phone Home Cheaply From Overseas

(Frank II)

Comments

[MV]

I'll be out of the country for the next 12 weeks or so and the best thing to use is Skype. At $3 per unlimited calling to phones its the best deal and it still works on the same plan when you are out of the country as well

[Cindy H]

He totally blew it. You do NOT need a smart phone. All you need is an internet enabled device (such as an iTouch) and a VOIP application (such as Skype). If you go the extra mile you can purchase a Skype number and use your internet device like a real phone. Anytime you are near wi-fi it will work.

[Andy]

I don't phone home that often when I'm travelling. I'm more concerned with people being able to reach me when I'm traveling. My bank thinks they're protecting me from myself by shutting my cards off whenever they can't reach me. Skype, Fring, and even good old Yahoo IM are great for calling home, but less useful for reaching me. I use a combination of Google Voice with a prepaid SIM from Tru and I'm usually available just about anywhere in the world with GSM coverage.

[Little J]

Having just returned from Italy, I had a rude awakening. Free WiFi is not so universal. My original plan was to use Google Voice and VoIP options. I ended up scrapping that plan in favor of a pre paid SIM - so ridiculously cheap in Europe - and an unlocked cell phone. Then, if people at home needed to reach me, I could be called just as easily as I could call. I put 5 Euros of credit on the SIM and didn't use even 1 full Euro. Incoming calls and texts are free.

I managed to go half a month without using the internet, though. :) I learned it could be done.

So, I suggest that before having an internet-dependent strategy, someone should at least figure out - though not necessarily implement - a plan B should internet not be as available as you think it should be. Or worse, should those VoIP ports be blocked, as often they are on someone else's network.

[Carrie]

Plan B should NOT be, as the article suggests, to use your current smartphone and use data roaming to make VOIP calls. Data is super expensive in Europe -- without an international data plan, Verizon charges $20/MB and they're apparently more reasonable than AT&T. With a data plan it was still $100 for 70 MB.