04 February 2007

WITH the number of ways to keep in touch today while traveling abroad, it's a wonder anyone managed to survive time away from home and hearth when postcards and telegrams were the only options. Here are 10 ways to stay in touch while abroad — not all equally inexpensive or fast.

1. Hotel phones

These are perhaps the most expensive means of communicating. In July, I made a two-minute call from my room at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers to Los Angeles that was billed at $7.03 per minute. Expect to pay even more outside the country.