Steve Mullett

Lots of computers come with Webcams now, so you can actually look at the person you're talking to. Military personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan have been able to keep in touch with their families that way, and you can, too. In this month's cover story by James M. Fraleigh, a traveling nurse whose son is a veteran of the war in Iraq talks about how her family would teleconference using Skype at a set time every Thursday, and she was able to get that day off every week. Another traveler James spoke to is an avid Facebook user, and the social networking site allows him to update all his family and friends at once. And, as James points out in his story, a good recruiter can help you sort out which communication methods work best for you.

I grew up in the Cleveland area, and live there now, but I spent some years in the 1990s bouncing around the country, going as far away as Seattle for a couple of years. I didn't have a cell phone or handy access to e-mail in those days. I would talk to my parents a couple of times a week on the phone. Fortunately for me, they got an 800 number so my siblings and I could call them on their dime, but it still cost money, and the conversation was limited to whatever we could cover in about an hour a week. There are so many more choices out there these days for travelers to stay close to their families without actually being near them.

Steve Mullett
Editor-in-Chief
smullett@advanstar.com