July 27, 2025
How are we doing on other stuff: e-sims/roaming, packing, health
Phone usage issues:
I mentioned earlier in this journal that we had to solve the problem - if possible - of how to use our US phones and continue to get data while in Europe and Britain for six months. In the US we use T-Mobile as our carrier and it is particularly good for international travel as it allows 5g of high speed data per month free when you are overseas. We learned from previous tours that 5g has been adequate for our purposes while touring. We have run through 5g on a few occasions but all that happens is the speed slows down; access continues and is still free of extra cost. The challenge for this trip was that T-mobile reports in its fine print that this overseas plan is not to be used “for extended periods.” In the past we determined that it seemed okay for up to three months. Now we would be gone for six.
Dave did a ton of reading and got on the phone with a live T-Mobile person shortly before we left. After over an hour with an employee who read through the same fine print he had already combed through, and putting Dave on hold twice, he finally got back and said: yes, if we tried to use our phones in Europe/Britain for longer than three months T-mobile would object. Critically for our purposes he couldn't tell us what “object” meant: Would T-mobile send us a warning? Cut off our telephone service? Ban us forever from T-mobile? He didn’t know and he wasn’t going to figure it out.
We did learn something from this call. At some point in Europe, before 90 days were up we would have to figure out a way to get data, probably by purchasing an e-sim plan. It sounds simple but when you go do the research it’s not. The big downside to getting an e-sim, we thought, is that you then can’t use your US number. For us, having a US number has been a security blanket. For many relatives, especially the older ones, calling us is just easier than telling them we have a new European or British number. In addition, we have the added challenge on this trip that we would be in Ireland and Britain as well as Europe, and didn’t know if one e-sim would work everywhere. We decided we would wait to purchase an e- sim plan a couple of months into the trip. The front end of our trip is packed with meetups with family and friends necessitating the need to communicate, making our US phone numbers handy.
We got lucky. In May we had two different weeks spent with smart, well-traveled friends and with both groups we had extensive discussions on how to solve the problem.
So, while in Provence in early May we got the germ of another idea. Someone figured out (?) that T-mobile only objects to international usage if you use more than half your available data. If we could restrict our data usage to half of 5g per month we wouldn’t trigger a problem, or so we hoped. We checked the current usage of data in our account and thought this might be possible. We're disciplined about immediately connecting to our hotel's WiFi upon arrival and we put our phones into airplane mode while riding, all in an attempt to minimize cell tower data usage. When we checked our data usage again in two weeks, even with only using cell phone data sparingly, we still used over 4 g that month. Back to the drawing board.
In Bilbao while we were with Dave’s Microsoft friends there was another effort to work the problem. I'll have Dave provide the details:
I had the pleasure of working with some technologically sophisticated people while working at Microsoft. One evening at dinner, I overheard two of the men, Jeff and Lee, discussing e-sims. Both use T-Mobile and both were trying to figure out how to continue to use high speed data once they reached the 5 gig limit and they thought e-sims could be the answer.
Our group enjoys teasing Jeff about his doggedness when he's figuring out technological problems. He is rightly accused of sometimes over-engineering solutions, often coming up with the most arcane, but always successful, solutions. And he had put his mind towards e-sims and had done a lot of research on them and which ones might be best. He was working with Lee to install an e-sim from the company Roamless on Lee's Samsung Galaxy phone. All three of us use some model of Galaxy, so I was interested in what they were doing and if their approach would work for Jill and me. Spoiler alert: Yes, it works great!
We endured some mistakes along the way, but the guys successfully installed e-sims on our phones and I was able to do so on Jill's as well. My phone is a S24 Ultra, Jill's is a S23 FE, the so called "fan edition" meaning it's a less powerful, less expensive version. We both originally activated our phones using an e-sim from T-Mobile as opposed to installing a physical sim. Jill's phone allowed her to install one extra e-sim while mine will accept two additional e-sims. I installed a Roamless e-sim on both of our phones, purchased a block of data, and in the e-sim manager on the phones, chose Roamless as the primary roaming data source. Now when we're on the road, rather than consuming T-Mobile mobile data, were getting it from Roamless. We still log onto our hotel's WiFi but we have the flexibility of switching to Roamless if we have a weak or slow Wi-Fi connection, which we often do when staying in rural areas.
I'm not shilling for Roamless, but I've been well pleased at how their offering works for us. I chose their slightly more expensive Flex plan which automatically switches from country to country, allows me to purchase additional data when I start running low and allows for hotspot support. They have an easy to use app which tracks data usage and with the Flex plan, allows for topping off data as needed. $20 adds about 8 gig which lasts for two months for me.
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3 days ago
I now turn the keyboard back over to Jill. . .
The upshot: (1) We now have cheap, virtually unlimited data on Roamless with our e-sim. (2) On Dave’s phone he can use the e-sim data AND still get calls on his US number. (3) On my phone, a low-end model, I have to keep my Sim Manager on the e-sim setting to use the cheap data, but I can switch over to the T-mobile data setting to make a call or check if I have any voice mail or my Messenger app to see if I've missed any text messages. (Dave: We've encouraged everyone to reach us either via email or Whatsapp as both services can work over WiFi and are not dependent on cell data. Unlike SMS/MMS messages which are directed to a phone number and therefore do not reach Jill when she's using Roamless, WhatsApp messages to Jill work when she's on Roamless.) This is workable for me but occasionally inconvenient. (4) As to receiving calls on my US number; when on the Roamless e-sim setting, the calls go directly to voice mail. (4) The Roamless e-sim allows us to use our phones as a hotspot, which is not typical for most e-sim programs. This feature can be awesome, allowing us to use our tablets when WiFi is poor or not available. (6) Roamless switches from country to country seamlessly and automatically so no worries about moving from Ireland to Britain to Europe.
Our conclusion: we think we have solved the problem to our satisfaction.
Packing:
You would think after four cycle tours we would have our packing down to a fine art. Perhaps because of that feeling, I didn’t spend a lot of energy on it for this tour, and that was a mistake. I more or less packed the same clothes I used on the last tour with a few minor adjustments: (1) instead of my one cycling jersey I opted for an extra merino wool t-shirt, thinking it dries faster than my jersey and I could use it off the bike too. My cycling jersey back pocket is superfluous because I carry all the critical stuff (passports, credit cards and cash) in my belt pack; (2) I added a small portable fan to my gear, because of the general dearth of A/C in Britain and Ireland inns; and (3) Instead of packing my minipad I opted for my larger Apple IPad Pro. (More on that below).
Results:
Clothing:
(1)I started by using the same merino wool long underwear, tops (long and shortsleeved) and shift I used last year and I realized a couple weeks into the tour that they were literally threadbare. A prominent hole developed on the front of my one long-sleeved wool top and my long underwear were visibly threadbare in the knees. I looked for replacements at a few places in Irish stores but I was told with a straight face by several Irish store clerks that they only carry merino wool in the winter. Considering how cold and windy it was in June this cracked me up. I was wearing every layer of merino wool I had. Clearly I am wimpier than the Irish.
There turned out to be a handy way to solve the problem of my threadbare clothes. We met our friends Eric and Melinda in early July. I ordered a few packages in the US to arrive at their place and they kindly couriered them over.
In addition, as previously mentioned, we wound up at a Tiso in Glasgow that carried merino wool, and picked up a few replacements items. I had to ditch a few things in my panniers to make room, but it was worth it to wear something new.
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I think your experience with an Irish store clerk naysaying your request for wool is akin to my experience always in the Santa Cruz REI. They never have what I want THEN and I do not want to order online first. This is defeating the purpose of trying to “shop local”, despite the fact it is a chain vendor.
3 days ago
Given cool weather conditions, I wasn’t getting many chances to wear the sleeveless tank top I had been carrying around for two months so it got ditched. I also realized that it was a mistake not to have a cycling jersey and bought a lightweight long-sleeved jersey on sale in Bilbao.
(2) Portable fan: I am glad I have this, as even with cool weather we have been in some stuffy rooms. It is critical for Dave but I like it too.
(3) Apple IPad Pro: this unit is considerably heavier than the minipad I used in my last three tours. It doesn’t fit as well in my small day pack and it doesn't fit at all in my belt pack. On balance though I am glad I made the switch. It’s easier to create Komoot routes on the larger screen and I anticipated more need to do routes on this tour given our longer timetable. The keypad is easier to use as well.
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Health:
Every year we work out diligently in Bend to maintain and improve our physical condition to make the touring easier. And every year some part of our bodies falls apart, creating a new ailment to deal with.
This last year for me in Bend I continued to work on my weak right scapula, which causes occasional pain in my back and shoulder and makes it more likely I will pull a muscle lifting a pannier, or a bike, or whatever. The good news: today I have the strongest upper torso I've ever had. I am not suggesting I am going for body- building, but it’s better.
The bad news: a few other things are falling apart. The first is my eyesight. I never needed readers but I had slightly impaired far eye sightedness and the last few years at work I wore glasses, the better to see the judge glaring at me in a hearing. When I retired I pretty much gave up on them. Dave opts for a large sized tv screen at home so I didn’t need them for that, and I am still legal to drive without corrective lenses. (Plus I hardly ever drive). BUT, in the last year I developed the need for readers and that has gotten more critical. The Apple mini pad I have taken on previous tours, was harder to read which contributed to the choice of taking my heavier IPad Pro with its larger screen. I haven’t gotten the hang of readers, I forget to put them on and I lose them with abandon (I left a pair at pizza place in Glasgow but they had them when I returned the next day). And the whole eyesight thing has mucked up my cycling glasses. I have resorted to not wearing cycling glasses at all, which means my eyes are not protected if something gets kicked up on the road and hits me in the eye, as happened to me the other day.
The other bad news, already mentioned previously, is my right knee. I probably have some mild arthritis that hasn’t been bad enough to address medically but is still bothersome. That knee pain I had in Pamplona lasted about a week. I managed to ride okay after one day off the bike but the gravel on the Camino caused me distress. I had thought with the extra leg strengthening I did this winter I had licked the issue. I suspect this will be an ongoing refrain as I get older. Just warning you.
For Dave, like me, in a lot of ways he is stronger than he has ever been. The pain in his neck that he experienced in early 2023 has never recurred in any significant way and I am convinced it was the extra upper torso training in Bend that helped. The real drama for him is his right knee. We felt pretty confident he had recovered sufficiently from his surgery in January, and indeed the first month in Europe he rode without any issues. It blew up at the end of May in Bilbao and it has been an on/off issue ever since. He felt better after a few weeks but in Bo’ness he had a bad day, and he worried that the Baker’s cyst had reappeared. Weirdly, he woke up the next morning feeling fine and has been fine ever since. One thing: he reported his knee gets really tired at 60 km, so we are making some adjustments. He continues to want to ride. And as I finish this report (in England) his knee is doing well and has stopped being a day to day issue. So far. Good news.
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3 days ago
Some random comments triggered by your text:
You confused me a bit by referring to 5g and 4g, by which it turned out you meant gigabytes (5gB). 5g and 4g otherwise refer to communications protocols. But I caught on fast.
Lycamobile UK permits us to roam in EU, but like in your TMobile example, not forever. However we were last in UK five years ago and they have yet to catch on. And they think we live in a hotel near Horley. On the other hand, Lycamobile France required us to show within 6 months that we have a provable address in France, and indeed after some time (maybe a year) they threw us off.
Yes, Merino is great, but then it develops holes. To Dodie's dismay I then patch these with "Tenacious Tape", until she refuses to be seen with me.
The plate of food with the grey knight was very depressing!
I too opted for a bigger, faster computer despite the chore of carrying it. I congratulate myself on this choice with every evening of pure joy blog writing, compared to the weak, compromise devices I was using before.
But a more controversial choice is filling my handlebar bag entirely with a big and heavy Nikon zoom camera. The advantage is really only in bird photos. Are bird photos all that important in a blog?
2 days ago
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