Originally published in Outpost Magazine
You drip off a hot Indian train after 28 hours, when the trip, according to the ticket agent, was supposed to take only 16. It's the third day of the Machu Pichu Inca trail when the zipper on your backpack breaks and now your life is held together by duck tape. You get up early to do all your food shopping to find that all the shops in France are closed and no one works on Mondays.
The world has left you dangling, and what you need is a dose of home to make things right again. But the bits sent by email and instant messenger just won't do, and the archaic pace of snail mail isn't an option. What you need is the instant gratification of a friendly voice on the other end of that line.
Depending on where you are in the world, phoning home can be simple or deadly. For many who are traveling for a long period within the same region, purchasing a cell phone is the best choice. Most areas of Europe receive coverage, and the international standard for cellular phones, Global Services for Mobile (GSM), allows customers to use one phone in many countries. For your phone to function in Europe, it must be GSM-compatible and have a SIM (subscriber identity module) card, which gives you a local phone number and connects you to the local network. SIM cards can be purchased from any European carrier. If buying a cell phone isn't right for you, companies such as www.cellularabroad.com and www.worldcell.com rent cell phones that work in a variety of destinations.
The next best choice is to use calling cards. But while they are the most efficient in many areas, they are virtually impossible to use in others, such as certain Eastern European countries.
You can usually place international calls from coin-operated pay phones, but make sure you have a pocket full of change. A five-minute call may mean you'll be living on bread and water for the next couple of days. Plus, several countries have switched to a prepaid card system, and coin-operated phones are sometimes impossible to find. Prepaid phone cards, available at newsstands, tobacco stores, and other kiosks, carry a certain number of minutes depending on how much you are willing to spend.
A technology that is becoming more and more popular is Voice over IP, or VoIP. It essentially converts the voice signal from your telephone into a digital signal that travels over the Internet. VoIP allows you to make a call directly from a computer, a special VoIP phone, or a traditional phone using an adapter. For all this to work, you need a computer, high speed Internet, a microphone, and a provider to connect you. What's making this option increasingly user-friendly are the new wireless “hot spots” in public locations such as airports, parks, and cafes.
Some VoIP providers offer their services for free, but only for calls to other subscribers to the service. Other providers charge for a long distance call to a number outside your calling area. Still others permit you to call anywhere at a flat rate for a fixed number of minutes. With many VoIP plans you can talk for as long and with as many people at the same time as you want without any additional cost.
One of the most popular providers is Skype, which was released in 2003 and now handles about 7% of the world's long-distance minutes. Skype is, as explained on the website www.skype.com, “a little program for making free calls over the Internet to anyone else who also has Skype. It’s free and easy to download and use, and works with most computers.”
Skype also has paid services allowing users to call traditional telephone numbers (SkypeOut), receive calls from traditional phones (SkypeIn), and receive voicemail messages. Each Skype user must have the Skype software running on their computer. One user ID can be used on many different computers or in different locations on a laptop.
Phone companies have long charged users an exorbitant amount for long-distance calls. VoIP frees people from their clutches, gives them free talk... and for us travelers, possibly the best way to get our hit of home.
Alternatives to Skype
Interesting article on Skype