Before traveling internationally, I always have two items on my packing checklist, my BlackBerry and my old-fashioned Nokia tri-band phone. Why? Those of you who check the phone bill after a long-haul flight know why. The roaming charges are through the roof! My small, non-smart phone is smarter than it looks and it saves me a bundle of money.

The first thing I usually do after landing internationally — even before leaving the airport, if possible — is buy a local SIM card. It never costs more than $10-15 and, depending on the length of my stay, the card lasts the entire trip. If it does not, I usually only require one more $10 refill. The SIM card is a small chip under the phone battery that stores and registers phone numbers and calls being made. Refills can usually be done at any newsstand in the country. By using the card, I save $200-300 on my phone bill, as I often call home or to the office. With the amount of time I spend overseas, you can imagine the savings.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I absolutely love my BlackBerry, and I chose to have one because it does work internationally — everywhere but Japan! However, depending on the country and the continent, calls can cost me $1.25-2.00 per minute. I will still use it to make urgent calls, and it has kept me out of a bind numerous times, but when traveling outside the country, I recommend travelers bring a phone without a contract to make sure they can swap in the local SIM and make quick, inexpensive calls.

— Alex Young, vice president and associate publisher