gohawks, in your instance, you'll be fine with just adding international calling to your phone. it's worth a few bucks for the peace of mind.

LA, yes!! for us, even just checking in can be pricey all by itself. i hate to have to keep a call to my son to 10 minutes when he's telling me a joke, or how his day went, or that he misses me. at 3 calls a week, at 10 minutes each, to two sons (in different homes - sheesh!) costs us $153.00, and we didn't even check in at work yet, or see what time we're hooking up with a friend in bz...see how quickly it adds up?

we also learned the hard way that even if you leave a message saying not to leave a voicemail, people do - at international rates. now we know to block incoming voicemail. live & learn!