Using Your Phone Overseas: A Guide to Staying Connected

When traveling abroad, staying connected with family and friends back home is crucial. With the advancement of technology, there are now various ways to stay in touch while traveling overseas. In this article, we will explore some of the best methods for using your phone abroad.

Firstly, let's discuss the use of messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Hangouts. These apps allow you to send messages, photos, and videos to friends and family back home. However, unlike text messages, these apps use data instead of traditional SMS. This means that you will need to be mindful of your data usage while sending messages.

If you're planning to stay in touch with people who have Hangouts on their phone or computer, you can send messages between you and whoever else has Hangouts. This feature allows for seamless communication without the need for text messages. To use this feature, simply open the Hangouts app, click on the chat tab, and select the person you want to message. From there, you can type out your message and press send.

For those with iPhones, iMessage is another popular option for staying in touch while traveling abroad. When you send a message via iMessage, it turns blue, indicating that the message has been sent over Wi-Fi rather than cellular data. This means that even when you're overseas, you can still stay connected with your friends and family back home.

Another important feature to note is that if you have an iPhone, you'll need to activate a new SIM card while abroad in order to use iMessage and other cellular features. However, this doesn't mean that you'll be able to make phone calls or send texts like you normally would. Instead, these services will still use data, making it cheaper than roaming.

Calling Apps: A Convenient Alternative

When it comes to making phone calls while traveling abroad, there are several apps available that can help you stay in touch with loved ones back home. Two popular options include Hangouts Dialer and Skype.

Hangouts Dialer is a free app that allows users to make free calls to most US and Canadian numbers using data. This means that you won't need to worry about roaming charges or expensive international phone rates. To use this app, simply download it, add the number of the person you want to call to your contacts, and then dial their number.

Skype is another popular calling app that allows users to make free voice and video calls to anyone with a Skype account. Simply download the Skype app, create an account if you don't already have one, and start making calls. You can also use the Skype Dialer to call numbers without having to open the full Skype app.

Tips for Conserving Data

One of the biggest concerns when traveling abroad is data usage. With most countries not offering unlimited data plans, it's essential to be mindful of your data consumption in order to avoid running out mid-trip. Here are a few tips for conserving data while using your phone overseas:

* Keep track of your data usage: On an iPhone, you can access the cellular settings and check the data usage section to see how much data you've used with your new SIM card.

* Avoid videos: Videos use up a significant amount of data, so try to refrain from watching them until you reach a Wi-Fi hotspot. When you're at a cafe or hotel, grab a coffee and watch your favorite shows instead!

* Use video calls wisely: Video calls can be expensive in terms of data usage, so make sure to turn off the video feature whenever possible.

Using Your Phone Abroad 101

Now that we've covered some of the best ways to use your phone abroad, it's time for a few final tips. When traveling to a new country, make sure to research and download any necessary apps or software before you arrive. This will ensure that you can stay connected with loved ones back home and navigate unfamiliar areas.

Additionally, keep an eye on data usage and be mindful of your roaming charges. It's always better to err on the side of caution when it comes to data usage while traveling abroad.

Finally, if you're planning to stay in touch with friends and family back home, make sure to check that they have a reliable internet connection where they'll be staying as well. This will ensure that you can continue to communicate seamlessly without any disruptions.

By following these tips and using your phone wisely, you'll be able to stay connected and enjoy the fruits of traveling abroad while minimizing the financial impact on your wallet.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enI recently got back from Canada where I went to go see the Women's World Cup and one of the realizations I had Upon returning was the fact that well one I love Montreal it's a awesome City but two the fact that no one I went with knew how to use their phones once we crossed the Canadian border so while they were scrounging nay fing for open Wi-Fi networks I was ready with Yelp reviews of where we should eat that night Google map directions wherever we needed to go and how to say where is the bathroom in French so while this realization is fresh in my mind I figured we should do a complete and comprehensive video on how you can use your phone overseas the easiest way to save money on your phone bill when you're traveling overseas is to get service from a carrier that's in the country that you're traveling to this is as opposed to using your own SIM card or your own carrier like Verizon at whoever over there because basically what happens is they're getting charged to roam on those towers and they pass those charges on to you it can get very expensive compared to if you're using the carrier uh own Towers in their own country and it is way cheaper when I say way cheaper I mean way cheaper to put that into perspective when I went over to Canada I got one gig of data on a prepaid SIM card from Telus that cost me about $30 if I were to have used my current carrier over there instead of getting the tus SIM card it would have cost me2 $2 a megabyte whip out the Abacus do that math a little bit and you realize that that's a savings of $1,988 for the same amount of data okay so first things first you need a phone that will work with the carriers overseas now here in the states most of our phones are locked to the carrier that we bought them from T-Mobile's locked to T-Mobile AT&T to AT&T Etc um with the exception of some phones on Verizon which you watch the video in the link below for what I mean by that um so what that means is when you try to go overseas and use the SIM card over there it'll simply tell you that the SIM card is not supported and you can't use that carrier so you need to do one of two things either you can unlock your current phone and that way it will accept SIM cards overseas or buy an unlocked phone to use overseas all right so if you want to unlock your own phone you'll need to purchase an unlock code code now you can either Google around for unlock code supplier or you can actually head to the link below this video to actually purchase one from my site the site that you buy the code from mine or not will let you know if your phone can be unlocked the price and the turnaround time now it does usually take at least a few days for your code to come back so make sure that you do this well in advance of leaving the country so you can test everything and make sure it works before you head out on your flight if you have an iPhone and you get it unlocked there actually won't be a code that you'll get instead get an email that just says your phone's unlocked you're going to plug it into iTunes and iTunes itself will actually tell you that now the phone is unlocked I know iTunes unlocks it legit otherwise if you have any other phone uh you will get a code back through email and what'll happen is you'll take out your sim card that you're currently using put in an unauthorized one I recommend doing this before you leave the country if you have AT&T for example borrow a friend's T-Mobile SIM put that in the phone turn it on and it'll prompt you for an unlock code you'll put in the unlock code that was provided by email and that's it your phone will be unlocked and it's permanently unlocked it'll now accept any SIM card anywhere in the world for whatever reason you can unlock your phone the other option you have is to actually buy an unlocked phone you can get an unlocked phone that's got pretty decent specs for not a lot of money one such phone would be say the Amazon Fire Phone uh now it's only 159 uh completely brand new um and you could even probably look for it used and find it for even cheaper but it also comes with a year of prime which is $99 so it's basically getting a brand new unlocked phone with a decent camera and everything else for about 60 bucks so if you want to check out where you can buy that phone and a few of the other ones that I recommend uh click the link below to be taken to my site once you have your phone unlocked or your shiny new unlocked phone arrives there's a few things we need to set up before you leave the country namely apps while you could get a plan overseas that includes minutes for calling and text messages um and while while that is still cheaper than roaming on your original carrier it's even cheaper if you just get a data only plan and then you can get apps that do messaging and calling over the Internet okay so first let's set up your messaging apps and the first one is WhatsApp it has to be one of the most popular apps across the globe for sending messages over data and in order to get it to work just head over to your app store or Play Store and search for what's app download it it'll ask you to confirm your phone number so this is why we want to do this before we leave the country because we wanted to confirm our Us phone number and then once you download it it's free uh and you can it'll actually go through all of your contacts and check their phone numbers against if they have WhatsApp or not and then it'll automatically populate a contact list for you there then when you're overseas you can literally put in the new SIM card uh and use data to send messages to those people and they're going to see it coming from your original number through WhatsApp and so long as the two of you have WhatsApp all of the messages that you use through that will be completely free next up is Facebook Messenger of course if you exist you probably have Facebook and that also means you have Facebook Messenger now there is a specific app for Messenger uh so you can go to your app store or your Play Store and download Facebook Messenger as opposed to regular Facebook of course as I'm sure you know you can use that to send messages to each other anyone that has Facebook can can receive a message from you so you just kind of have to let your friends know instead of texting you go on to Facebook and send it through that instead of sending you a text and of course the same thing goes for WhatsApp and any of the other uh apps on this list after that we have Hangouts which used to be called GTO uh you can download it from the play store or the App Store as well and it'll allow you to send IMS between you and whoever else has Hangouts and again just like the other ones this uses data instead of text messages and finally if you have an iPhone you're in luck because iMessage you know when you send a message and it turns blue basically uses data so when you go overseas and you put in the new SIM card if you send a message to one of your friends so long as they have iMessage that will work just the way it does when you're over here uh the only downside thing to remember is that when you do get a SIM card overseas you get a new phone number an international number so when you text them that initial time just let them know that it's you and that you're overseas now let's move on to calling apps um there's two that I used when I was in Canada one of them being Hangouts dialer which is a part of Hangouts on iPhone but on Android it's its own separate app but essentially this gives you free calls to most us and Canadian numbers uh and it uses data so what I would do is I if I ever needed to call someone I would literally either type in their number or it actually lets you use your contacts but put it into the Hangouts dialer as opposed to the regular phone dialer and then make that call the other one that everybody knows is Skype good old blue so if you have Skype already on your phone if not download it and anyone else has Skype you guys can call each other just turn off the video and it'll just be a voice call and it won't use as much data Skype users can contact you so long as they do it through the Skype app you can also use the Skype dialer just like the Hangouts dialer to put in a number and so long as it's in the US for the most part uh they're free to do that as well once you got all those apps set up and you've checked to make sure that wherever you're staying your Airbnb Hotel whatever has Wi-Fi uh and you've also checked to see where the closest cell phone store is to where you're staying cuz you're a thorough kind of person then you're ready to fly run swim jog however you're going to get to your destination when you arrive head to that nearest cell phone store and check to see what data only prepaid plans they have again you don't need to get messaging or minutes for calling uh because even though that is cheaper than roaming over there it's still way cheaper to just get data and then grab yourself an activated SIM card and make sure that it's the right size there are different sizes for SIM cards uh so bring your phone with you and just have the store click help you pick the right size once that's set up Google where you're going to be eating tonight to make sure that you have internet and you're good to go so while you're now all set to use your new found internet superpowers while transversing other continents um you should be aware of your data usage um the sheer fact is that unlike the states most other countries don't have unlimited data plans but with that said here are a few tips for conserving the data so that you don't run out mid navigating somewhere in a city that you don't speak the language first up keep track of the data on an iPhone you can go to settings and cellular uh on an Android phone it's settings in either cellular or Data Network or data usage depending on your version of Android uh and in there as soon as you put in a new SIM card that data usage will reset and then you'll be able to keep track of all of the data that you've used with that SIM card and make sure that you don't run out next up is avoid videos now we all love a good cat video I get it but videos use up so much data uh so what you should do do is if you want to watch a video just refrain until you get to a Wi-Fi hotspot at either a cafe or back to your hotel your Airbnb wherever you're staying and finally like I sort of mentioned before video calls don't do them don't do them because they will use a crap ton of data so just like with watching your favorite cat videos when you want to do a video call just make sure that you're on a Wi-Fi connection before you do it and there you go an exhaustive guide on how to use your phone overseas so now you're ready to go Traverse consonant and everything else while still staying connected as we all know we need to be hope this helped some people and if it did uh please thumbs up or share the video it is greatly appreciated if you want more videos on how to get the most out of your device or other tips and tricks please subscribe to the YouTube channel and as always thanks for watchingI recently got back from Canada where I went to go see the Women's World Cup and one of the realizations I had Upon returning was the fact that well one I love Montreal it's a awesome City but two the fact that no one I went with knew how to use their phones once we crossed the Canadian border so while they were scrounging nay fing for open Wi-Fi networks I was ready with Yelp reviews of where we should eat that night Google map directions wherever we needed to go and how to say where is the bathroom in French so while this realization is fresh in my mind I figured we should do a complete and comprehensive video on how you can use your phone overseas the easiest way to save money on your phone bill when you're traveling overseas is to get service from a carrier that's in the country that you're traveling to this is as opposed to using your own SIM card or your own carrier like Verizon at whoever over there because basically what happens is they're getting charged to roam on those towers and they pass those charges on to you it can get very expensive compared to if you're using the carrier uh own Towers in their own country and it is way cheaper when I say way cheaper I mean way cheaper to put that into perspective when I went over to Canada I got one gig of data on a prepaid SIM card from Telus that cost me about $30 if I were to have used my current carrier over there instead of getting the tus SIM card it would have cost me2 $2 a megabyte whip out the Abacus do that math a little bit and you realize that that's a savings of $1,988 for the same amount of data okay so first things first you need a phone that will work with the carriers overseas now here in the states most of our phones are locked to the carrier that we bought them from T-Mobile's locked to T-Mobile AT&T to AT&T Etc um with the exception of some phones on Verizon which you watch the video in the link below for what I mean by that um so what that means is when you try to go overseas and use the SIM card over there it'll simply tell you that the SIM card is not supported and you can't use that carrier so you need to do one of two things either you can unlock your current phone and that way it will accept SIM cards overseas or buy an unlocked phone to use overseas all right so if you want to unlock your own phone you'll need to purchase an unlock code code now you can either Google around for unlock code supplier or you can actually head to the link below this video to actually purchase one from my site the site that you buy the code from mine or not will let you know if your phone can be unlocked the price and the turnaround time now it does usually take at least a few days for your code to come back so make sure that you do this well in advance of leaving the country so you can test everything and make sure it works before you head out on your flight if you have an iPhone and you get it unlocked there actually won't be a code that you'll get instead get an email that just says your phone's unlocked you're going to plug it into iTunes and iTunes itself will actually tell you that now the phone is unlocked I know iTunes unlocks it legit otherwise if you have any other phone uh you will get a code back through email and what'll happen is you'll take out your sim card that you're currently using put in an unauthorized one I recommend doing this before you leave the country if you have AT&T for example borrow a friend's T-Mobile SIM put that in the phone turn it on and it'll prompt you for an unlock code you'll put in the unlock code that was provided by email and that's it your phone will be unlocked and it's permanently unlocked it'll now accept any SIM card anywhere in the world for whatever reason you can unlock your phone the other option you have is to actually buy an unlocked phone you can get an unlocked phone that's got pretty decent specs for not a lot of money one such phone would be say the Amazon Fire Phone uh now it's only 159 uh completely brand new um and you could even probably look for it used and find it for even cheaper but it also comes with a year of prime which is $99 so it's basically getting a brand new unlocked phone with a decent camera and everything else for about 60 bucks so if you want to check out where you can buy that phone and a few of the other ones that I recommend uh click the link below to be taken to my site once you have your phone unlocked or your shiny new unlocked phone arrives there's a few things we need to set up before you leave the country namely apps while you could get a plan overseas that includes minutes for calling and text messages um and while while that is still cheaper than roaming on your original carrier it's even cheaper if you just get a data only plan and then you can get apps that do messaging and calling over the Internet okay so first let's set up your messaging apps and the first one is WhatsApp it has to be one of the most popular apps across the globe for sending messages over data and in order to get it to work just head over to your app store or Play Store and search for what's app download it it'll ask you to confirm your phone number so this is why we want to do this before we leave the country because we wanted to confirm our Us phone number and then once you download it it's free uh and you can it'll actually go through all of your contacts and check their phone numbers against if they have WhatsApp or not and then it'll automatically populate a contact list for you there then when you're overseas you can literally put in the new SIM card uh and use data to send messages to those people and they're going to see it coming from your original number through WhatsApp and so long as the two of you have WhatsApp all of the messages that you use through that will be completely free next up is Facebook Messenger of course if you exist you probably have Facebook and that also means you have Facebook Messenger now there is a specific app for Messenger uh so you can go to your app store or your Play Store and download Facebook Messenger as opposed to regular Facebook of course as I'm sure you know you can use that to send messages to each other anyone that has Facebook can can receive a message from you so you just kind of have to let your friends know instead of texting you go on to Facebook and send it through that instead of sending you a text and of course the same thing goes for WhatsApp and any of the other uh apps on this list after that we have Hangouts which used to be called GTO uh you can download it from the play store or the App Store as well and it'll allow you to send IMS between you and whoever else has Hangouts and again just like the other ones this uses data instead of text messages and finally if you have an iPhone you're in luck because iMessage you know when you send a message and it turns blue basically uses data so when you go overseas and you put in the new SIM card if you send a message to one of your friends so long as they have iMessage that will work just the way it does when you're over here uh the only downside thing to remember is that when you do get a SIM card overseas you get a new phone number an international number so when you text them that initial time just let them know that it's you and that you're overseas now let's move on to calling apps um there's two that I used when I was in Canada one of them being Hangouts dialer which is a part of Hangouts on iPhone but on Android it's its own separate app but essentially this gives you free calls to most us and Canadian numbers uh and it uses data so what I would do is I if I ever needed to call someone I would literally either type in their number or it actually lets you use your contacts but put it into the Hangouts dialer as opposed to the regular phone dialer and then make that call the other one that everybody knows is Skype good old blue so if you have Skype already on your phone if not download it and anyone else has Skype you guys can call each other just turn off the video and it'll just be a voice call and it won't use as much data Skype users can contact you so long as they do it through the Skype app you can also use the Skype dialer just like the Hangouts dialer to put in a number and so long as it's in the US for the most part uh they're free to do that as well once you got all those apps set up and you've checked to make sure that wherever you're staying your Airbnb Hotel whatever has Wi-Fi uh and you've also checked to see where the closest cell phone store is to where you're staying cuz you're a thorough kind of person then you're ready to fly run swim jog however you're going to get to your destination when you arrive head to that nearest cell phone store and check to see what data only prepaid plans they have again you don't need to get messaging or minutes for calling uh because even though that is cheaper than roaming over there it's still way cheaper to just get data and then grab yourself an activated SIM card and make sure that it's the right size there are different sizes for SIM cards uh so bring your phone with you and just have the store click help you pick the right size once that's set up Google where you're going to be eating tonight to make sure that you have internet and you're good to go so while you're now all set to use your new found internet superpowers while transversing other continents um you should be aware of your data usage um the sheer fact is that unlike the states most other countries don't have unlimited data plans but with that said here are a few tips for conserving the data so that you don't run out mid navigating somewhere in a city that you don't speak the language first up keep track of the data on an iPhone you can go to settings and cellular uh on an Android phone it's settings in either cellular or Data Network or data usage depending on your version of Android uh and in there as soon as you put in a new SIM card that data usage will reset and then you'll be able to keep track of all of the data that you've used with that SIM card and make sure that you don't run out next up is avoid videos now we all love a good cat video I get it but videos use up so much data uh so what you should do do is if you want to watch a video just refrain until you get to a Wi-Fi hotspot at either a cafe or back to your hotel your Airbnb wherever you're staying and finally like I sort of mentioned before video calls don't do them don't do them because they will use a crap ton of data so just like with watching your favorite cat videos when you want to do a video call just make sure that you're on a Wi-Fi connection before you do it and there you go an exhaustive guide on how to use your phone overseas so now you're ready to go Traverse consonant and everything else while still staying connected as we all know we need to be hope this helped some people and if it did uh please thumbs up or share the video it is greatly appreciated if you want more videos on how to get the most out of your device or other tips and tricks please subscribe to the YouTube channel and as always thanks for watching\n"