Originally Posted by
Bianca
Wah! I lost my response to maintenance....so here I go again:
So, my suggestion is to get a dual-SIM phone next time you upgrade your phone, but in the meantime, for this trip:
Install a VPN app on your phone. This provides security in the form of two-way encryption for you on unsecured WiFi eg in your hotels/cafes/restaurants etc. I currently use Windscribe, but have been happy with Tunnelbear in the past. Tunnelbear has a free data allowance, which for a few minutes of banking and brokerage app use a day is probably plenty.
For phone calls, I use Google Talk/Voice to make phone calls. Calls to the US are free, Aus is around 1c for landlines and Sri Lanka is 14c for landlines and mobile. You buy $10 credit and it lasts for years. (NB all prices are in US Dollars). If you don't want to go Google, I've also used Skype in the same way, though have no idea of rates there now.
Receiving phone calls to your mobile number would cost a fortune, so make sure people know you're overseas and to send you an SMS or email and you'll contact or call them back.
Make sure you turn on roaming with Telstra just before you leave, so that your banks and brokers can send you SMS as necessary.
As to Android app updates: Go into your Play Store settings and turn off auto-update and make sure you have App download preference set to 'only over WiFi'. I have these settings set this way permanently, even when I'm at home, so that I can control what apps update and when.
Should you decide to go the local SIM route, install Google's Datally app. It blocks unnecessary mobile data usage. I use that at home as well, since I only have 1GB of data...
Datally app also has a WiFi map for free WiFi around you.
If you think you might need Google Maps while you're in Sri Lanka, you can download maps for offline access within Google Maps. Do that just before you leave because they only last about 30 days. Note that you can't download offline maps for all countries - some sort of licensing issue apparently (eg Japan doesn't allow download, where Aus and most of Europe and elsewhere does).
I've done a lot of travel (though not to Sri Lanka), the last trip to Europe being my first with a dual-SIM phone. I've travelled with local SIM and without. It's all possible, especially with all the free WiFi around these days!
If you've got any more questions, feel free to ask here or PM me.