You know what works? Skype Out. You plug a microphone and headset into your laptop (or use the built-in ones), plug your laptop into a broadband connection, pay Skype 10 euros for about 10 hours of talk time, and you can call anywhere in the world. Plain old Skype lets you call any other Skype user for free, computer to computer, but Skype Out lets you call from your computer to other people’s phones. The connections have been a bit echo-y, and calls to mobile phones are way more expensive — 4.14 minutes to the US from London cost me .085 euros while 2:06 minutes to a London cellphone cost .615 euros — but it works.

Or, you could bring your VOIP modem with you and plug a telephone into it, but not if your family needs the modem at home.

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