When you’re camping at a National Park, or hiking in  Cappadocia, the last thing you want is to be bothered by the everyday concerns that being on the phone or internet can bring.  But at other times when you travel, having communication with the outside world will be vital, and for budget travelers the cost of these communications can vary enormously.

When we were in Florida, one of the hotels we were staying at charged $5 a week for wireless access.  We considered going to the next-door Starbucks instead — until we realized that we’d probably spend more than  $5 on beverages.  (Since we booked with Priceline, we couldn’t ensure free wireless access before booking.)  Most hotels nowadays either provide free internet access or have a nominal charge, but a  friend recently emailed us from Las Vegas and told us the hotel she was staying at  charged a whopping $12.95 per day for internet access!  She’d been comped the room so didn’t mind, but she wanted us to warn other travelers to look out for those kinds of crazy charges.

If you’re going on a cruise, onboard internet charges are  exorbitant so make sure you do your emailing when you’re in port.

Globally, don’t assume that internet access in  small countries might not be available.  When we were in Vietnam, we stayed in hotels that cost around $10 a night — and even the smallest of them had several computers in their lobbies for free customer use.  We were easily able to keep a blog (you can find it at http://www.travelpod.com/members/windwalk) and add to it daily. On the other hand, my sister is in Turkey right now and has had very limited access to the internet.

As for telephones we know many folks love Skype, and that’s definitely an option to look into (skype.com) but here’s another one:  Magic Jack.  The Magic Jack is a jack where one end plugs into your computer and the other end goes into a phone. It’s just $20 a year (buy it online at MagicJack.com or in retail stores)  and whether you’re in Mumbai or Manchester, your calls will cost nothing!

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