If you travel frequently there are ways to keep in touch with home, but without incurring large phone bills. Skype has many features in addition to simple computer to computer phone calls, such as the ability to attach a phone number to your Skype account (so people can simply dial a number on a normal phone and go through to your Skype account) and also the ability to call phones from Skype. Of particular interest are Skype subscriptions. For around AUD$15.00 per month you can get a subscription which attaches three phone numbers to your Skype account (which can be from a range of geographical locations) and also unlimited calls to landlines in 36 countries. I use this when travelling and find it to be a fantastic way to keep in touch with home for a very small cost. More information is available at: www.skype.com/go/subscriptions .