How to Stay Connected While Travelling: The Complete Guide
Whether you are heading overseas for two weeks or two months, staying connected has become an essential part of modern travel. You need maps to navigate unfamiliar cities, messaging apps to stay in touch with people back home, booking apps to sort transport and accommodation on the go, and often a working internet connection for actual work.
This guide covers everything you need to know about getting and managing connectivity while travelling, including how to choose the right data solution, how to make your data go further, and how to avoid the common mistakes that lead to expensive bills or no signal when you need it most.
Your Options for Getting Data Overseas
There are four main ways travellers get internet access overseas. Understanding the differences makes it easier to choose the right one for your trip.
International roaming through your home carrier
Roaming means your phone uses foreign networks through your home carrier's agreements. It is the most convenient option because it requires no setup, but it is also the most expensive. Most carriers charge a daily fee between $5 and $15 for a limited daily data allowance, and the charges apply regardless of how much you use. For a two-week trip, roaming costs can easily reach $100 to $200.
Local SIM cards
Buying a SIM card in your destination country is one of the cheapest ways to get data. Local carriers offer prepaid plans at local prices, which are significantly cheaper than international roaming. The downsides are that you have to swap out your home SIM (losing access to your regular number while it is out), find a shop or kiosk when you arrive, and go through a registration process. For multi-country trips, you need a new SIM in each country.
Pocket Wi-Fi
A portable hotspot device you rent and return. Works well for groups travelling together who want to share data. Requires carrying an extra device and keeping it charged. Most useful in countries like Japan where pocket Wi-Fi rentals are well-established and affordable.
Travel eSIM
A digital SIM installed on your phone that connects to local networks at local rates. Sits alongside your home SIM so you keep your regular number active. Bought and installed before you travel, so you are connected the moment you land. Increasingly the preferred option for frequent travellers.
Why Most Frequent Travellers Choose an eSIM
The travel eSIM has become the standard choice for experienced travellers for a straightforward reason: it combines the price advantage of a local SIM with the convenience of not having to physically swap anything.
You purchase a plan for your destination on a provider like Pocket Roam, scan a QR code to install it on your phone, and that is the setup done. When you arrive, you turn on data roaming for the eSIM and you are online. No SIM card to lose, no waiting in a queue at the airport, and no gap in connectivity between landing and finding a phone shop.
For multi-destination trips, you can have multiple eSIM plans installed on your phone at once and switch between them through the Pocket Roam app as you move between countries.
Choosing the Right Data Plan
Once you have decided on an eSIM, the next question is how much data to get. The answer depends on your travel style and how much you will rely on mobile data versus hotel and cafe Wi-Fi.
Light users (1GB to 3GB): Mainly using maps and messaging, with most browsing and streaming done on Wi-Fi. Suitable for one to two week trips with good Wi-Fi access throughout.
Typical holiday travellers (5GB to 10GB): Using maps throughout the day, posting to social media, occasional browsing, and video calling home a few times. 10GB is a comfortable fit for two weeks of this kind of usage.
Content creators and frequent posters (10GB to 20GB): Uploading photos and video regularly, running multiple social apps, potentially doing light work on the road. 20GB removes the need to monitor usage.
Remote workers and digital nomads (20GB to unlimited): Relying on mobile data for email, video calls, and file uploads. Potentially hotspotting a laptop when hotel Wi-Fi is not reliable. The unlimited monthly plan is worth the peace of mind.
How to Make Your Data Last Longer
Regardless of which plan you choose, a few habits make a significant difference to how long your data lasts.
Download offline maps before you fly. This is the highest-impact thing you can do. Download the regions you are visiting in Google Maps while you are on home Wi-Fi. Navigation uses almost no data when you are working from an offline map.
Download music and podcasts in advance. Streaming a few hours of music per day can use 500MB or more. Download playlists and podcasts to Spotify or Apple Music before you travel and listen offline.
Set apps to data-saving mode. Instagram, YouTube, Chrome, and most streaming apps have a data-saving setting. Turning these on reduces background data consumption significantly without noticeably changing the experience.
Use Wi-Fi for video calls. Most hotels have Wi-Fi good enough for a WhatsApp or FaceTime call. Save video calls for when you are connected to Wi-Fi rather than using your mobile data allowance.
Turn off automatic app updates. Set your phone to update apps on Wi-Fi only. Background updates can consume large amounts of data without warning.
Turn off background app refresh. On iPhone, this setting (under Settings, then General) stops apps from refreshing content in the background when you are not actively using them. On Android, individual app settings let you restrict background data.
Managing Connectivity Across Multiple Countries
Multi-destination trips used to be the hardest connectivity challenge. Each new country meant hunting for a new SIM card or paying roaming rates.
eSIMs have made this significantly easier. For Europe, a single Pocket Roam plan covers 36 countries. For longer trips through multiple regions, you can purchase plans for each destination in advance, install them all before you leave, and switch between them as you travel.
The Pocket Roam app shows all your installed eSIMs in one place and lets you monitor data across each plan. Switching between them as you move between countries takes seconds.
A few things to keep in mind for multi-destination trips:
Buy in advance for each leg. You can purchase and install multiple eSIM plans before your trip starts and have them sitting ready on your device for when you need them.
Check coverage for each destination. Not every provider covers every country equally. Check the Pocket Roam website to confirm the plan you are buying covers the specific countries on your itinerary.
Overlap your plans slightly. If you are switching from a Japan plan to a Thailand plan, activate the Thailand plan a day before you arrive in Thailand so you know it is working. Better to find out at home than at the airport.
Staying Connected on Long-Haul Flights
Most long-haul flights now offer in-flight Wi-Fi, though quality varies significantly. Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, and most major carriers offer it as a paid add-on or, on some routes, included with certain fare classes.
In-flight Wi-Fi is generally good enough for messaging, email, and light browsing. Streaming video is usually too slow to be practical. It is worth checking whether your flight offers it before you travel, especially if you are trying to work during a long-haul journey.
Downloading content before you board is a more reliable solution. Download films to Netflix or Apple TV, load up your reading in Kindle, and have podcasts and music ready to go offline.
Security Tips for Using Mobile Data Overseas
Avoid public Wi-Fi for anything sensitive. Hotel, cafe, and airport Wi-Fi networks are convenient but not secure. Avoid logging into banking apps or anything with sensitive personal information on public networks. Use your Pocket Roam eSIM connection instead, which is a private encrypted connection.
Use a VPN if you need to access work systems. Many employers require VPN access for remote work. Make sure your VPN is set up and tested before you travel.
Enable Find My on iPhone or Find My Device on Android. If your phone is lost or stolen while travelling, these tools give you the best chance of locating or remotely wiping it.
Back up your eSIM QR code. Store your Pocket Roam QR code email in a folder you can access even without internet. If you need to reinstall the eSIM for any reason, having the QR code accessible saves a lot of trouble.
What to Do If You Lose Connectivity Mid-Trip
If your eSIM stops working mid-trip, work through these steps:
- Toggle aeroplane mode on and off to force a network search.
- Check that data roaming is enabled for the correct eSIM in your phone settings.
- Confirm your data bundle is still active through the Pocket Roam portal or app.
- Restart your phone.
- Contact Pocket Roam support, which is available 24/7, and they can troubleshoot your specific situation remotely.
The most common cause of eSIM connectivity issues is data roaming being switched to the home SIM rather than the travel eSIM. It is a quick fix once you know what to look for.
Get Connected Before Your Next Trip
The simplest and most cost-effective way to stay connected overseas is to sort your travel eSIM before you leave home. Pocket Roam covers destinations across Asia, Europe, the Americas, and beyond, with plans to suit every type of traveller.
Browse all Pocket Roam eSIM destinations and plans and get your next trip sorted.
