Trifter

Vacations offer people many opportunities to meet people, and you never know where you will find someone you will hit it off with. It can be a couple from the airplane, a group of students staying at the same hotel as you, or some locals you meet during your trip.

The 21st century has made it easy as can be to stay in touch, with people around the corner from you, or across the globe. The ways of communicating are endless and are increasingly cheap. There are traditional methods of communication such as the telephone and writing letters, and then there are newer ways of communication such as emailing, skyping, text messaging and many others.

Writing letters is pretty much the same as it was 50 years ago. You write a few pages of what you would like to tell your friend about and you tuck it into an envelope with a stamp and send it away. The stamps and envelopes can become costly if you start sending letters often, and letter writing is probably one of the more costly methods of communicating nowadays.

Using the phone to stay in touch is different than it was even 10 years ago. There are calling cards which can be purchased from corner stores and supermarkets, which can give you 500 or more minutes of talk time for 10 dollars, depending on how far away the person you are contacting is. There are also adapters that can be purchased for as little as 30 dollars, which will allow you to connect your telephone to the computer and talk for free. You can use these adapters with programs like Skype. The sound quality is excellent as well, as long as you do your research before you purchase the adapter.

Emailing is probably the easiest way to communicate with friends you made while on vacation. Emailing allows you to communicate on your own schedule, which makes it easy if you are in completely different time zones, which would otherwise make it difficult to communicate. Emailing is also great because it allows you to send pictures as well, so you can share the vacation pictures you took together, with one another.

Skyping is also a great new way to stay in touch. You can use Skype to simply instant message, or you can purchase a microphone and webcam and have a very interactive conversation, with video and audio. This is free after the subsequent purchase of a webcam and microphone. Some computers even come with a built-in microphone, meaning you can have an audio conversation for free without having to purchase any additional material.

Text messaging is also another way to stay in touch with someone. Especially now, with many phone companies offering unlimited text plans, and even international text messaging plans. You can easily send them a quick message to let them know you are thinking of them. This is a great way to reach someone if you are frequently out and about and if they are usually not home often.

The communication possibilities are endless and seem to be growing each and every day. Trying to stay on top of the latest communication technologies can be tough but the above mentioned are the most user-friendly and inexpensive ways to keep in touch.

Ring them up or email away, it’s up to you!