Once you head overseas for your summer study abroad program, you could feel a tad nervous about being out of communication with those near and dear to you. While this is a perfectly normal reaction, you should recognize that going to another country doesn't mean that all methods of keeping in touch with your friends and family members are completely cut off. On the contrary, there are plenty of ways that you can still talk to loved ones – even measures that allow you to hear their voices.
Give folks back home a ring with the Web
You may be able to get by for a bulk of your journey touching base with people via online channels, but a couple of Facebook messages may not suffice for the entire duration of your experience. Luckily, there is a myriad of options that will enable you and individuals back home to talk without forcing you to rack up an astronomical cellphone bill. For instance, chances are that you haven't left the country without your smartphone, right? Well, rather than using that device to make regular calls, you can use it to the best of its innovative abilities and dial your favorite individuals through the Internet.
The trick to this method of communication is tracking down a locale where Wi-Fi is readily available. Up until this point, Europe has been slightly slow on the uptake in terms of adopting wireless Internet. However, a number of governments across the Atlantic have been pushing to make Wi-Fi easily accessible to the public. If you roam around wherever you find yourself at any given leg of your trip, you are bound to come across a square, municipal building, pub or cafe that offers free wireless Internet.
After tapping into a Wi-Fi network, you can then go to some notable providers to use their free services. If you have an Android, then you should look into programs like Google Talk and Skype, while you can access any of these applications and FaceTime with an iPhone. Pick one of these programs and head to its website to download the complementary version so that you'll be ready to go. Whenever you start using these applications, double check to make sure that your data is shut off and that your phone is operating on the Internet. Otherwise, you run the risk of incurring a hefty amount of expenses in surcharges.
A couple of cons to Internet calls
Although this method of calling people back home during your international learning experience is one of the most appealing due to its cost-efficiency, you should keep in mind that there are a couple of downsides. For one thing, because you are relying on a wireless network, you have to stay put in one spot during an entire call. This can be somewhat inconvenient, especially if this is a busy place that is crowded and full of noise.
At the same time, even when you remain within the reach of Wi-Fi, you may have to tolerate inconsistent service. For these applications to work properly – without calls cutting out or videos freezing – you need a strong and steady connection, which is not always the case throughout Europe. Additionally, the more people using the Internet in public places, the more bandwidth is being taken up, which leaves you less juice to work with and can cause you a boatload of frustration.
For times when you have limited Internet access and just want to quickly check in with family and friends, there are messaging applications that will do the trick. You can send text messages through Skype chat or WhatsApp, which require less of a connection and are perfect when you're looking to touch bases before getting on with the rest of your study abroad adventure.