Travel Tip 35
Check if your phone plan covers your destination.
Every year it gets easier to stay in touch when you’re traveling.
When I first started traveling, I communicated with my family by letter and the occasional phone call, which was prohibitively expensive in the 90s. I’ve always enjoyed writing, so I liked the letters, except for how long it took.
I was happy when email became common, and I could write even more and know that it was delivered instantly.
When Skype, then FaceTime, then WhatsApp and Zoom came along, I was thrilled. Sure, I miss having the written record that the letters and emails left, but now I have a blog.
Internet in the desert
I was hours from the nearest town but even out in the Salinas Grandes desert, there was cell service. I stayed at Pristine Camps, which had wifi too.
Every year it’s easier to find wifi and use my phone in airplane mode. Besides video calls with the four apps mentioned above, I’m in constant contact with people on Instagram like I used to be on Facebook. (I know a lot of people prefer TikTok and Twitter, but I just can’t do it all).
So, I didn’t think it would make any difference when my phone company in the US announced it now includes almost all South America. And yet it’s made all the difference when I’m traveling.
Before, it was sometimes easy to get a SIM card at the airport every time I arrived in a new country. In Argentina it took days to get a SIM card in 2022. Now, if my flight lands at midnight and the SIM card shop is closed, it doesn’t matter anymore. If I have a layover in Chile on my way from Brazil back to Peru, I don’t have to get a SIM card or try to connect to the terrible airport wifi.
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