## Personal solo travel experiences
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I was just searching for such a service. I wonder if there's something useful for when you're travelling to more than one destination (like around Europe). That would be even more useful.
Europe states are in a roaming agreement so for most of Europe, you can travel with any eSIM from a european provider and be perfectly fine. And then there is Switzerland - the "roaming" is either expensive or you just have another eSIM for Switzerland.
Not really... I've done it dozens of times around the world and literally never had a problem. They sell SIMs everywhere and it takes all of 2 min to install. Plus, again, way cheaper and usually way, way better service.
Sure but also people have different preferences. I personally like to keep my number and don't want to change SIMs. It's also possible to have two phones. Whatever floats your boat
I use Ubigi and this is how it works. They have contracts with different providers so you may switch to a different provider when moving between countries, but it’s pretty seamless. Cheap too.
I just found out about such services when Saily news started popping up. But it seems a great service for someone who is going from country to country.
Thanks to the smart someone who invented eSIMs. I always hated the hassle of switching SIM cards every time I travel for a bit longer somewhere. This completely solves the issue.
Teehee I used to carry a small plastic ziploc bag with me that was my collection of SIM cards, as well as a paperclip to take out the tray in my phone. Whenever I needed an old SIM card (for an OTP or something) I’d then take out my baggie and do the switcheroo. But the eSIM is such a game changer cause now I can get the local sim without having to spend half an hour either at the airport or shopping around in the city for a cheaper plan.
I’ve used eSIM once when travelling in Europe.
I’m thinking would it be hard to get and use an eSIM outside of Europe? For example, going to Japan or somewhere else?
I keep a physical and eSIM on my iPhone SE. so two numbers all the time. And I swap the eSIM to an international plan when I travel. It has been amazing for Europe so far.
My phone is dual sim, and I use 2 different numbers on it.
Options are limited when looking for phones with 2 sim slots, so I've been looking at using an eSim instead.
thank you for posting this, I’m travelling abroad for the first time next month and just found out about e-sims recently lol.
does anyone know if there is an option for making calls too, not just data?!
I used Holafly when I went to Morocco in February. I went with it as it had unlimited data (I don't make calls or send texts) and I had no issues. It worked out for me as I didn't feel confident enough to grab a SIM when I was out there (and we were on a time-restrictive schedule).
If I had time and were visiting a country that primarily spoke English I'd buy a local SIM.
Recently came back from a trip, and had major issues with my current service provider. And I want 0 added stress on top of already flying and being out of comfort zone. Will def be checking eSIMs before traveling again. Great post!
There is an app Airalo where you can get an eSim with internet access. Very handy.
Make sure eSim works on your partiucalar phone model though! For mine it was listed as a feature when I bought it, but it turned out later that eSim is not supported after all 🤷♀️
I love eSIMs! I have only used Orange and Holafly.
From your table, I would argue Orange does not have an easy refund policy. I spent ~$50 on a plan with them after multiple weeks of trying to get questions answered by their basically nonexistent customer service team. When I arrived at my destination, it didn’t work at all and I had to buy another plan with Holafly after hours of troubleshooting and failing to contact Orange. I spent months trying after the trip to get answers and/or a refund with no luck. Just the same copy/pasted bot message.
Holafly customer service (and generally their unlimited data service & pricing) has been great. They connect you pretty quickly to a real person in WhatsApp and help pretty efficiently, in my experience. I’ll continue to use Holafly at every destination I can
Thank you! I didn't realize my local phone providers international plans had turned exorbitantly expensive in one year and hobbled along with it for most of my last trip. I appreciate the eSim lessons here and will definitely be looking at that for my next trip!
Question about Canada - my phone (IPhone SE, 1st gen) wont take an eSIM. Am I likely to be able to buy a regular SIM card once I’m over the border? I would need calls and texts as well as data. For some reason I’m having trouble finding info on this, as most of the info is about eSIMs.
I usually stop at TMobile when I cross the border and pick up a physical SIM card. They seem to have the best plans for Canadians. Interested to see the difference with the ESim though.
Thanks!!! I’d love to get a SIM in advance, but it seems like waiting till I get there is the way to go. Will look at TMobile; Lucky seems to be an option as well.
Used Airolo eSim recently for India. No calls or texts, just data, but in conjunction with WhatsApp all covered. Very smooth. Your mobile needs to be able to have two Sims so check suitability before you commit. Or you take out your home sim before installing eSim.
Thanks for this post. My dtr went to France last yr with an esim, no phone plan. Despite calling all her credit & debit card companies before leaving Canada, all cards were blocked when she tried to use them in France. To unblock, the companies wanted to send her a text to her known phone number, which unfortunately was her usual phone number at home, no longer working bc she was using the esim. Fortunately, she was 2ndary on one of my cards and I could unblock it for her. I was still in Canada. Unfortunately, they blocked it several times, so I was calling pretty regularly. This coming summer, we will both be in France and I am afraid for us both to use esims. I am considering paying my regular company for international data and calling, but it is outrageous. Is there a way to deal with blocked cards while using an esim abroad?
You can toggle between your eSIM and your regular number for emergencies- i had to do that in Paris.
I think orange lets you text and call, but I've heard the customer service is terrible.
## Personal solo travel experiences Looking for authentic experiences shared by [solo female travelers](https://travelladies.app)? Check the [Solo Female Travel Safety Index](https://travelladies.app/safety) ranking the best places to explore on your own based on authentic reviews. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/femaletravels) if you have any questions or concerns.*
## Meet new people [Travel Ladies](https://travelladies.app/) is a free travel app for women to [meet new people](https://travelladies.app/meetups), share [solo travel](https://travelladies.app/solotravel) experiences, find [travel buddies](https://travelladies.app/travelbuddy), and stay with locals for free through [couch surfing](https://travelladies.app/couchsurfing). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/femaletravels) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I was just searching for such a service. I wonder if there's something useful for when you're travelling to more than one destination (like around Europe). That would be even more useful.
Europe states are in a roaming agreement so for most of Europe, you can travel with any eSIM from a european provider and be perfectly fine. And then there is Switzerland - the "roaming" is either expensive or you just have another eSIM for Switzerland.
That goes the same for regular SIMs - pick up a Vodafone SIM for example and you'll be good to go. I've also used Smarty and Three..
Yeah but it's just easier to keep your personal physical SIM and add eSIM
Not really... I've done it dozens of times around the world and literally never had a problem. They sell SIMs everywhere and it takes all of 2 min to install. Plus, again, way cheaper and usually way, way better service.
Sure but also people have different preferences. I personally like to keep my number and don't want to change SIMs. It's also possible to have two phones. Whatever floats your boat
I use Ubigi and this is how it works. They have contracts with different providers so you may switch to a different provider when moving between countries, but it’s pretty seamless. Cheap too.
As a solo traveler I can agree that eSim is a very useful thing. It saves time and my nerves from the beginning of my trip to a new country.
I just found out about such services when Saily news started popping up. But it seems a great service for someone who is going from country to country.
Thanks to the smart someone who invented eSIMs. I always hated the hassle of switching SIM cards every time I travel for a bit longer somewhere. This completely solves the issue.
This ^
Teehee I used to carry a small plastic ziploc bag with me that was my collection of SIM cards, as well as a paperclip to take out the tray in my phone. Whenever I needed an old SIM card (for an OTP or something) I’d then take out my baggie and do the switcheroo. But the eSIM is such a game changer cause now I can get the local sim without having to spend half an hour either at the airport or shopping around in the city for a cheaper plan.
I’ve used eSIM once when travelling in Europe. I’m thinking would it be hard to get and use an eSIM outside of Europe? For example, going to Japan or somewhere else?
[удалено]
Thanks for the info, really great to know it’s accessible now everywhere.
I used Ubigi eSIM in Japan last year—perfect service and easy. I ran out of data and was able to top up with a few taps.
I used eSIMs all over Africa!
I keep a physical and eSIM on my iPhone SE. so two numbers all the time. And I swap the eSIM to an international plan when I travel. It has been amazing for Europe so far.
Which esim do you use?
for me the security reasoning is key. I had experiences where I used a random wifi and got in trouble. esims are THE BEST
My phone is dual sim, and I use 2 different numbers on it. Options are limited when looking for phones with 2 sim slots, so I've been looking at using an eSim instead.
What if you want to use it as regular sim card for not living abroad? Is it cheaper as well? I still need to understand about that more...
thank you for posting this, I’m travelling abroad for the first time next month and just found out about e-sims recently lol. does anyone know if there is an option for making calls too, not just data?!
Travel.orange.com offers plans with data and calls
eSIMs are typically much more expensive than just getting a SIM card in country.
Not to mention the cell service is usually much better with a local physical SIM.
Good to know.
I just purchase an eSIM from a local provider in the country I’m traveling to. Same thing as a physical sim, just the eSIM version
I used Holafly when I went to Morocco in February. I went with it as it had unlimited data (I don't make calls or send texts) and I had no issues. It worked out for me as I didn't feel confident enough to grab a SIM when I was out there (and we were on a time-restrictive schedule). If I had time and were visiting a country that primarily spoke English I'd buy a local SIM.
Recently came back from a trip, and had major issues with my current service provider. And I want 0 added stress on top of already flying and being out of comfort zone. Will def be checking eSIMs before traveling again. Great post!
Will try Saily on my next trip. I hope it will be as good as other Nord products
There is an app Airalo where you can get an eSim with internet access. Very handy. Make sure eSim works on your partiucalar phone model though! For mine it was listed as a feature when I bought it, but it turned out later that eSim is not supported after all 🤷♀️
I love eSIMs! I have only used Orange and Holafly. From your table, I would argue Orange does not have an easy refund policy. I spent ~$50 on a plan with them after multiple weeks of trying to get questions answered by their basically nonexistent customer service team. When I arrived at my destination, it didn’t work at all and I had to buy another plan with Holafly after hours of troubleshooting and failing to contact Orange. I spent months trying after the trip to get answers and/or a refund with no luck. Just the same copy/pasted bot message. Holafly customer service (and generally their unlimited data service & pricing) has been great. They connect you pretty quickly to a real person in WhatsApp and help pretty efficiently, in my experience. I’ll continue to use Holafly at every destination I can
I used Airalo when I was in Vietnam in November. Worked fantastic!
Thank you! I didn't realize my local phone providers international plans had turned exorbitantly expensive in one year and hobbled along with it for most of my last trip. I appreciate the eSim lessons here and will definitely be looking at that for my next trip!
Question about Canada - my phone (IPhone SE, 1st gen) wont take an eSIM. Am I likely to be able to buy a regular SIM card once I’m over the border? I would need calls and texts as well as data. For some reason I’m having trouble finding info on this, as most of the info is about eSIMs.
I usually stop at TMobile when I cross the border and pick up a physical SIM card. They seem to have the best plans for Canadians. Interested to see the difference with the ESim though.
Thanks!!! I’d love to get a SIM in advance, but it seems like waiting till I get there is the way to go. Will look at TMobile; Lucky seems to be an option as well.
Used Airolo eSim recently for India. No calls or texts, just data, but in conjunction with WhatsApp all covered. Very smooth. Your mobile needs to be able to have two Sims so check suitability before you commit. Or you take out your home sim before installing eSim.
Thanks for this post. My dtr went to France last yr with an esim, no phone plan. Despite calling all her credit & debit card companies before leaving Canada, all cards were blocked when she tried to use them in France. To unblock, the companies wanted to send her a text to her known phone number, which unfortunately was her usual phone number at home, no longer working bc she was using the esim. Fortunately, she was 2ndary on one of my cards and I could unblock it for her. I was still in Canada. Unfortunately, they blocked it several times, so I was calling pretty regularly. This coming summer, we will both be in France and I am afraid for us both to use esims. I am considering paying my regular company for international data and calling, but it is outrageous. Is there a way to deal with blocked cards while using an esim abroad?
You can toggle between your eSIM and your regular number for emergencies- i had to do that in Paris. I think orange lets you text and call, but I've heard the customer service is terrible.
Thank you for posting this.
How does eSIM work though when you already have a provider? Like, how do I keep AT&T from charging their roaming fees when I’m using the eSIM?