Skype - free phone calls - now as a diving instructor that earns not very much, those are words I like to hear.

I am lucky enough to travel a bit with diving, escorting groups, doing training overseas or just generally going somewhere nice for a relaxing break.

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly people catch on to technology.

On a recent visit to Dahab, Egypt (more on this in a separate post) I was sitting on the beach downloading my photos to my laptop and managed to pick up a wireless connection in just about every beach front restaurant and bar (albeit there are only two bars in Dahab).

But I was amazed that in a place where it can be difficult to get a cold bottle of water sometimes or a simple ice cream for that obligatory post dive ice cream, that Internet connection was every where and mostly free.

I also noticed that most of the other dive guides, who were mostly Europeans, were all busy talking to people over the Internet.  A couple of chats later and I was set to start doing the same.

So in between downloading my photos I also downloaded Skype so I could call home and have a free phone call with my girlfriend. 

She always moans when I go away diving with groups saying it is a holiday, she just does not understand that some of us do this as a living.

I also sent her a text to say to download Skype at home.  Within 30 minutes we were speaking using Skype for free.  And not only that we could see each other using the inbuilt camera on my laptop. 

Now she could witness the fact that I was working hard, sitting on a sunny beach, drinking a cold Sakara beer and still had time to give her a call.

My laptop and computer at home already have fairly good microphones built in and the quality of the sound was pretty good but since I have bought myself a wireless Skype headset and the sound is amazing.  I have also upgraded the web cam on my home PC as well and the image is extremely good.

We now Skype all our friends and my girlfriend spends hours speaking with her family in New Zealand and Canada.  It is also much cheaper to call a non-Skype friend using my Skype connection than it is to call using my mobile or home phone.

I’ve taken some time to get around to doing this but now, as long as I have access to the Internet, I have access to a free phone call.

Download Skype for free from my home page