Everyone who has at least once set off on a foreign trip knows that airports, hotels, cafes, shopping centers and other gathering places for tourists can access the mobile Internet by connecting to a wi-fi signal.
Perhaps someone will be surprised, but on board the plane wi-fi no longer seems to be a luxury. Many airlines offer both paid and free wi-fi in airplanes, and it's not just for business class passengers. Be sure to find out if the Internet is on board your airliner. To do this, you can use the seatguru.com link.
Before starting the trip, we recommend downloading to your phone an application for finding hotspots with free Internet – wifispc.com or avast.com/wifi-finder. But the application wifimap.io can also supply the password from the protected network, if it is shared by someone from the users.
Another life hack for fans of free wi-fi. In Apple Store, McDonald's restaurant chain and Starbucks coffee shops around the world, you can always connect to the Internet, without using passwords and having to buy something. So do not be surprised if you see groups of people with smartphones trying to catch the Internet at the main entrance.
If your trip is business related, the noise in the cafe and the fussy atmosphere of public places can prevent you from focusing on business matters. Workhardanywhere.com will help you find a cozy coworking place or a secluded cafe for work.
In case, you can do work in your phone, or if you take a tablet PC with you on a trip, find out about the options to purchase a local SIM card. Unfortunately, not in all countries it is easy for foreigners to buy a local start package. The prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com website has detailed information about local telecom operators, the quality and speed of the mobile Internet, as well as the possibility to buy a sim card for tourists.
Internet roaming is another reliable way to keep in touch, always and everywhere. However, it can hardly be called very cost effective.
As a rule, correspondence and even calls (without video) in the email and instant messengers are fully covered by the small number of megabytes that you spent, but watching the video, downloading photos and updating the applications will cost you a pretty penny.
If you opted for a certain roaming, disable automatic updates in your phone without using wi-fi. Also, find out what special deals your mobile operator has for using the Internet in roaming - as a rule, there are always some interesting offers during the holiday season.
Sometimes domestic telecom operators set lower tariffs for roaming in cooperation with a certain operator in another country. In such cases, it is necessary to make sure that your phone chooses the network not automatically by signal intensity, but selects it manually.
In any case, do not forget that on every trip, it is the time spent traveling which is the most valuable. Leave the Internet for the most important matters and news from home. Enjoy the atmosphere of a new place - you will surely take home the memories of exciting novel experiences and new fascinating acquaintances!