Travel internet notes

I just wrapped up some international travel - four cities in India, more about that later maybe - and this was the first time I invested a little time in getting better cell / internet coverage.

Saily worked really well: you give them money, they give you an eSIM that worked instantly on my iPhone, which is unlocked. There surely might be cheaper options, but paying about $20 for a trip’s worth of internet was great, and a lot better than AT&T’s default. The catch is that you don’t get a phone number.

Getting geofenced to India was creepy, so I used Mullvad VPN, which also worked well. VPNs tend toward scammy business models, but Mullvad I liked, and I especially liked their simple, one-time-purchase way of buying access.

Next time around, I’ll remember to install WhatsApp beforehand because it’s so commonly used, and is hard to bootstrap without a phone number.