You're away, your mum's worried, your mates are jealous. Get in touch with them as often as possible and let them know how you're doing.

It's only fair whilst your away having a ball that you make the lives of those stuck going to work or uni a bit easier with a message about the fab adventures you're having. It's not just to make them hulk green with envy, they may need to tell you something important and if they can't phone you, you need to get in touch with them.

Email
Get yourself an internet email account. There are internet cafes in most major cities around the world. You can do group mails to keep everyone updated on your trips - these are a great way of keeping a diary too.
www.hotmail.com
www.lycos.co.uk
www.yahoo.com
They'll all give you a free email account

www.dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Cybercafes
It's a list of cyber cafes all over the world

Mobiles
Thanks to GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) many mobiles can now be used abroad. You need to contact your service provider to find out exactly where your phone will work, they'll sometimes refer to it as putting your phone on 'roaming'. Call your network's customer services department, tell them where you're heading and they'll tell you if you and your phone can keep up that loving relationship whilst you're away. Check out www.gsmworld.com for info on network coverage abroad.

Other phones
Get yourself a pre-paid international phone card. It's the cheapest way of keeping in touch by phone. Check out cards from Swiftcall www.swiftcall.com or buy a BT Globalcard, which lets you make calls from over 70 countries using most hotel and private phones and payphones. www.payphones.bt.com/2001/phone_cards/globalcard/globalcard.html

Write
Good old-fashioned letters and postcards are always a winner. And if your gran's not on email yet (mine is) then she'll really appreciate a card.