Another option that we used everyday on MOOSE was the webcams with Mark's laptop at home and my laptop that I brought with me. It was great to see him in person and talk without the time lag that you experience with the ships phone. We could talk and visit as long as we wanted to for free. All you need to do this is a laptop with a webcam and a free instant message service like AIM. (you don't have to be an AOL customer to use their AIM instant messanger.)

Even if your computer at home is a desktop or laptop without a webcam, as long as one of the computers has a webcam, the other person without a cam can still hear you but not see you.

I even took the laptop out onto the balcony so he could see what I was seeing :)