Italy: Journal Entry: mobile accessibility
As much as we dislike to admit that our digital devices have taken over our lives there are times when our glowing, battery draining companions are an essential part of our daily productive arsenal of tools. When travelling abroad we often try to stay connected, you never know what you might need it for. For example:
- Using a GPS while driving, hiking and general in-the-city navigation [finding hotels, restaurants, and other points of interest]
- Checking up on the loved ones back home
- Contacting friends and people in the country you visiting [in Naples we were staying in a hotel which actually contacted us through Whatsapp]
Setting up our devices was not trivial, however, with a little bit of homework we were able to connect to a local Italian network.
- We checked that our phones were compatable/unlocked
- We researched available cell phone data providers in Italy
Upon completion of our research we had two options at our disposal:
- An Orange Holiday in Europe SIM card for 30 days that can be purchased through Amazon – this was an appealing option. You order the card, it is delivered to your home and you’re ready to go even before you get on your plane, how convenient. The major downside with this option is that we were not certain that the data provider would work as well as the major Italian carriers.
- Picking something in the country. If you do a little bit of research you will find that there are 3 carries that cover most of the country: Vodafone, Tim and Wind. All are equally good with Vodafone and Tim leading the pack with the most coverage.
After some deliberation, we settled on option # 2. The main reason was related to the desire to have the best possible coverage.
Before departure, we identified two different [independent to the airport] locations [one for Vodafone and another for Tim]. Our plan was simple. Arrive in Milan, try to find a SIM card reseller in the airport and then depending on the offering determine if we should venture outside or purchase the SIM card there and then.
As planned, we checked the prices at the airport and were offered a 2 Simcard deal for $60 euros with hassle-free activation [the clerk suggested that we will be charged activation fees if purchased a sim card in a different location – this proved to be a false statement]. The sim cards had a total of 16GB of data split into 2 isolated 8GB SIM access points.
Feeling confident we ventured outside of the city, relying on some crudely compiled [in today’s digital age] 8×11 printouts with directions of how to get to the nearest Vodafone store. Finally, at the store we were able to speak to a pleasant young man who was kind enough to set us up with a brand new SIM card covering 32GB of data for the cost of $32 euros.
Mission accomplished, we felt that much more confident to begin our Italian adventure. Vodafone SIM proved to be an invaluable tool with amazing data accessibility: even in the highest mountains of Dolomites, we were able to draw on the power of technology.