Ladies whose pilots fly over the pond(s)....ie: international flying

[Kristie]

I've got questions now that i'm about to become an Extended Range (ER) pilot wife. Doug's gonna be flying to Europe, Africa, India and who knows where else worldwide now, which i'm slowly noticing is going to be a whole NEW ball of wax as far as scheduling and contact are concerned. A whole new animal as some would say....

So, for the ladies whose SO's fly all over the world:

1) How do you go about keeping in contact? do you use a particular calling card, cell phone, internet access, skype or what do you do to keep contact inexpensive and easy access?

2) what's your preferred type of schedule? 4 day trips, 6 day trips...two weeks on - 2 weeks off? we're trying to figure out how to maximize our time together while also maximizing our possibility to travel, take off work and so forth. Doug will be able to hold a line right out of training, so luckily, we don't have to worry about him being on reserve.

3) when your pilots to go work (via commute), do they get a crashpad or stay in the pilot lounge or hotel? reason i ask is because most international flights leave during the "international push" which is anywhere from 4pm - 9pm meaning they have to be at the airport 2 hrs ahead of time which makes commuting kind of a bear for us because there are only 2 phx-jfk flights a day (typically only 1 flight in winter)...meaning at times, he might have to stay overnight before/after most trips.

4) anyone familiar with NYC... if we wanted to stay there for like a month (not permanent, temporary only), what would be the best option for housing that would give us both opportunity to get to/from the airport fairly quickly without spending all of our spare cash on housing? can wives share a crashpad with hubby pilot?

Thanks for the discussion!!