Have you cut the cord (phone) on trips abroad?
 

If so, how did it go?

I'm considering a trip with limited cell phone and/or internet service. I can't believe this is my only misgiving about the trip, but I truly am not sure how well I'll deal with NOT being able to get online.

I don't text/call a lot during a given day or week but I DO like having a connection.

Anyone have experiences to share?

Just a throw back to 20 or so years ago. For us it is not a big problem. No phones and we will check email every other night or so just in case ---- of what ??? I have no idea. Just in case. But we are also at the point where we do not need much contact.

I absolutely hate people who walk around staring at their phones and "almost" run into others. I really dislike it in airports. But I am as addicted to "being connected" as everyone else I musty admit and I think about "what it was like'" when I traveled abroad and didn't have "the internet" or my cellphone. Amazingly enough I managed it, survived it, and was probably the better for it.

I want the gps and the camera. It stays in my pocket most of the time.

I never take my cell phone on trips.

If one other person in our small group has a phone or two.......that is good enough and I used their phone

to check what I think is so desperately important.

My last two trip, my cellphone stayed at home.

I tell those friend (s) back home that may need to get a hold of me to call me or text me on Jack or Jill's phone.

I am not addicted to be connected or to be on the internet or to text people back home .

It was a habit I got over a long time ago.

I find that for me,personally, I have more peace on the vacation also. ;)

However, if I was going on a trip all alone,....... then yes I would take my cell phone for security purposes.

I use my iPhone as a GPS & camera. I also use it to look up all sorts of things, make restaurant & theatre reservations, meeting arrangements with friends, listening to music, radio & podcasts, reading a book or newspaper article- and even occasionally to make or receive a telephone call🫣. So, I’d have to say I don’t really disconnect in overseas cities.

On the other hand, I don’t see the world through the viewfinder & don’t listen to anything but what’s around me when I’m walking.
And I do go to places where there is no internet connection and don’t miss it.

Friends & I were just discussing the days when we had to write overseas for reservations etc, then how thrilled we were when faxes became ( relatively) universal.

Now we think it’s Armageddon if it takes more than 2 seconds to connect to any website we hit on!

This is what bothers me. In case of a problem. I'd like to know I have a connection.

I rarely call on my phone and don't text very much. I don't post photos, etc, until I am back from a trip. No one knows (from social media) that I'm on a trip. I don't check in daily.

But I'm a bit freaked about the possibility of not having a connection - and I'm also surprised at how much it is bothering me.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts (everyone).

On a recent trip I got a local data-only sim (actually an e-sim) through airalo dot com. It cost me about $10 for a 1 month esim, with more than enough data for my needs. On the trip i turned off my home cell # sim, and thus didn't get a single call or sms. I could still access my emails when I wanted to, but I turn off those red-dot notifications some I'm not constantantly bombarded by # of unread messages....

imessage, whatsapp, and other messaging-over-data apps all worked fine and it was how several of us traveling together communicated in real time.It was also handy to have access to restaurant info, shops, etc. online.

For gps, I download offine maps before I travel so I don't need a data plan for driving directions. Although real time traffic info is handy, and that does need a data connectdion.

I never travel with a phone. Has worked fine for me. I do take my laptop with wifi at the hotel or apartment as far as being connected.

We usually take a laptop so can check emails and so some daily planning while we are in the hotel. Since we have elderly family members we do ask our siblings to keep in touch if there are any issues. I don't miss my cell phone at all.

This is not about a phone.

"a trip with limited cell phone and/or internet service."

I think I would be anxious if I was a long way from family and friends and it was going to be difficult for them to contact me. One way or another I would want contact to be easy.

Some questions
Will you be alone or part of a tour group?
Is this a populated area or a wilderness area?
what do the people (if any) who live in this area do?
What do you use your phone for when you travel?
Is there a situation at home that requires you to have regular and/or immediate contact?

I regularly travel to areas in the US where I have no cell phone/ WiFi connectivity - usually on camping/hiking trips. I tell friends and family where I am and how long I will be gone so they know not to call/text me. All others can wait until I return. My biggest problem is if I injure myself on a solo hike. I usually tell someone in the campground where I am going just in case.

I signed up for an E sim on our August trip with a large French company. It was incredibly glitchy and I had virtually no calling ability, in or out, but good internet. Anyone who had to reach me could do so by email, and our kids could call DH’s phone (he added international service with his existing carrier). Mostly I used the hotel or ship’s Wi-Fi, but did not really need it much as I had downloaded books and plenty of movies to my iPad. Because someone back home might really need you I would arrange for full service then just not use it except when really needed if you’re just trying to dial back your tech use.

Thanks. This is helpful.

I did a lot of travel, most of it solo, back in the 2000s without a phone. But back then there were internet cafes everywhere, and pay phones. I reluctantly acquired a cell phone for a trip in 2008, and it came in handy for calling B&Bs (yes, real ones, not AirBnB), and navigating. I don't think I would want to travel without one now, if only because it is so useful for public transport, but I also carry an iPad for blogging and backing up photos..

I don't use the phone part of a phone when on holiday unless there is an emergency at home. I stick to public wifi, gps, photos etc and that is all I want. I'm on holiday after all.

I didn't even have a smartphone until 2019, so never traveled with one until then, but now I truly appreciate having it when trying to locate an Air BNB I've booked, or phone calls home to my elderly mother once a week while in Europe, or texts to family on occasion. And it's completely replaced my heavy camera which I no longer wish to drag around with me.

Cutting the cord on our laptop is the much harder issue as my phone will never replace having a computer. We have always traveled with one and the few times I've not had it I've felt a bit lost (although I had no phone and no laptop on a trip to Germany in 2018 and it would have really come in handy then).

Back in the day, we'd visit Internet cafes while traveling so we could check mail and do any research needed on the fly...so yes, I'd have trouble completely cutting the cord, but I think I could do it for a few weeks without much drama. A longer trip...much drama.

I'm very similar.

I've been thinking about why this is bothering me so much. I think it's because I've worked remotely all of my career and "to work" = to be in touch. Even when I'm on vacation, I could still see my work emails roll in via my phone. I didn't act on anything but never experienced that slam of a pile of emails waiting for me when I got back to "the office". There was no physical office, but a state of mind, place of being.

I've adjusted very easily to retirement and never have a thought about work. I don't receive a lot of emails, texts, phone calls. IOW I am not "tied to my phone". The conversation yesterday that there may be little to no access for a week REALLy got my attention!

I remember the days when not having a phone. I had to buy a calling card to use at a pay phone. Once I had to call home when I chipped my tooth. I couldn't make the appointment so needed a family member to make it for me. I honestly wouldn't want to go back that.

I've used my phone now to coordinate with people at the location I will be. Such as with a landlord at a flat I was renting which greatly help when my flight was delayed. Confirming tour pickups, once they never came and were not picking us up at the hotel. I check in for my flights and don't have to wait at the hotel to do it. I also use it to take pictures and for directions when I really don't know which way to go. My last trip, my friend had her wallet stolen. She used my phone to cancel the credit cards that were taken. She stopped them during the first transaction.

So I see it more as a benefit but you don't always have to use it. I have also been to places where there just isn't connection. It was fine but I still like having it when it can be used. I also have an ipad. I decided to stop the data plan when i got a new one. Why pay for one when I use my phone so its only used when free to the ipad wifi is available.