One or twice the subject has come up but the FRS and the other channels are not a great idea. When out on the road in the middle of nowhere and the cells don't work and the CBs, now rare, and you don...
If all you are looking for is emergency communications, or merely to send a check in message to someone back home, this is probably the easiest and cheapest solution there is.
They are heavily used by us in the aviation community as a safety net in case we are forced down in a remote location. I have used them many many times as a check in signal when doing trips in very remote areas. They work flawlessly.