3: Get an International Number

Cell phones are ubiquitous these days. They're mutlitasking little pieces of technology--used for making calls, sending texts, checking email, taking photos, and listening to music, among a litany of other things. I'll admit that my phone has practically become an extension of my arm because it does so many things, all with a light tap on the screen.

But what happens when I go abroad? If you're like me, you'll still want to be able to call and text other people. During the program in Spain, it will be helpful even if not everyone has a cell phone because I can be the main point of contact for a group of people. Since I'm planning on couch surfing after the program is over, I will need a number so that I can contact my hosts, and vice versa. And if my friends or family ever really needed to hear my voice in the next two and a half months, it can happen inexpensively.

After researching AT&T's international roaming plans, I decided against using my iPhone as my primary phone while in Europe (but since it is an extension of my arm, I'm still going to bring it--more about that later). The cheapest way, I've found, is to use a phone that you already own with an international SIM card. Without getting too technical, the Subscriber Identity Module card stores information about the phone's number, the contacts stored in the phone, and, most importantly, the network that the phone can use. Because phones are usually locked into one network regardless of what SIM card is used, the phone must be unlocked before an international SIM card will work.

I have a cheap Samsung A107 GoPhone that I used for a week when I was waiting for a different phone to be repaired--good thing I kept it. AT&T gave me an unlock code, but the screen still displayed "WRONG CARD" with the international SIM card in it--I wasn't even given a chance to enter the unlock code! A quick Google search, though, led me to a sketchy string of numbers that I entered into the phone... and BOOM! It worked!

And now I have a number based in the United Kingdom that will cost me $.59 per minute for outgoing calls and $.40 per outgoing text message. But incoming calls and texts are free! I got my international SIM card from GO-SIM.