No data

We recently traveled outside the US. (Yes, friends, we did it, one of my 2026 goals!) Going into the trip I was thinking about cell data and looked into what we had available through our phone plan. We could get international data, but it would be a charge per 24 hours, being charged only when we used it. I could also get a local sim, but I wasn't sure I wanted to bother with that.

We set up our phones through our plan to be able to use international data if we needed it, but we decided to try and not use it. I had two things I wanted to be able to do with the phone when offline, maps and Apple pay. The second of those wasn't even totally necessary but I thought it could make life easier.

Both of those things are doable without data. We put our phones into airplane mode on the plane at JFK and didn't take them out of airplane mode until we landed back in Salt Lake City. Each day I downloaded the map we needed and Apple pay doesn't use data, so I was good to go.

Not having data led to an added bonus that I didn't even realize until we were in the thick of days of walking in a large city and doing all the things. I was completely present where we were. I couldn't pull out the phone to look things up or to do something while I waited for G to take photos. I ended up loving it. I people watched, I really looked at what was around me. I was there and only there. This will be the way I travel from now on, with wifi where I stay with the option of data if I really need it, it's enough. Being offline, such a good thing.