Calling elderly parents

[String bean]

I am walking in September. I could care less about blogging, social media, etc. We just need to call our very elderly parents every day. Is 4 G WiFi available for WiFi calling or do I need to find a different way and what is it?

 

[Anamya]

Hi String!

Which trail are you walking? If you are in Camino Frances or Portugues, there will be plenty of places with good Wifi, especially if you stay in private accomodation. I had no issue 'skypeying' with family on the other side of the world while doing both caminos, or at least sending messages.

You can also purchase a local SIM card when you get to your starting city in case you want to have some data and calls on your phone.

 

[C clearly]

Generally Wifi is available. However, there are occasions when it turns out to be inconvenient or impossible to use wifi at the time you plan - i.e. at a time when both you and your parents are likely to be awake. So, if you can't convince your parents beforehand that they should not panic if you don't call one day, you will need one of these alternatives:

1. Expensive phone call with your home country service.
2. Cheap phone call using a Spanish SIM card that allows international phone calls.
3. Text messaging using your home phone service (Spanish plans don't usually include SMS)
4. Email or Facebook message - Wifi must be available, but all participants don't need to be awake!

Whatever you decide on, it would be wise to emphasize to your parents that every day might be difficult, but it is very likely that not more than one day would be missed in a row. However, I also caution you that you will be very tired, not always thinking about home, and you might even forget at the planned time. If you forget one day, and find it impossible at the right time the next day, two days will have passed!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

4G is pretty reliable in Spain where it exists. It can be SIM dependent. If you have an unlocked phone, you can get a Vodafone SIM chip with a lot of data for about 10E. You may find that it works better than the one from your home country. International phone calls can be expensive both with Vodafone and your current carrier, so check on it before you leave if you are cost-conscious. Buen camino.

 

[Holly Mitchem]

I am in the US and had this same issue and although I did not need to call my 90 year old mother every day, I decided to purchase Verizon's international plan for $10 per day. With this plan, you keep your phone off the cellular network until you want to make a call or check your voicemail. As soon as you make a call, the day begins and runs a 24 hour day, not a calendar day. During that 24 hours you can call and use data as much as you wish as if you were still in the US. Although this is not the most cost-effective option, my mother has macular degeneration, where you retain your own phone number, the best for me. I told my mom (who does not text or use the internet) not to expect to hear from me daily so when I did call I made certain I had plenty of time to chat and to listen. I recall I used it 17 days (mainly to call my mom) on our 40 day camino Frances, for a total additional cost of $170. I used wifi the rest of the days if I needed to communicate. Because of the cost, I recognize that this is not a solution for everyone, but it was worth the expense for my peace of mind. I plan to do the same next year on the Norte. (And once you are signed up, you are signed up indefinitely. We were out of the country this winter and upon our arrival in Europe I got a text from Verizon reminding me of the plan, how to use it, and its costs.)

 

[peregrina2000]

I am walking in September. I could care less about blogging, social media, etc. We just need to call our very elderly parents every day. Is 4 G WiFi available for WiFi calling or do I need to find a different way and what is it?

I walked the Levante from VAlencia several years ago, with my brand new iphone bought only so I could call home to my 90 yo parents. I was able to use Skype almost every day from the wifi in bars. Occasionally the signal was too weak, so the video portion didn’t work. Since then, I have used FaceTime and WhatsApp, which are also both great ways to communicate via wifi. On a couple of occasions, when the bar owner learned I was calling my elderly parents, he or she would take me to a back room and put me on their private internet, where the signal was stronger, the noise was much less, and the calls much easier. You don’t say which camino you wil be on, but I have walked a lot of them and even on the more remote caminos, wifi is just about in every single little hole in the wall bar, social center, town hall, etc.

Buen camino, Laurie