One of the best ways to keep in touch while travelling is to sign up for a free internet email address that can be accessed from anywhere, for example YahooMail or Hotmail - accessible through www.yahoo.com and www.hotmail.com . Once you've set up an account, you can use these sites to pick up and send mail from any internet café or hotel with internet access.
www.kropka.com is a useful website giving details of how to plug your laptop in when abroad, phone country codes around the world, and information about electrical systems in different countries.