Keeping in Touch 
For many people the hardest thing about traveling is being away from family and friends.  Luckily, there are plenty of cost efficient ways of maintaining contact with the important people in your life while you are away.

 Phone Cards | Cell Phones |  Internet Cafés I Photo Storage
Travelogue Sites | Free E-Mail Accounts | Snail Mail

Phone Cards
If you plan to call anyone while traveling abroad, you definitely need a pre-paid phone card because calling from overseas can cost a fortune if you don't have one. Even using an AT&T, MCI, or Sprint calling card can be quite pricey (over a $1 per minute plus many hidden fees), so I searched the net for some alternative calling card companies. 

ZapTel low-rate international pre-paid calling cards. They sell cards (Global Caller, Global Line, Absolute World, True North, Study Abroad, Absolute Global) in $5, $10, $20, $25, & $50 units. Sample Rates: UK to USA, 7-28˘ per minute; France to USA, 9-25˘ per minute; Germany to USA, 8-33˘ per minute; Italy to USA, 10-40˘ per minute.

CallingCards.com low-rate international pre-paid calling cards. They sell cards (Global Connect, Connect Home) in $10, $20, & $50 units.
Sample Rates: UK to USA, 9-28˘ per minute; France to USA, 15-25˘ per minute; Germany to USA, 8-33˘ per minute; Italy to USA, 23-49˘ per minute .

e-kit  Stay in touch using the phone and Internet while you are traveling. Offers voicemail, faxing capabilities & gives a free 10-50 MB e-mail account to subscribers. Sample Rates: UK to USA, 32˘-47˘ per minute; France to USA, 9˘-65˘ per minute, Germany to USA, 14˘-79˘ per minute; Italy to USA, 39˘-49˘ per minute.

Local phone cards to call home can be bought while abroad.  Some, I've heard, offer fantastic rates of 5˘-10˘ per minute.  The drawback is that if you are only going to be in a country for two or three days, then you will lose some of your money because the phone cards can usually only be used in the country you bought it in.