Truth be told, for the majority of my travel time I unplug from the rest of the world. My adventure in a new place is to learn about where I am with the people I am visiting. It is not time for me to be scrolling through texts, emails, games and whatever else is on my phone’s screen! I know it is a challenge to be unplugged, but also worth it for me! Two tech tools I do use however are an E-sim and WhatsApp in my phone.
E-sim … is an electronic sim card. In the old days we actually took out our Verizon or AT&T sim cards, for examples, and put in a sim card for the country we were visiting. Then we were now able to plug into the country’s phone and Internet service. Today if one has an unlocked, check with your carrier, new smart phone, the e-sim is downloaded via the Internet once you purchase a plan. I typically get one for the days of my trip and for “data”, not for phone calls or texting. The access to “data” is most useful for me to navigate a city or town with Google maps. I can locate places of interest without a physical map. If a museum’s hours of operation or looking for a place that serves specific food is needed, the information is at my fingertips.
WhatsApp is an actual app, check your app store, often used with tour groups, but people around the world can create their own groups and use it too. You need to be in wifi area to use it for sending encrypted texts, photos and making a phone call. It is a free app and takes a few minutes to set it up.
Since I remain unplugged most of my travel time, I do tell family and friends I will check e-mail every so often when I am with wifi at a campground or hotel. That is the best way to communicate with me when I travel. There are many e-sim companies … I’m not getting paid to state this … but the one I have used most often is Airalo and have had no issues with their single and multiple country plans.
Decide how connected you wish to be while you travel and get the technology best for you. Safe travels!
