Keeping in touch with friends and family can be challenging whilst traveling abroad, but it doesn’t have to be. While email and Facebook offer quick and easy access to notify everyone back home you’re having an amazing time, these communication methods just aren’t the same as calling and hearing loved ones’ voices.

Calling from the South Pacific home to the United States or elsewhere overseas can be alarmingly expensive. However, Skype provides an affordable alternative, allowing unlimited calling access to any landline or mobile phone in the United States for USD$6.99 a month.  Cheaper subscription options exist for individuals not anticipating the need for more than 400 minutes a month.

Skype logo from skype.com

Skype subscriptions enable you to make calls from your Skype account on your computer, tablet or PDA, as well as any phone with the Skype To Go feature. Skype To Go links whatever phone you will be using (you can link up to three phone numbers) to your Skype account. To arrange this feature, sign in to your account and go to Skype To Go Number and provide the required information. You can also add U.S. or other overseas contacts into Skype To Go, and Skype will provide you with a local number to use, thereby enabling cheaper calling.

Do you use a different international calling method for cheap rates? If so, let us know in the comments section.