You can roam in Rome but it’ll cost ya

Will my cellphone work abroad?

That depends on your destination and the type of phone you have. A GSM (Global Systems for Mobile communications) phone is the most widely used cellphone network. The largest service providers in the U.S. are AT&T; and T-Mobile. GSM phones will work in Mexico, Canada, Europe, Australia, Africa and most of Asia and onboard some cruise ships. If you are traveling to South America, check with your provider.

What do I need to do in advance of my trip?

Once you determine that your cellphone will work at your destination, call your service provider and make sure you have turned on the option for “international roaming.”

How much will it cost to use my cellphone to make and receive calls abroad?

A lot. AT&T;, for instance, charges $1.29 per minute for standard international roaming to Canada, Mexico and Britain (www .wireless.att.com/travelguide). If you are planning on doing a lot of international travel, you might consider signing up for a plan with reduced rates. With AT&T;, it costs $6 per month and drops to 99 cents per minute.

What about renting a cellphone with a local number for my destination?

This can be cost-efficient if you plan on making local calls or receiving a lot of calls. Many countries don’t charge for receiving calls. You can rent a cellphone for delivery to your home address in the U.S. using a service such as Playa del Rey-based Cellular Abroad (www.cellularabroad .com). Many airports abroad have shops where you can rent a phone and return it on your way home. The advantage: You have a cheap way of receiving any calls and making local calls. The disadvantage: The people calling you from home incur long-distance charges.

What about SIM cards?

For the technologically unafraid international traveler, a SIM card may be a good solution. It’s a small, removable chip in your cellphone that contains information about its phone number, and it can be programmed with a prepaid number of minutes of use. A SIM card will provide you with a local number for the country you’re in. You install it on your personal cellphone. The caveat -- and it’s a big one -- is that the cellphone must be “unlocked.” Check with your cellphone provider to see whether your phone is unlocked and, if not, whether it can be.

Can I use text messaging on my cellphone abroad?

Yes, assuming your phone works in the country you are traveling to and international roaming has been enabled. But it’s not cheap. AT&T;, for example, charges 50 cents per text message sent.

Can I check my e-mail using a data-enabled cellphone abroad?

You can check your e-mail with your Blackberry or iPhone while abroad, but it can get expensive fast. AT&T; charges about 2 cents a kilobyte of data. An e-mail of about 100 words of text only is about 4 KB, so that’ll set you back only 8 cents. But adding attachments or a photo can crank the size up to 1 MB (1,000 KB) or more -- or $20 for one e-mail with a large attachment.

OTHER WAYS YOU CAN STAY IN TOUCH

What is VOIP and can I use it abroad?

Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) is the acronym for phone services such as Skype ( www.skype.com) and Vonage ( www.vonage.com) that use computers and the Internet for making phone calls. Using VOIP while abroad is probably the cheapest way to stay in voice contact. A call on Skype to a U.S. land line anywhere in the world is only 2 1/2 cents a minute. Even better, calls between Skype members are free. Travelers can make calls using their VOIP accounts from any computer with high-speed Internet access that has the software.

Do I need a computer to make VOIP calls?

No. If you have a Smartphone or phone with Windows Mobile, you can download Skype to it and make VOIP calls whenever you are connected to a Wi-Fi network. (Apple iPhone users, unfortunately, are out of luck for now. Apple doesn’t allow third-party applications on its phone.) Skype also offers Wi-Fi phones for between $100 to $150. I tried a Netgear phone on my home network, and the quality was equivalent to a cellphone. It works with any open Wi-Fi network and with secured networks to which you have access.

How can I find Wi-Fi hot spots?

JiWire ( www.jiwire.com) has a listing of more than 220,000 free and paid Wi-Fi hot spots in 135 countries.

How can I find Internet cafes while traveling?

Internet cafes are a great way to cheaply check e-mail and keep in touch. They are virtually everywhere in cities of any size in Europe. You can find them by checking at Cyber Cafes (www.cyber cafes.com), which has a database of more than 4,200 Internet cafes in 141 countries, or World66 (www .world66.com/netcafeguide).