Essentials
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In the Good Old Days, travel to a foreign country meant crackly operator-assisted phone calls home every couple of months, postcards and aerogrammes. Info about a destination was mostly found in tightly clutched guide books. Booking a flight meant going to a storefront travel agent or airline office. Getting a room often mean walking in the front door of a lodge with your luggage, hoping for a vacancy.
No more. With a digital device, you can do all these things — and much, much more.
Yet, digital devices rely on connection to the world and a decent connection is not always available. Even when you can get that precious connection, it may be costly.
It used to be that you could find internet cafés everywhere. You could use their computers or plug in your laptop. But now that even working-class people in most countries have mobile phones, internet cafés are disappearing. Instead, we now prowl for WiFi hotspots.
How to call, text & connect to the internet
Connection to the internet is an absolute requirement for all the most important functions, except photography, GPS and audio / video media that you’ve already stored on your device. Fortunately, it’s is getting easier and faster to connect, even in remote places and poor countries. The trick is to keep it inexpensive… even free.
4 ways to make voice calls or text messages
- Home SIM (with roaming) — If you leave telephone and/or data roaming turned on and then leave the country, you’ll be very sorry about the huge bills. Your provider probably sells a roaming deal, but it’s still the most expensive option going. There are rare exceptions.
- International SIM — Cheaper than using your home SIM, but still costly. You get one “home” number that’s useable as a local call in almost any country. Data is often available (not always, so check!), but cost per MB is high.
- Local SIM — It’s a bit of hassle to get a local SIM in each country, especially if you cross borders often, but it’s the cheapest way to keep your voice and text going 24/7. Be careful in rich countries, where it can still be costly. Check whether an attached data plan is inexpensive enough to be worthwhile.
- WiFi — You can’t receive calls unless you schedule them when you’re connected, but any time you’ve got WiFi you can make cheap or free calls.
2 ways to connect to the internet
- WiFi — Widely available and often free, WiFi sometimes suffers from poor connection quality and slow bandwidth.
- Mobile networks — Use your phone or tablet to access data via mobile communications networks. It’s never free and can be quite costly.
First choice: WiFi
Free WiFi is now widely available all over the world. It’s the technology of choice for travelers, many of whom get by with WiFi alone.
Lodges — When looking for a lodge online, “free WiFi” is the only filter we consistently use. Incredibly, “better” hotels often charge for WiFi as an extra, while the humble lodge down the street cheerfully provides it for free.- Public places — WiFi is available in most airports (often at a cost), cafés, restaurants and other places. Sometimes you can even get a hot spot from the street. These are especially vulnerable to hackers monitoring your activity (unless you have a VPN).
- On transport — WiFi is increasingly available on planes, trains, buses and even a few metro (subway) systems. The connections can be erratic at some points on the journey. Airlines like to charge for the service in economy class.
Second choice: local SIM cards
In each destination country, you need to decide whether it’s worth getting a local SIM.
If you can’t get WiFi from time to time, you can still use your GSM-enabled phone or tablet to get on the net. A local SIM card with pre-paid credit for data is needed.
- Phone compatibility — Check the GSM networks used in your destination country. There are four bands used throughout the world and most modern phones will handle at least three.
- Hassle of getting a SIM — In some countries, you can get a SIM for next to nothing at a corner store, while in other countries it’s almost as complicated as applying for a visa, including photos. Is it worth the hassle?
- Use vs cost — Will you use the SIM enough to make it worth it? In particular, lack of decent WiFi could make a GSM data package very helpful. Some countries have very cheap SIMs and usage costs, while others are prohibitive.
- Length of your stay — If you’re in the country only a week or two, it’s hardly worth getting a SIM, but if you’re staying a month or more, it could be a good tool to have.
Third choice: international SIM card
There are many vendors offering a single SIM, with just one phone number, that functions in multiple countries. While they’re still not cheap, they can be useful for some travelers.
International SIM providers offer different configurations of plan:
- Voice & text only — This if a good option to keep cost down. If internet access is not urgent, you can still access it when WiFi is available.
- Voice, text & data — Useful only if you foresee using data when you’re out and about during the day. (With most mapping apps available offline, there’s much less need.)
- Data only — You can buy data-only, but only if access to data is important when you’re out during the day. Use WiFi instead.
- Specific to certain countries — Some cards are targeted to a specific country or group of countries (USA, Europe…). The cost should be less than for a general international SIM that can be used worldwide.
Pros
- Reduced hassle to stay connected — If you’re blasting through borders frequently, it may not be worth the hassle to get a local SIM for each one and the cost to use your home SIM is still ridiculous. An international SIM may be your compromise solution.
- Just one number in all countries — If telephone and text contact is vital, but it’s too much hassle to inform your contacts with each new country (and mobile provider), the international SIM has the same number, regardless of what country you’re in.
- When you must be available 24/7 — You have important personal or business contacts that need to reach you at any time. That means, you cannot schedule calls when you have access to WiFi and may have to receive or make calls during the day, when you’re out and about.
Cons
- Cost — Prices for voice & text tend to be between roaming on your home SIM and a local SIM. Data costs per MB are so high, it’s hard to recommend using data on an international SIM when searching booking sites or doing destination research. You definitely will not download any video.
- Variable coverage — Some providers claim to cover almost every country and territory, but many do not. You have to check whether your destination countries are included.
- Less coverage for data — Data is frequently available in fewer countries than voice & text. Again, you’ll have to check.
- Slow data speeds — Data will be 3G at the fastest and is often 2G.
Last choice: your SIM from home
No roaming package — If you’re not careful and travel abroad with roaming turned on, but without some special roaming deal from your provider, your calls will be incredibly expensive per minute. Even pinging the local mobile network will cost. Many travelers have been shocked by huge bills from roaming. If you keep your home SIM in your phone, TURN OFF BOTH CALL ROAMING AND DATA ROAMING unless you’re about the cost and are ready to pay it.- Special roaming package — Your home provider might have a special roaming deal, so that you can make and receive calls on your home number while traveling. Beware: not only do these “deals” cost around $10 per day (plus your regular usage charges from home), they also work in a limited number of countries.
- European Union elimination of roaming within the EU — The EU has passed a law to kill predatory roaming charges within the boundaries of the EU. If it works as intended, this is a real boon: get a SIM in one EU country and use it like a local SIM in all of them.
- The ONLY reason to use roaming — Is roaming with your home SIM ever worth the expense? The only case we can make for it is if, for some strange reason, you cannot burden important contacts with a new number (international SIM), much less a series of new numbers (a local SIM each country you visit). You can still be available 24/7 with just one new number, using an international SIM.