Internet connectivity is so important for solo travel. Having an eSIM makes staying connected easy. You no longer need to look for a store to buy a physical SIM card for your phone.
Now, you can use Truely to activate your travel eSIM on your phone when you travel.
Let me tell you about my experience using Truely eSIM.
The importance of Internet connectivity for solo travel
One of my top tips for solo travel safety is making sure that you can keep your family and friends updated while you travel. I like to do this by ensuring I have internet connectivity, a fully charged cell phone and a power bank.
Internet connectivity also makes navigation in a new country easier. I mostly use Google Maps to know where to go and depending on my location, I may use e-hailing services to get from place to place.
During my solo trip to New York, I didn’t have internet connectivity and had to rely on free public Wifi from random stores. This was frustrating because I couldn’t maintain a consistent internet connection. I also had to fill in so many Wifi sign up forms.
What is an eSIM?
An eSIM is a digital SIM card inside your phone. Unlike a physical SIM card, an eSIM is not a physical object. But just like a physical SIM card, an eSIM allows you to activate a cellular plan on your phone.
Most smart phones are compatible with eSIMs. I use an iPhone 12. Before you get a travel eSIM, you can check whether your phone is compatible with eSIMs by checking your phone specifications.
I love that you don’t need to remove your SIM card in order to use an eSIM.
Setting up my truely eSIM
When I heard about Truely, I was excited to try it out because it would make staying connected so much easier during my solo trips. The first step to getting my eSIM was downloading the Truely app. It’s available on Apple Appstore and on Google Playstore for free.
I decided to download the Truely app while home before my trip started. I wanted to familiarise myself with Truely and make sure my eSIM was all set before I travelled. I recommend that you do this too so that you don’t need to worry about it while you travel.
Truely eSIM country List
On the homepage of the Truely app you can scroll and choose from 200+ destinations and regions around the world. You can also easily search for your destination by country or by region.
To give you a more specific idea of coverage, Truely provides eSIM connectivity in 21 countries in Africa, 35 countries in Europe & UK and 12 countries in Southeast Asia. That is impressive – especially the eSIM Europe list of countries. This information is all provided in the app.
I looked up all of the countries on my travel bucket list including Turkey, New Zealand, China and Portugal. Truely provides connectivity in all of these countries! Now I know it will be worthwhile having my Truely eSIM ready.
Truely data packages
After selecting your country, the Truely app shows you your data plan options including prices.
The data plan options are the same for every country and region but the prices of the data plan options are different depending on country/region.
The data plan options are: 1GB, 3GB, 5GB, 10GB and 20GB. All of the data plans are valid for 30 days. I love the simplicity of the offers and the easy-to-follow user interface of the Truely app.
To give you an idea of pricing, 1GB of data for 30 days in Africa is $26.99. The same amount of data in North America is $6.49.
Depending on what I am using my data for, I usually need about 3GB of data per day. While I travel, I try to reduce my data spend by only using data for essential apps like WhatsApp, Google Maps, Gmail and my banking app. You can restrict this by going to your phone settings and turning off/on mobile data for the relevant apps.
Using your eSIM in different countries
I have used another eSIM service provider before but I found that service provider complicated to use. Each time I visited a new country, I would need to activate a new eSIM. I ended up with so many eSIMs on my phone. It became difficult to keep track of which eSIM was for which country.
What I really appreciate about Truely is that you only need one eSIM. This single eSIM solution allows you to connect at local rates in 200+ destinations and regions.
My overall review of truely
The highlights of using Truely are its user-friendly interface, simple pricing, and easy activation process.
Compared to my previous eSIM experience, Truely stands out for simplifying connectivity for travellers. It makes a big difference having one eSIM for multiple countries. So whether you’re travelling to Japan or need an eSIM Egypt, you’ll use the same Truely eSIM.
Have you tried Truely? How was your experience?