One of my best friends is on a short term study abroad trip to Prague. She has been tweeting updates about what she’s doing and seeing (which is making me really jealous!). Being fairly new to Twitter, I didn’t have an account on any of my abroad experiences, but seeing Brittany’s use of it during her trip made me realize just how valuable it can be as a means of staying in touch with family and friends.
In Spain I found it difficult to communicate with my family and friends in the U.S. Because my cell phone carrier is Verizon, my phone did not function overseas. I did end up purchasing a pre-paid cell phone in Spain to communicate with the other students on my trip. It only cost about 20 Euros. I also brought my iPod Touch with me, and this is mainly how I talked to my family and friends. Many hotels offer free WiFi, and even restaurants offer WiFi with purchase of an item. I was able to log into my e-mail and Facebook accounts to send messages home.
Eventually I did buy a pre-paid phone card, the cheapest way to call home (I think 5 or 10 Euros for 50 minutes of talking time). Finding public telephones was easy, too. The problems I did encounter included finding a mutually convenient time to call on account of schedules and time zones, not being able to talk very long because I was using public telephones, not having long periods of free time to talk and not being able to commit to the next time I would call. These problems could partly be remedied by Twitter.
By tweeting multiple times a day, people would know where I was and how I was doing no matter what time they check my profile. The 140 character limit is perfect for on-the-go travelers who don’t have much time for longer updates in the hustle and bustle of the day. The fast, instant nature of Twitter could also help in finding a time to call. As many smartphones notify users of an @ mention, sending a “hey are you free?” tweet could provided an instant response to inform if you should/could call. As more and more forms of media spring up, it is easier to stay in touch abroad, at home – anywhere!
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