Staying in touch with husband when he travels for work.. | ExpatWoman.com
 

Staying in touch with husband when he travels for work..

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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 21 September 2011 - 08:12

Morning, can those of you who have husbands as pilots or husbands who travel alot for work...tell me how you stay in communication and not break the bank?
My DH sometimes travels with a laptop and we skype or email (we are currently one laptop down as it is getting repaired) or we text - which drives me mad!! Calling is really expensive, although neither of us have got onto a plan as yet...just on pre-paids.
Idealy we want to be able to have a chat each day. Thanks

594
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EW GURU
Latest post on 22 September 2011 - 11:28
Am a crew wife.... BBM is a blessing! and FB chat also works fab ....but in china where FB is banned... BBM saves our day!
108
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 22 September 2011 - 10:35
Viber does not work in the UAE, it's blocked! :( Howver you can install Skype on your iPhone if you have one and provided that you are connected to a wireless network you can use it just as you do on the computer. You can use Whatapp as well - it'not voice based, just message/text based but it's free, all you have to do is be connected to a wireless network. HTH
833
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EW GURU
Latest post on 21 September 2011 - 22:00
Haven't tried it yet, but now we both have an ipad it's going to be easy. Wish these things existed back when we did the long distance thing!
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 21 September 2011 - 21:59
Oh yes, you need to and then YOU know what your husband is spending and where!! ;)
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 21 September 2011 - 21:57
I'm going to go with the iPhone option - I have one so will just need to get one for DH. Had to laugh at the comment about the text message set to the phone when the CC is used.....I didn't have a mobile number when I arrived and set up my CC so I used my husband's mobile number, now every time I make a purchase or withdrawal my DH gets a text message. If for some reason I'm annoyed at him and he is away in another time zone I make lots of purchases and he gets text after text at god only knows what time.... Downside is he knows exactly what I am spending, I must get around to changing that!
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 21 September 2011 - 21:20
How do you get Viber to work from here? I downloaded it but the app keeps asking for a UK number.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 21 September 2011 - 21:01
I would say viber an iPhone application is best if u both have iPhones.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 21 September 2011 - 19:09
Thank you Sandyy, I'll look into it now before both bf and I end up flat broke!
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 21 September 2011 - 15:54
When I took my Du contract out at Christmas I was told I could cancel after a month.
232
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 21 September 2011 - 12:51
Can anybody tell me, do you need to commit to a year's plan if you get an iphone and sign up with etisalat or du? I've got normal pay as you go at the moment but spent 300 dirhams yesterday calling my bf which is absolutely insane. I'm moving out of Dubai soon (hopefully) so don't need a long term plan. Thanks!
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 21 September 2011 - 11:47
I always know where the DH is as i have HSBC text messaging set to my phone when he uses his CC! LOL Speak to it? Why?
103
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 21 September 2011 - 10:32
A subject close to my heart as we both used to have massive phone bills until we both got iPhones. Ok so the initial cost is high but so worth it in the long term as there are several apps you can use to stay in touch for free. Our phones bills are only the cost of the internet connection now! Theres whatsapp as others have mentioned to text/instant message for free. Then for talking theres Skype, Viber and Voxer. I think everyone knows about skype. If you both have Viber you can call each other's iPhones for free as long as you have internet and it works best with Wifi. Voxer is similar but its like a walkie talkie so you take it in turns to talk and listen. I prefer Viber but Voxer is fun too. You can leave each other audio messages to check later.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 21 September 2011 - 09:33
I use myvideotalk - a bit like skype- but we can have others in the chat too as up to about 6 people can video chat - it's great.
2937
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 21 September 2011 - 09:32
DH's phone is paid for by work so he calls me, and I text, BBM or email him if I need/want him to call. He does get an earful if his bill is too high, though, so we try to keep calls to a minimum. He's planning on getting an iPhone so we can use Skype instead. If you have a BlackBerry or phone with internet WhatsApp is great for instant messages, although for some reason there seems to be a lot of delays with messages between my sister and I at the moment.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 21 September 2011 - 08:40
I do the same as Sue and email. Its as instant as a tx as dh has a blackberry but your not limited to a few sentences.
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 21 September 2011 - 08:36
I save a lot by emailing instead of texting - it all goes straight to his blackberry anyway, so makes no difference to him. We can never get Sk ype to work satisfactorily - we've always preferred m s n. Face book's handy too - especially for keeping in touch with other family and friends....
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 21 September 2011 - 08:29
We're doing the same as you, just Skype, text (BBM), and we use our landline at home for making long distance calls. I just figure that the cost of the bills on the landline is just the cost of our lifestyle. Skype is the cheapest and best option and we try to use that the most because then you actually get to see one another's face. We text the most and then usually we talk once a day from home to the hotel via landline or Skype.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 21 September 2011 - 08:29
DH and I used Skype, which can be very unrealiable and frustrating at times. You could install Whatsapp in your mobile phone so you can text each other for free, as long as internet is included in your pre-paid plan. No other ideas apart from that I'm afraid, when DH and I were living in separate countries normal calls were reserved for emergencies only, if Skype didn't work we would just IM each other on MSN messenger.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 21 September 2011 - 08:27
My husband is away for months at a time - we skype every day and two or three times a day at weekends. We email firs tthing just to say hi and text during the day with snippets, requests etc. I make sure the kids talk to him every day even if it's just a 'hi' in passing from room to fridge! If we are having dinner we often sit him at the table so he can 'join' us! We play family tricial purtuits over Skype, and I bore him to daeath with every minute detail of our lives so when he gets back he can slot in straight away and there are no gaps in his knowledge of what is going on. There's not a lot more to be done really - I am so in love with Skype because without it this time would be a nightmare - and I don;t think we could do what we are doing. It's the best thing ever invented.
 
 

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