Barbelith Underground > Conversation > Cell phone or portable internet thingy? What's a traveler to do?

I'm in travel mode again, and I must say that my cell phone is a pain in the ass. Whatever you do, becoming a member of Sprint PCS is not the path you want to take. This was my moms birthday present to me, only she paid for (only) the initial month. Suddenly I was signed to a year contract with this horrible horrible company.

So I want to ditch the device, but being a traveling wandering entity I'd like to be able to get a hold of my friends. I'd also like my friends to be able to get a hold of me. Have you guys had any good experiences traveling with a portable internet thingy? Are you able to maintain social contact this way?

On another note, there's nobody here that I'm neglecting, at least not intentionally. I owe a lot of you PM's and email's and thank you's and fuck you's: but recently I've been learning to "get off the stage" and "be," hence the internet has started to resemble a game of text based Zork.