Going travelling for a year, what should I do about bringing my mobile?

animha

Hi, I'm heading off travelling for a year next week and would like any advice people might have about what I should do with my mobile? I'd like to have a mobile with me but not pay alot of money each month for it and I'd like to keep my number anyway for when I get back...

Bradidup

What service provider are you with and are you "ready top go" or billed?

Worth giving them a call and see what deal they can offer you. Vodafone do a deal called "passport" which gives you a good deal calling back home. If you are going to a country where you have mates it pays to get a local sim card.

Darren

Bradidup wrote:

If you are going to a country where you have mates it pays to get a local sim card.

Spot on Bradidup. We all got Vodafone Aussie payg phones when we got there, from what I remember they were something like $50AUS. It was dirt cheap to phone Europe from them. I do take my contract phone with me but put it on one of the lowest tariffs and only use it for texting. Some countries are incredibly expensive for roaming.

Glowing

Don't bother with the phone - you'd have to carry around a charger too .... get yourself a Skype account instead, - most internet cafes are equipped with headphones and mikes, so you can call home anytime for about 1c a minute.

If you have a pay as you go, i think you have to top it up every 6 months to keep it active, you can do that online so keeping the number shouldn't be a problem.

Trust me, you'll have enough trouble keeping your camera/passport/money safe ..... without a phone to worry about also.

DiscoHugh

I was planning on getting my phone unlocked and getting local sim cards...

breadmonkey

Glowing wrote:

Don't bother with the phone - you'd have to carry around a charger too .... get yourself a Skype account instead, - most internet cafes are equipped with headphones and mikes, so you can call home anytime for about 1c a minute.

If you have a pay as you go, i think you have to top it up every 6 months to keep it active, you can do that online so keeping the number shouldn't be a problem.

Trust me, you'll have enough trouble keeping your camera/passport/money safe ..... without a phone to worry about also.

Ding!

lady_j

Glowing wrote:

Don't bother with the phone - you'd have to carry around a charger too .... get yourself a Skype account instead, - most internet cafes are equipped with headphones and mikes, so you can call home anytime for about 1c a minute.
.

Great idea , hadnt thought of that! What Im afraid of is that if something happened at home and people needed to contact me...hmmm....

mickoneill30

You can email them your hotel number and room number. They can use Skype to ring that or leave a message with reception.

Forget what I said. I just read your title again. My advice isn't really applicable in your trip.

ScumLord

Bradidups advice is spot on, thats what I did. I'd bring the phone as a back up at least but calling cards and skype (where available) would be considerably cheaper.

Glowing

I found I didn't miss my phone at all - internet cafes are extremely plentyful and very cheap. Are you planning to carry around your phone with you every day? You really don't want to be doing that, then your going to have to worry about charging it too.

.....You could easily check your email every day.