Staying in touch on the road

How to keep in touch with friends, loved ones and (god forbid) the office while traveling in Italy

First of all, don't contact the office. Not even once. Just don't do it. You're on vacation; let them sweat the small stuff until you get back. "Checking in" or keeping up with e-mails just encourages them to keep treating your hard-earned vacation like a work junket (and keep treating you like an indentured servant at best).

That doesn't mean you shouldn't keep in touch with family and friends—if only to make them insanely jealous of what a great time you're having in Italy.

The weather is here, wish you were beautiful

There are four main ways to stay in touch on the road these days:

Skype - Best way to stay in touch. Make phone calls—even video calls—for free (or for just a few cents). » more
Mail - People have been joking about the snail's pace of the Italian mail system for hundreds of years, but I'm happy to report that is has advanced to the pace of a really, really fast snail. This page is full of the intel and tips you need to know (hint: use the Vatican postal service; it's faster) in order to drop a postcard with a drool-inducing picture of Italy on the front, or to revive the dying art of letter writing (that's like an e-mail, only one that's been hand-drawn using a viscous chemical stain stored in a plastic tube with a special tip that allows you to apply it in thin lines to a flattened piece of glue-impregnated wood pulp). » more
E-mail - When you want your virtual postcards to arrive home before you do. You can use your own computer/handheld (use WiFi; data roaming charges are astronomically expensive—seriously, I've known people to return home to $2,000 phone bills from two-week vacations), or visit a cybercafe and spend 20 minutes online for just a few euro. » more
Phones - Whether using an old-fashioned calling card and a payphone or a cellphone (get an Italian one; international roaming rates for U.S. plans are insanely pricey), this is the really expensive way to reach out and touch someone—though there are ways around this, Skype chief among them. » more