<p>Have been out of this particular loop for 4-5 years. I would be interested in hearing about computer programs, apps etc that other parents have found useful for keeping up with kids studying/traveling abroad. I am familiar with Skype and face time. Seems like the last time we added on some international calling and texting plan, but there must be some technological improvements. If you have used anything that worked well and didn’t cost an arm and a leg (or better yet, was free), I would love to hear! Thanks.</p>
<p>I was pretty much dependent on when she decided to call, but it depends on the country.
Many kids stay in touch by updating their blogs in internet cafes.</p>
<p>Viber. Free.
What’s App. Free. </p>
<p>(Not that I would have known this independently–needed Goskids to tell me…)</p>
<p>By peeking at D’s Tumblr blog. If she has not posted in 3 days, I begin to wonder what is going on. </p>
<p>DD was in the Peace Corps for two years. We used skype every week. Most of the time we were actually calling her cell phone (not free, but cost was reasonable, we thought). But if you can go computer to computer, there is no charge. It was very easy. You can send Messages via Skype as well. I can’t think of an easier or cheaper way to go!</p>
<p>When abroad we have used facebook messaging and imessage (both sides need to have iphone/ipad devices) - both are free as long as you have free wifi.</p>
<p>All the free apps are dependent on wifi.
However, with Skype, you can purchase a subscription plan with unlimited calling to US and Canada for $2.99/month or about $30/yr. I use that whenever I am abroad to call my kids and relatives’ landlines or cell phones and they don’t need to be on wifi.
If your D is going to be one country, you can purchase a Skype local number for that country and your D can call that local number and you can forward all calls to your cell phones or home phone and no wifi needed.
The Skype local number along with unlimited calling to the US would be the most convenient.</p>
<p>We’re the opposite: kids in states & parents overseas. Whatsapp on your smartphone is a must have. Send texts, photos & video for free. The kids especially love spontaneous photos & goofy videos of the dog.</p>
<p>Another vote for Viber. D1 would call from wherever in the world she was using wifi to connect for free; we would be able to call her or receive her calls on Viber here in the US for free using our regular cell plan. I believe that Viber may now allow you to contact folks who don’t have the app installed, or to use Viber to call landlines.</p>
<p>Skype and WhatsApp are great as well. No reason not to try all of them and see what works best for you and your family.</p>
<p>And yes, Facebook! On D1’s latest trip, she was staying somewhere with limited wifi, and FB messages worked best. </p>
<p>We used Facebook messaging. I must say I got extremely frustrated when I tried to get in touch with her UNTIL I went to visit her. I realized when I was there that because of the time difference and the lifestyle in Spain there was never a great time for me to speak with my husband in Boston. I lowered my expectations after I got home.
I did write emails in general if there was anything important to communicate. She had an iPad and a computer with her and NO cellphone. She bought an inexpensive cellphone to use there to communicate with her friends.</p>
<p>We live in UK and both kids are in the US. We mostly use Viber, to text and talk. The quality for voice calls is pretty good. This works well if they are in a spot with good wifi coverage. Occasionally, we will Skype, although the kids prefer just to text. </p>
<p>If your kid wants a usable phone for the country they are in - just have them get a new sim card upon arrival. Make sure any iphones are jailbreaked (the newer models are automatically). Phone service is incredibly cheap in Europe - don’t know about the rest of the world. </p>
<p>One of my daughters was in the Peace Corps for two years and is now in her second year of working at a job overseas and the other DD was in Central America for 2 1/2 years. Both had iffy internet service so did not use Skype much. Most of the communication was via Google Chat, with an occasional phone call when they could get a decent connection to use their computers and call via Skype to my cell. </p>
<p>Considering the limitations in the town D1 is in, her internet access works fine enough. We’ve used Skype, FB IM and email. You make adjustments for time differences. And when the Skype video picture fails, we can still hear each other and talk. She was visiting another Eurasian country last weekend and watched a live feed of her sister’s graduation- and we FB IM’d during that, too- which was pretty darned amazing. For her own local use, she just bought a prepaid cell in her country. That was cheaper for in-country calls. </p>
<p>I kept in touch with my D with iMessage daily. Free with WiFi.</p>
<p>When S1 was deployed to Bahrain, he called us using a satellite phone.</p>
<p>More votes for WhatsApp and Viber. We used GoogleChat instead of Skype (no idea why!) D took an unlocked iphone to France, and purchased a French SIM card there, with a prepaid voice, texting, and limited data plan. That all seemed to work very well. We could never get imessage to work, though, and I’m wondering if it has something to do with switching to a French SIM (and therefore having a French phone number.) Does anyone know? Oh – and another must-have app for the traveler (unrelated to communications) is CityMaps2Go. You can download city maps when you have wifi, and then your phone’s GPS will show you where on the map you are, even if wifi is unavailable. Fantastic!</p>
<p>I seem to have no problems with texting via iMessage to my D in Central Asia and my fiends in Europe all of whom have their respective local SIM cards. I wonder if there is something that is not configured right on her phone since iMessage uses data. </p>
<p>^Interesting. Well, we managed fine without it, but I did wonder.</p>
<p>I always have used google chat with overseas friends and relatives. We all have gmail accounts, see when one another is on line, message chat and then move to video voice chat. I wasted a good number of hours on days off last year when my girls were overseas, as they’d be on the computer late night in France and Israel, and I’d end up spending the afternoon chatting with them rather than being productive. It was lovely! One D was hospitalized for a short time, and I did get skype so as to call her local cell as she had no computer available during that time. </p>
<p>Imessage uses wifi, not data. DD has a Touch with no data and she can text us when she is in a wifi area.</p>