Keeping in Contact when Backpacking

There are different ways to keep in contact with your friends and family back home.  Some ways are through social media like Facebook and Twitter, sending emails, sending postcards (this is very old school and not many people do anymore), calling home, using WhatsApp, or video chatting like Skype or FaceTime.  I also loved using Vonage to call my mom anytime that I had WiFi.  I mainly used Facebook, email, Skype, and Vonage.

For my first backpacking trip ever, I had a dinky little flip phone and no other devices with me.  Since I was in Western Europe I didn’t face many problems trying to find a way to keep in contact with my mom and friends.  Almost every hostel will have free computers or free WiFi to use or will have computers to use for a small free.  Some places will even provide a free 20 or 30 minutes a day on their computers or devices.  I had this in Rome.  They gave iPads to use for free for 20 minutes a day.  In Berlin, they gave a credit to use on their computers for each person every day.  I noticed that a lot of people had their own devices.  Many people let me borrow their laptops, notepad computers, smartphones, or tablets to use.  When I was going to Central America, I got an Android phone which allowed me to use the internet when I could get free Wifi.  Many cafes will also offer free WiFi or if you buy something. 

When I was preparing for my longest trip in 2013, my mom and I both bought IPad Minis so that we could Skype one another as I traveled.  It came is great use.  I also download t.v shows on it to watch as I traveled too.  A friend suggested that my mom and I download the Vonage app on our phones and IPads.  Vonage enabled us to call one another just like a normal phone does but for free, as long as we were connected to WiFi.  Some hostels offered free use of their phone for a certain amount of time a day.  My hostel in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica, which was pretty much in the middle of a jungle, allowed each visitor to make a call for free for 20 minutes a day.  Many people also use phone cards but I never have.  They are usually pretty cheap and can be found almost everywhere.

There are many ways to keep in contact back at home these days thanks to technology and the kind people and establishments all around the world. 

*Just about everywhere you go and stay will have free Wifi so I’d recommend

bringing along your smartphone or a small PC.

*You will also come across internet cafes and some accommodations offer usage of

their computers for a fee usually.

*check with your service provider about international phone charges. I usually

had my phone on airplane mode and just used it as a clock.