How to communicate with folks back home - Iphone 4S

I know nothing about the iPhone, so I don't know how imessaging works. What I can tell you is, the cheapest way to use your phone is to turn off all data roaming (put your phone in airplane mode) and turn on your wifi. Any time you are in wifi you will have free access to any of your apps. You can download apps like Whatsapp and HeyWire that will allow you to "text" for free over wifi. If imessaging is web-based it works over wifi, too. You won't need an international plan to use email via wifi - you have free access anytime you are in a wifi area (some places might charge a small amount for wifi access, but there are plenty of free spots available). The only reason you would need a phone plan is if you plan to use the phone function.

As long as you have access to wifi you can use your phone for free BUT and this is a BIG BUT, if you use a 3G or 4G network it will run into hundreds of dollars. As recommended earlier, turn off the data roaming. Facetime and Skype work great as does email. The phone, itself, will not work for calls.

The best way to communicate is the free way. Download the Kakao Talk app and use it to make free calls and texts to anyone in the world when using Wi-Fi. I started using this app just this year and have used it from three different continents. The person you call doesn't have to be on Wi-Fi. Check it out.

That reply is a bit half-witted considering the OP wants to be connected. I must have missed the part where the OP was asking for advice on how to enjoy a trip free from the bother of technology. Get with the program...it's 2012, Champ.

What makes things a bit more tidy is to answer the question rather than foisting off a personal style on somebody who doesn't give a rat's rear bumper about how somebody else does something.

I want to thank all who replied. Some very good advice which I found valuable. Was also thinking of taking an extention cord to plug into my Iphone for charging. I will have a couple of phones to charge. Hope this will
not fry my phone :-( Thanks again everyone. Joe

A lot of us with families need to communicate with them while on a trip and it certainly doesn't interfere with enjoying the trip. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Use a cell phone. Half the people you see on the street ( half the locals anyway) are on the phone. My husband took his iPhone 4s to Italy and used it to call home when he needed to. Also used it on wifi at our hotels to send and receive email. I don't know about text messaging as he doesn't do that. He had Data turned off the whole time and the only cost was 99 cents a minute for the phone calls (AT&T international plan). But I think for next time we will look into Michael's suggestion.

Joe, just make sure you don't take a surge-protector-type extension cord. Using a US surge protector there will cause a fire. I don't know what other technology you might be traveling with, but I plugged my netbook into the outlet (using a simple plug adapter), then plugged my two phones into that, charging all three at once with no additional cord.

Joe - I just returned from Turkey and London - used my 4s throughout the trip for email, directions, site information, airline checkin, etc... Most of the time I used wifi with no issues. I did purchase a small overseas data plan ( I have AT&T) for $30 and used it quite a bit without going over my data allocation. I turned off cellular and data roaming most of the time and just turned it on when I wanted to look something up but didn't have access to wifi. The process of turning on and off data was a bit of a hassle but with iOS6 it's not buried in the settings anymore and easier to update. Another friend just left her phone in airplane mode and just used wifi, but i did not because i needed to be available in case of any urgent issues at home. I am usually one who goes offline on trips but it was very nice to have my my 4s on this trip. Other traveling companions used the Viber app for free texting and communication but I didn't get a chance to use it. I'm also going to check out Micael's suggested app - Kakao. Enjoy your trip!

It was also nice to have my phone for pictures (although I did not use it as my main camera)that I could send out to friends and family as the trip progressed... They enjoyed seeing the pictures of where we had been that day.

Good point about the photos, Julie. It is fun to send family and friends up to the minute pix and share the fun with them.

Does anyone post those pics on Facebook?

I meant send the pics to Facebook while travelling to send to friends?

Joe, I post pictures to my blog, which I keep as I travel, and I also post a single picture every day to Facebook. All of that was via free wifi.

Just back from 2 weeks in Italy. I brought my ipad2 and my iphone4s. I used the iphone to text messages home. I don't use the phone service. Used the Ipad to Facetime my kids from the hotel when I had wifi. Downloaded my photos from my camera each night to the ipad and then posted photos and s to my Facebook page for my friends at home. Used iMessage from hotels as well, but it was more fun to Facetime than just "text" All of this is NO CHARGE. Love it! As long as data roaming is turned off, there are no big charges. Regular Text messages will cost you, sending and receiving, but it's not a lot, and I don't text a lot, just as neccessary. iMessage is FREE. Since I now have Facetime on the phone and on the ipad, I video call my kids at home...of course the receiving person has to have Facetime (Apple) All I can tell you is works GREAT!

Can someone tell me what IMessage is? I have an Android phone, but am considering switching to an IPhone, specifically b/c it is an "international" phone. Thanks!
DLB

You don't have to switch to an iPhone to have an international phone. You just need a phone that functions on both GSM and CDMA networks. Many devices with Android can do this, and you can get many of them for free. Having said that, the 4S and new iPhone 5 are world phones, but earlier versions (including 4) are not. Check with your carrier, and see what type of world phones they have. There are so many good communication tools available now, you sort of need to determine your needs and then use whichever tools fit the need. Most of us will use more than one tool. Depending on the situation, I'll use my world phone for limited incoming and outgoing voice calls and texts. Mostly, I'll use KakaoTalk for free voice/text or Skype for free video over Wi-Fi. There are other apps and other tools...many have already been mentioned. BTW, you don't even need to have a phone to use a lot of these tools. If you have an old iPod Touch collecting dust, for example, you can download KakaoTalk or any other similar app and text for free (or call if you have a cheap headset with mic). And, of course, there are laptops, netbooks, iPads, etc.

Hi DLB: With an Apple 4S or 5 you will be able to send a text messages from one iphone to another Iphone free. It is not considered a text message if between iphones but instead is called an Imessage and your text messages do not get charged on your plan as a text. My entire family and I who have iphones so all of our many texts per month are all free. The same message screen is used for sending to another Iphone or non iphone but you know the other person has an Iphone because message you send is in blue color whereas messages going to another type phone is in green color. This is one of the many reasons I am sold on Apple Iphones.

Thanks everyone for the informative advice and posts.... Much appreciated. I will go ahead and take my Iphone 4S but get a $25 add on
international plan with Verizon and use wifi as much as I can to communicate. I think I am good to go.......

That works. Just remember to turn off data, or you'll be sorry when the bill arrives. Do not let your phone roam when abroad!!!

I took my brand new iphone 4 to London, Paris, Normandy, Bruges & Brussels 2 years ago and made sure that everywhere I stayed had wifi. Each night I uploaded photos & travel insights on FB. My friends loved it and I had a great travelog to remind me of all the fun I had. The camera on the phone took amazing pics. I even blew one up to 11x14 size on canvas. Now and again I scroll through my albums on my phone and stroll down memory lane. I did purchase an international plan for texting & data from AT&T and just cancelled it when I returned home. My phone was kept protected and securely in my pocket or purse, but I never felt at risk using it anywhere while traveling. Enjoy!

Hi Joe,
Last year we traveled to Scotland/London and took an iPad with wifi only. We used it to make Skype phone calls (when connected to a good wifi connection) to our kids home and cell phones for just a few cents a minute. I have since learned that you can also send text messages with Skype using wifi. You do have to purchase some Skype credit. We purchased $10 and came home with about $7.50. You can get a Skype app for the iPhone or iPad.

Just returned from Paris and used skype, worked beautifully! It's free, downloaded to my 7 inch Dell Streak, which by the way took incredible photos. No need for a camera. I realize that you asked about the using Iphone, which I don't know if you can use skype or not. Happy Travels!