I’m out in America at the moment. I’ll admit that I’m very lucky, and have had the opportunity to visit a good many times now. I usually plan things out and ensure that my phone, which is unlocked, has a US SIM card so that I can make cheaper calls back home to the UK.
Now, the key word you were looking for there is “usually” because, alas, I didn’t plan things out well enough. Firstly, my phone is still in my car, which is in Manchester airport. How I actually managed to forget the thing is beyond me, as my mobile is almost always in my pocket. Realising mid-way across the Atlantic was definitely a low point, but I knew that my wife had her LG Optimus phone, so I figured that it would simply be a matter of sticking the SIM card in there.
Alas, this particular phone is locked, so I resigned myself to making quite expensive texts home and not calling much. Roaming rates, despite what people say, are still hugely inflated and far more than they should be. Cash cow. That’s all I’m saying.
Here in the US you can do a quick Google and find lots of people offering mobile unlock services (or Cell Phone Unlock services as they call it here) and there were quite a few hits for an LG Unlock Code but then something hit me.
I’m on holiday.
I’m actually on holiday. To be honest with you, I stopped looking. My SIM card still doesn’t work and we still haven’t put it in the phone. Why? Well, it was my wife. She told me off. I won’t repeat the exact phrase she used, but it went something along th lines of…
You’re on flippin’ holiday you silly sausage. Stop flippin’ messing with that phone or I’ll stick it somewhere!
So we’re texting people back home now, and to be honest it’s quite nice being disconnected for a while. Sure, this Internet connection is nice to have every now and then, but I’m quite happy not having the phone ringing every few hours or getting stuck into a long conversation about the weather back home. 😉
She’s dead right of course… In fact, why the hell couldn’t you wait until you were back in the UK to publish this tale???? ENJOY YOUR HOLIDAY AND LEAVE THE TECH ALONE!
Besides, it’s not as bad as remembering halfway across the Atlantic that you’ve left your driving license at home when your off to do a fly drive holiday…. Bet my wife’s language was worse!! But that’s another story….
Ah, only slightly jealous! Looks like Florida to me… Well, I’ve been out to the US for business a few times this year, and I wholeheartedly agree about the roaming charges, which are an unfortunate necessity if you’re on business, and being self-employed means I’m footing the bill one way or another.
I unfortunately don’t travel quite enough to warrant a GlobalGig account, so I’ve recently ended up going for a PAYG Verizon SIM, which I can top up easily and use a reasonable amount of data regularly without having a permanent US address. I then use Skype to landline if I need to make any calls home, and can use the Verizon account for any US calls. Doesn’t work out too bad, but certainly the UK seems cheaper in this regard.
The very fact you can use Skype from any smartphone these days does make a mockery of the whole roaming thing. Cheap data-only sims which do not restrict the types of traffic are readily available in most countries, and that’s when you don’t have access to WiFi (which is less and less). Mobile providers need to get with the times I think.