calling home to the US

Joanne, I think once you hit Europe, wherever you are going, you may be so caught up in it that you might not even think to call home for a long time!
I recommend bringing a prepaid phone card. but I've called from the phone in my hotel room and the cost was reasonable -- though I did not talk a long time. Just to check in and say how much fun I was having.
Save all the details for when you get home. You can also keep in touch via email at an internet cafe.
If you know the phone numbers of hotels or apartments you will be staying at, leave these numbers with family now. If you don't know where you are staying yet, you will have to phone or email them this info as soon as you have it.
Try not to be too homesick and enjoy yourself! I think you will.

My suggestion is to do what I am doing right now for family/emergency contact. Make an itinerary that tells them where you will be each day of your trip (assuming it is more than one place), including the address and phone number and/or e-mail/fax of your hotels or B&Bs. Include all your flight information, too. (I can usually fit it all on one page, if you shrink the font in some places.)Calculate the hours ahead that the country where you are going is from where you live in the US and tell them that, too! Pay phones in Europe actually work and are much more prevalent than here. Sometimes in Italy, using my phone card, I called home in the early afternoon "my time", as they were just getting up, for example. Also, as already mentioned, Internet cafes are great-in 15 minutes you can send quick note to say you are having a fantastic time and they can check in with you, too!

I just take my cell phone, i have t-mobile as a carrier,its 99 cents a minute,35 cents a text,my husband and i got seperated a couple of years ago at portabello market in London for a couple of hours,from then on we always just take our phones in case we get seperated, also family could reach us if they needed to.If you have a cell check with your carrier.

Thanks to you all for your encouragement and tips- I will do as suggested and try to avoid the hoesick thing!

I travel with a laptop and often rent apartments with wifi or internet access. I often use Skype to call home or friends in Europe. In Paris, some of the McDonalds have free wifi, and you don't need to buy anything.