We pay a monthly fee ($6 ??)for international access and can use the phone pretty much anywhere. Beware if you use this option however because you do pay by the minute (50 cents/minute) for each voice call. We usually text which is a straight 50 cents per text per person.

Don't forget to turn off data roaming. That's where the real money comes into play.

there are many other solutions using SIM cards, but we find that too complicated for us.