How To Stay In Touch With Friends & Family When Travelling Abroad

Are you planning on travelling abroad this year? We’re not referring to a one or two week holiday, we’re talking a 1-12 month adventure! Wherever you are planning on venturing to, be it a Summer adventure in the U.S., a move to Canada, a year-long excursion to New Zealand or Australia, 6 months in Thailand or 3 months inter-railing through Europe, you’re going to want to ensure you keep in contact with friends and family back home. This can be a lot more difficult than you might think. Different time zones, unstable mobile and internet connections, expensive call rates and dodgy phone contracts can all play a part in disrupting your plans to stay in touch with loved ones back home. Follow our 5 top tips to ensure that you can stay in touch with family and friends while travelling abroad.

1:- Stay Social with Social Media

It may seem obvious, but social media can be the easiest means of staying in touch with those back home. Even if you’re not a fan of Facebook or Twitter, the ability to send messages, videos and images privately to other users can be a great feature when you’re travelling abroad. However the messenger and call features on Facebook are going to need a pretty solid internet connection.

2:- Buy an International Phone Card

When you’re dealing with unstable internet connections and being offered crazy call plan prices, an international phone card can prove to be a huge asset. Prepaid international call cards make calling home much easier and much less expensive. Some international phone card providers such as Enjoy Prepaid (http://www.enjoyprepaid.com/) even offer the ability to make calls and send text messages from a P.C. using the card. If you’re travelling abroad for business for a lengthy period of time, it may be worth asking your employer if you can get a business phone card (http://www.enjoyprepaid.com/business-phone-cards.html).

2:- Bring Your Own Smartphone With You

If travelling abroad, get your own smartphone unlocked to any network and bring it with you. While travelling abroad, you can simply rely on the use of a call card or prepaid sim to be able to make calls without having to get tied into a call plan or even worse an expensive bill pay plan with a phone that is of poor quality and poor functionality.

3:- Scout Out WiFi HotSpots & Internet Cafes

Before you travel abroad, do some research into the WiFi hotspots and internet cafes available in the location to which you are travelling. This will give you peace of mind that once you reach destination, you won’t have to go days without being able to contact friends and family back home, especially in the first few days when you may be yet to set up with a call card or phone.

4:- Blog About Your Experience

A great way for friends and family to hear all about your travels is to keep a travel blog while travelling. In doing so, you can share images and stories that otherwise you’d spend a considerable time on the phone or via social media trying to relay to loved ones.

Keeping in touch with friends and family when travelling abroad can be a challenge, but once you plan ahead, you’ll be just fine. Enjoy your trip!

Make sure to check 5 traveller apps that can help you in your journey.