Sim Card - Local or Global
 

Hi

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a thread that answers my question. Hopefully you can help me.

In April 2021 I'll start a trip around the world (Europe, Stan-Countries, Mongolia, Australia, North-/South America).

I'm not sure whether I should get a "Global Sim" with international data roaming or buying Local Sim cards on the road:
-Is it easy go get/activate Local Sim cards in various countries?
-I heard Local Sim are often cheaper than "Global Sim"
-Is there a specific provider which has a "must have" Global Sim?

I'm aware that the above depends on various factors:
- Data usage only: Messages, some Insta updates, Couchsurfing, Google - nothing crazy
- Mix between camping, couchsurfing, hotel, hostel
- Not sure how long I'll stay in each country

Looking forward to hear your experiences/thoughts.

Best
Roger

We buy SIMs in each country when we arrive. We haven;t been everywhere you're going, however in general we've had no problem doing this. Some countries require a bit more administration than others, however overall it's been no problem for us (North and South America, Africa, Australia, some of Asia).

We also keep our "home SIMs" and sometimes use these (we have a European one which is relatively economic in a lot of countries, and have our own from home, one of which is practical in many countries (the other is terrible for roaming, so we don't use it anywhere except at home)).

We looked at "global SIMs" and actually bought one, however it appears that local SIMs are better in terms of utility and cost.

For emergencies we also have a satphone.

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JIZRnVK3J...eisen-esim.JPG

I did wrote about them recently:

https://www.4x4tripping.com/2020/08/...e-SIM.html?m=0

For my next trip I will start with a global sim.

- For beeing online till i buy a local one
- for have a failover Access

Also in South America or other destinations it is not always so easy to buy a local simcard.

They need Papers, their computer dosnt accept your Passport Number, you loose time till you find a seller who register them on himself at sample.

The coverage depends but is pretty good compared to 2-3 Years back. There is a translation Button to the right..

Surfy

Hi all

Awesome, many thanks :D

Best
Roger

Hi all

Status update

I'm now travelling for 4 months. Not as far as initially intended, but that's ok: From Switzerland, through Balkans, Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia.

I bought a global sim card from Keepgo: 25$ for the sim with 3GB (they often have a promotion running).
Mostly I'm using wifi, in Turkey/Georgia/Armenia I bought local sim.

Compared to local sim it's very expensive, but quite handy to have backup solution (ie your at the border and forgot to fill out an online form to enter the country ;) or when you're just a few days in a country). The Keepgo is easy to set up, coverage is good, many countries are covered. I mainly use it to send Whatsapp or Google.

Best
Roger

PS: I'm not sponsored/supported by Keepgo

Dual sim
 

Many phones now can handle dual sim / e-sim also an option. Eg on my iphone i have my home sim set as the e-sim which leaves the sim slot for a local sim. Means folks back home can call my usual number and get me and I can book a local thing with local number.
In my experience other folks aren’t nearly as keen to look at your travel pics as you might like so you don’t need the data you would think. J.