Thanks for bringing up Orange sim plans.  I heard the same from Susan Carpenter.  I think I found the best solution using an Orange prepaid plan.  We both have unlocked phones that allow us to insert a second SIM card or an e-sim (not a physical card but one that can be downloaded).  We can download the plan we want and top off the plan with additional data, calling and texts as needed.  If anyone has tried this please let us know otherwise we will be the guinea pigs.

Keith and I used Orange last time we were in Europe. We had great talk/text/data plans for both phones. We just inserted the SIM cards and away we went. Orange works in all EU countries so you may have to buy something else in the UK. Orange was a little more expensive than some of the smaller companies but we figured it was worth it as they were everywhere so if there was a problem we could get help. For the record, there were no problems. My favourite part of the data was avoiding the hotel wifi and just tethering my phone to my iPad. No more putting up with glacially slow hotel wifi networks. We make our international calls and texts using WhatsApp or FB Messenger, so didn’t need international talk or text. 

Thanks for your response.  I did some research this morning and determined it was the best choice and it does cover UK.  I also found out that both are phones allow us to keep the SIM card we use for the US and get an e-sim ( can be downloaded to the phone by scanning a bar code) from Orange and top it off as needed.  I can’t wait to try it.

That is amazing and rather wonderful.  I am filing that information away for the future. We are enjoying your travels from the couch. Lots of snow up here. We went for a walk today and it was so slushy, sloppy and messy we only went about five km. It is supposed to warm up and start to rain tonight so that will be interesting!  

Hi Rachel.  

Have you considered Google Fi?  

I haven't used it personally but a friend who travels a ton told me about it and my understanding is it works nearly worldwide with no change of Sim card or phone number necessary because - Duh - Google is everywhere and has worked out arrangements to make this happen.  I did hear it works better with Android than Iphone but that was a couple years ago.  Might be worth at least looking into?

To use a sm card for overseas use you definitely need to have the phone unlocked and you can’t do that until the phone is paid for.

I did research it but I wasn’t sure how well it would work on the road in more rural places.  

I cannot personally vouch for it but I toured with the friend I mentioned who has Fi in northern Thailand and Laos in December 2019 and it worked in every small town we went through for them.  I returned home after 6 weeks and they continued on through Vietnam, Cambodia, southern Thailand, and down through the Malay Peninsula to Singapore and they were very happy with it.  They are in Mexico now for a couple months and it is working well for them there as well.

When I tour I don't even bother with getting local phone/data service, just use it in the hotel at night and load offline google maps for where I'll be the next day, use whats app and facetime for Comm with home.

Sorry your weather is so lousy.   I can’t wait until you do another tour so we can follow it!  We also look forward to seeing both of you again sometime.

That's what Al and I used on our recent trip:  eSim Holidays Spain.  This offered a "Spanish prepay mobile number, ideal as second line for travellers to Europe, with voice calls, 60GB of data in Spain and 14GB in rest of the EU and the UK" for 25€ for a period of 2 weeks.  It was easy to top up but could add up really fast for a nine-month trip.  Just last fall, this was the only eSim option I found but it seems that there are possibly better eSim offers from Orange Travel now.

When I spent 9 weeks in France in 2019, I opted to get a monthly plan with Free Mobile.  It worked well enough and was definitely the least expensive option, but ending the subscription wasn't as easy as simply not renewing it.  That may have changed as everything else has in the world of mobile communication...