I gotta agree that FRS radios, on anything other than a convoy or ski slope, aren't really that useful. In a city, their range decreases badly, because of many reasons, including interference, buildings, power sources, other RF emitters (automatic door openers, anti-shoplifting sensors, burglar alarms, etc...) etc. When you go overseas, the danger of the same channels being assigned to other uses (such as police, fire or military) is present, and they tend to frown on that sort of thing...
GSM cell phones are the way to go, prepaid simcards are all over the place (but i've been warned that some phones are "locked", meaning that you may not be able to use another company's sim card in them, but I'm not really sure how that one works) I've got Verizon back home, cause in Washington state, they have the best coverage, but that's the only reason. Out here, I purchased a GSM phone for use in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Afghanistan and Iraq... no way I could do that with a CDMA phone!
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"A bad carpenter always blames his tools!" - Grandpa Boris
Make war, not love! It's safer!
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I can talk to people back in the states from europe with my handheld radio linked an IRLP node. 
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