First off, I feel like a total newb for asking this question. I've read the FAQ and the Blackberry site and it seems the answer is just so obvious it doesn't need to be addressed.

My question is, if I were to buy a Blackberry, do I actually need to subscribe to a wireless carrier to use my Blackberry for e-mail? I live in a different country (Canada, the US, Costa Rica) for each season as well as travel to Europe on occasion and as such I do not subscribe to a wireless network service in any of those countries as it would be a big waste of money. Instead, I bought an unlocked cell phone and where ever I go somewhere I purchase disposable SIM ("pay-as-you-go") cards. But the idea of having e-mail and internet everywhere I go appeals to me, and that is why I am considering a Blackberry. Am I pretty much SOL?

The answer in general is yes you must to have data plan in every country instade you dosnt care about costs becouse you can have data plan in one carrier but then when you move to another country its consider as roaming and also you must to ask the carrier in each country that they have bb plan. Hope i been help for you

As ohad_129 said, you must have a BB dataplan in order to use Email and Internet. A regular dataplan will not work.

I think if you have a local SIM card with a BB dataplan on the SIM for the country you are in, you should be good to go.

Good luck on finding BB data on a prepaid SIM. That's really the tricky part.

Thanks all. I don't imagine anyone who does know of a carrier who offers pre-paid SIM cards with data. Should I re-post in the carrier forum?

Dont bother with a repost. Your last line said it all, your SOL without a BB Data plan from some carrier.