Calling Home: Communications Abroad

The sights and sounds of a foreign country are alluring to many adventurous college students. Studying abroad is a great opportunity for students to experience true independence far from home. The excitement of unlimited freedom is inevitably followed by an often crippling malady, homesickness. Lack of communication with family and friends can often expedite the onset of homesickness. Luckily for the student fortunate enough to study abroad, there are many reliable, affordable options for contacting loved ones in the U.S.
The first option is the old faithful, tried and true cell phone. While this method is often more expensive, the cell phone is a very reliable form of instant communication. Pay as you go phones are available for purchase in stores around the world, making accessibility a breeze. The reliability of pay as you go phones rely heavily on the number of minutes a user has bought for the phone, according to Andrew Michels, a student at Washington State University.
“Buying a cell phone was extremely easy,” Michels said. “You could go into the phone store and put more minutes on the phone at a kiosk, it was like using an ATM machine.”
Cell phones present a well known platform for use, making them an overall easy option for anyone traveling abroad. While phone minutes are fairly cheap, students studying abroad might find that internet access is cheaper and sometimes offered for free at cafes and hotels. WSU student Tamra Princevalle found that the internet was the most affordable option for communicating with those still stateside when she studied abroad in Thailand.
“While phone minutes cost around ten American dollars for 45 minutes, the internet was only 15 hours for 15 american dollars,” Princevalle said. “Almost everyone else in our group from WSU uses Skype to call home and friends.”
Skype has reinvented international communication. Released in 2003 by The Skype Group, Skype is a computer program that allows users to contact each other worldwide for free. Skype offers users free video chat, instant messaging and discounted phone calls. Skype’s user interface is extremely user friendly and the video chat option enriches the overall experience of calling home. Skype was the best option for reaching home while traveling in Europe, according to Michels. There are also text based instant messaging options that do not offer video chat.
Many students are familiar with Facebook.com, a social networking site that also has an instant messaging feature. Facebook allows users to update photos, post on walls, keep friends and family up to date and instant message. The reliability of using Facebook chat relies on the users’ timing and their abilities to sync their site usage. While these are both excellent options for reaching home via instant message, Email is another reliable medium for international communication.
Email users can email text, pictures, sound bytes and video messages. The potentially long turn around time for emails make this form of communication less appealing than other options. The lack of instantaneous communication makes email more of a last resort for students, Princevalle said.
If travelers are unable or unwilling to bring their computers abroad, internet cafes are popular around the world, Michels said. For a small fee, patrons can rent time on a computer to access the internet.