Cinnamon Grammy. One other thought. It’s an ongoing expense, but a satellite phone would let you do brief call to or from a family member or anyone.
They are not cheap but if you have concerns about communication they can be priceless. You basically pay a monthly or annual fee and then when you go over your minutes (staring at 10 minutes a month – this is not your typical cell phone bill) you pay per minute – like $1.50 – $13 per minute.
They are not for those on a tight budget but I have family that are frequently a long way from cell phones or any type of civilization and have them and if you’ve been somewhere and needed one, then there is no price too high. Depends on what the circumstances are