In a nutshell cell or mobile phones have totally changed staying in touch when traveling. Here in the United States virtually all phone plans include all domestic calls, no matter where I am in the country, I can call anyplace in the country for no extra cost. This is a massive change over the past 25 years. When I bought my first cell phone about 30 years ago, I was paying $30 a month for 30-minutes in a coverage area that was only about 25% of the state I lived in. Anyplace outside of that service area was about 15-cents a minute extra. When we traveled and checked into hotels we often used the hotel phone to phone home. Today that is all easily done on the phone in my pocket, and without any extra cost, until I cross an international boarder (or get close enough for the phone to pick up a cell tower across the boarder.)
My first "smartphone" was a blackberry bought specifically because of the availability of international service. Today pretty much every phone travels across international borders, with 3G, 4G and increasingly 5G service being available around the world.
Before you leave home, check with your service provider on costs. It can be surprisingly expensive. I have seen prices as high as $1 or $2 a minute, and data costs that can run hundreds of dollars per week.
There are options. My provider offers world service, for $10 per line, per day, for unlimited phone, text and data. I can buy that one day at a time. When I start using it, I get a message telling me when it started and when it ends. If I turn off data service before the end of the 24 hours, the charge stops, until I turn it back on. I don't talk on the phone much, in last springs 5 weeks trip, I paid for 12 days of phone service. I turned it on when I wanted or needed it, and kept if off the rest of the time.
What I can do, is turn on WiFi, and do email, do web searches, even watch YouTube when traveling, anyplace that reliable and safe WiFi is available. That won't help when we are in the middle of France and the GPS unit is lost, or you need to double check on when a museum is open. I turn service on when I want it or need it.
If you are a heavy phone user, or have a compelling reason to stay available, you can also buy short term local phone service in most places. Phones from the United States are sometimes locked, and changing out the SIM card or E-Sim can be difficult. Some people buy an unlocked phone specifically for this purpose. I have never done this, I find it easy to tell people you won't be able to reach me by phone, send an email and I will check those at least every other day when I am at a hotel with WiFi.
Love or hate cell phones, they certainly did change life. My first was a flip phone. When I travel, I very seldom use my cell phone except to maybe take pictures with it or use my good camera. Like you I might check on email, very seldom, and then use the internet briefly to just check to make sure nothing at home with family or news has happened.
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