Final Questions

[RJE]

I can’t believe I’m less than 2 weeks away from starting this adventure! A little over a year ago I learned about the Camino de Santiago, and thanks to the guidance of this forum I decided this was how I wanted to spend my sabbatical.

I’m both excited and nervous, which I think is a good thing. Getting out of my comfort zone is one of the reasons I’m doing this.

A few last questions…

I’m going to use the Verizon international plan for cell service. Any recent feedback on how service is?

I’ve got my pack down to 14 lbs. (Zpacks Nero 38L w/ hip pads). I’ve had some calf tightness in recent training hikes, so I’m going to get poles in SJPDP. Sounds like this is easy to purchase there, correct?

Bugs - are folks treating their pack for bed bugs? How about bugs on the trail? I’m planning to bring some repellant.

I’m starting in summer and ending in fall at Muxia. I assume temps there at that time will be cooler, but not anything some pants, long sleeve merino and rain jacket can’t handle?

Thanks for all of your wisdom.

Vamos!

 

[Grousedoctor]

Your pack weight looks great! To walk far, carry less! You will have no problem finding poles in SJPP. Even without your calf tightness, I think you’ll find poles beneficial.

Regarding bed bugs, you might think about spraying your pack and sleeping bag with permethrin. Although I never had a problem, I have seen pilgrims who were pretty bit up. So, I’d spray your items and let them dry outside prior to your trip. An ounce of precaution may just pay off.

Enjoy your sabbatical! Enjoy your Camino!

 

[trecile]

Regarding bed bugs, you might think about spraying your pack and sleeping bag with permethrin. Although I never had a problem, I have seen pilgrims who were pretty bit up.

I spray inside my backpack, my sleep gear (except pillowcase), and all of my cloth stuff sacks with permethrin. BUT, I don't do it to avoid being bitten by bed bugs, because permethrin is not a bed bug repellent nor does it kill them immediately on contact. They can sneak into your sleeping bag and have a quick bite, or two or three.

However, permethrin should kill bed bugs when they have prolonged contact (a couple of hours) with a treated surface. So, I treat my gear in case a bed bug happens to get into my sleep sack or backpack. I want them exposed to as much treated surface as possible so that they don't come out alive. I don't want to be that pilgrim who is transporting bed bugs from albergue to albergue.

 

[Vacajoe]

is it the $10 a day US Verizon plan? Because that is a total ripoff when you can get a Spanish sim with enough data for the Camino for less than 15€

 

[Pafayac]

I am leaving tomorrow for Bayonne, and I am spraying my sleeping bag, my sleeping sheet and my backpack with repellents.

 

[RJE]

is it the $10 a day US Verizon plan? Because that is a total ripoff when you can get a Spanish sim with enough data for the Camino for less than 15€

No. The $100 a month one.

 

[Bradypus]

No. The $100 a month one.

Still sounds like a lot to pay when 15 or 20 euro will buy you a local sim with a generous data allowance plus calls and sms messages for a month.

 

[peregrina2000]

I’m going to use the Verizon international plan for cell service. Any recent feedback on how service is?

I have used Verizon’s international plan twice for tourist trips to Europe and it was not a good experience. On the first time, the calling function just wouldn’t work. I had a long talk with the reps on my return and they credited the money and assured me it wouldn’t happen again. They can see every key stroke you’ve made on your phone, so they were able to confirm that I had done things right and nothing had worked. On the second trip, the data plan was not what I had expected. Yes, I had data all the time, but after a few GBs it dropped to whatever the low level totally unusable type of data is. I can’t remember the designation, is it “E”? At $100 for two weeks (think that’s the price) it’s astronomically more expensive than getting a Spanish sim card, and as I discovered, potentially much less reliable. You may be lucky and have a good result, and you may have a reason for needing to keep your US number, but I would never use it on a camino. Who wants to get spam while you’re walking a camino? You can send an email telling your family your new Spanish number, and all your messages and a list of your calls will be waiting for you when you pop back your US sim.

I always get a Vodafone or Movistar sim card when I get to Spain. For 15-20 euros for 28 days, I have hundreds and hundreds of minutes of international calls, unlimited national calls, and I can’t remember how many GBs of data, but I think last year it was over 100. I have not tried an e-sim so I can’t speak to that, but I would recommend waiting till you get to Pamplona and going into either a Vodafone or Movistar store and getting a card. The staff will take out your US sim card (which I then tape to the inside back of my passport) and insert the Spanish sim. Movistar has slightly better coverage in remote areas, but there really aren’t any remote areas on the Camino Francés, so I would say either one is fine for the Francés.

 

[Nelle]

I’ve used the $100/month Verizon plan on two different monthlong trips in Europe in the past couple of years because it was essential for family reasons that I was reachable through usual channels at all times. Coverage was fine — no worse that hitting the occasional weak zone in the US. Just remember to hit the + sign before dialing the country code - including back to the US. I appreciate there are cheaper options, but for me the tradeoff of keeping my regular phone number in the event of an emergency back home was worth it. But everyone’s situation is their own.

 

[Jack L]

I used the Verizon plan and I had trouble turning it off when I returned home. Also, keep in mind it is $100 per month of your billing cycle, not calendar month. That is, if your billing cycle starts on the 15th of the month and you turn that feature on the 12th you pay a full month. It does not matter if you make international calls or not, they charge for an entire month.
The ATT plan is much better because it is based on usage days per billing cycle with a maximum of $100 per month.

 

[Bradypus]

I’ve used the $100/month Verizon plan on two different monthlong trips in Europe in the past couple of years because it was essential for family reasons that I was reachable through usual channels at all times.

Does your phone have dual-sim capability? That way you can have your usual sim and phone number running in parallel with a local sim. Just be sure to disable the data function for the US sim.

 

[peregrina2000]

I’ve used the $100/month Verizon plan on two different monthlong trips in Europe in the past couple of years because it was essential for family reasons that I was reachable through usual channels at all times. Coverage was fine — no worse that hitting the occasional weak zone in the US. Just remember to hit the + sign before dialing the country code - including back to the US. I appreciate there are cheaper options, but for me the tradeoff of keeping my regular phone number in the event of an emergency back home was worth it. But everyone’s situation is their own.

Thanks for the point out the correct price - $100 for the month is a lot different than for two weeks, which is what I incorrectly remembered. I too have to be easily reachable by my US family members, and when my parents were alive, it was hard to teach them how to call me. But my brother was able to put the keystrokes one by one on a big piece of paper taped to the wall and they did it just fine. I currently call back to the US on a daily basis while on the camino, and even though I have 800 international minutes available on my plan, I usually use WhatsApp so that I can have a video rather than a voice call. With the huge amount of data, this is always easy to accomplish.

I’m wondering if you had any data problems, because for me that is really a much bigger issue. I walk a lot of untraveled and sometimes remote caminos, and not having access to data would be a real problem.

 

[Jack L]

With ATT I have the same data / voice plan that I have here in the US.

 

[t2andreo]

I have t-Mobile as my cellular provider in the US. They provide FREE UNLIMITED TEXTING and UNLIMITED DATA in over 140 countries. For example, when I land at Madrid Barajas, or Paris Charles de Gaulle, I turn my phone on - take it out of "airplane mode." It automatically connects to a t-Mobile roaming partner.

I have not noticed any problems with coverage or signal strength anywhere on my six Camino journeys. In my experience over the past decade, cellular service in Europe is generally better than in the US.

T-Mobile will, eventually, start to remind me that their generosity is for vacations and business trips, not residing in a foreign country. But, this does not occur until I am using the data and texting for more than 30 consecutive days. Then, they start sending polite reminders. But, even when I have been in Spain for six weeks or so, they have never cut me off.

I do not have to do anything to cause this benefit to occur. I just travel. There is no daily or monthly charge. However, voice calls - anywhere - are USD .25 cents per minute.

So, while I can receive a call directly, while in Europe - or Asia for that matter - I will only answer immediately on an urgent matter. Everything else goes to voice mail. I deal with those messages when I can use free Wi-Fi to place phone calls over the internet - usually from my accommodations that evening.

Hope this helps.

Tom

 

[Nelle]

Thanks for the point out the correct price - $100 for the month is a lot different than for two weeks, which is what I incorrectly remembered. I too have to be easily reachable by my US family members, and when my parents were alive, it was hard to teach them how to call me. But my brother was able to put the keystrokes one by one on a big piece of paper taped to the wall and they did it just fine. I currently call back to the US on a daily basis while on the camino, and even though I have 800 international minutes available on my plan, I usually use WhatsApp so that I can have a video rather than a voice call. With the huge amount of data, this is always easy to accomplish.

I’m wondering if you had any data problems, because for me that is really a much bigger issue. I walk a lot of untraveled and sometimes remote caminos, and not having access to data would be a real problem.

I didn’t have a data issue, but I typically don’t use video, so my data needs were probably different. A couple of times I had to turn off/on the airplane mode iPhone switch to reconnect in a rural area when I’d been offline for a bit, but I’ve had to do that in the US in an area with weaker Verizon coverage, and it never took more than a minute or twi to get back online. The current Verizon int’l plan provides 20GB of high speed data per month and then switches to unlimited 3G data. Unlimited texts and 250 calling minutes (not including WhatsAp).

 

[RJE]

I’ve used the $100/month Verizon plan on two different monthlong trips in Europe in the past couple of years because it was essential for family reasons that I was reachable through usual channels at all times. Coverage was fine — no worse that hitting the occasional weak zone in the US. Just remember to hit the + sign before dialing the country code - including back to the US. I appreciate there are cheaper options, but for me the tradeoff of keeping my regular phone number in the event of an emergency back home was worth it. But everyone’s situation is their own.

Thanks. Yes, my thought process is similar. Just wanted to be sure coverage was fine.

 

[RJE]

I have t-Mobile as my cellular provider in the US. They provide FREE UNLIMITED TEXTING and UNLIMITED DATA in over 140 countries. For example, when I land at Madrid Barajas, or Paris Charles de Gaulle, I turn my phone on - take it out of "airplane mode." It automatically connects to a t-Mobile roaming partner.

I have not noticed any problems with coverage or signal strength anywhere on my six Camino journeys. In my experience over the past decade, cellular service in Europe is generally better than in the US.

T-Mobile will, eventually, start to remind me that their generosity is for vacations and business trips, not residing in a foreign country. But, this does not occur until I am using the data and texting for more than 30 consecutive days. Then, they start sending polite reminders. But, even when I have been in Spain for six weeks or so, they have never cut me off.

I do not have to do anything to cause this benefit to occur. I just travel. There is no daily or monthly charge. However, voice calls - anywhere - are USD .25 cents per minute.

So, while I can receive a call directly, while in Europe - or Asia for that matter - I will only answer immediately on an urgent matter. Everything else goes to voice mail. I deal with those messages when I can use free Wi-Fi to place phone calls over the internet - usually from my accommodations that evening.

Hope this helps.

Tom

Thanks. This helps. Yes, I’ve learned T-Mobile’s international plan is better than Verizon’s, and I’d switch if I could, but I can’t. I also don’t want to deal with SIM cards and different numbers, so I’m looking for ease and willing to pay. Just wanted to be sure the coverage was adequate for the cost.

I plan to use iMessage and FaceTime on WiFi to save the minutes and high speed data I get with the plan.

 

[Nanners]

Have a wonderful time! I hope to be back on the Camino next year.

I used the $100 Verizon plan on my Portuguese camino and it worked just fine. I considered Airalo as I had used it once prior. It was a little glitchy and I didn't get all my test messages. The Portugese was my first camino, and I didn't want any communication glitches with albergues or my elderly mother. My daughter used Airalo e-sim cards a couple of times and she eventually returned to the Verizon international plan as well. I had pre-booked most of my lodgings and most of the albergues texted me to confirm my arrival time.

 

[trecile]

I plan to use iMessage and FaceTime on WiFi to save the minutes and high speed data I get with the plan.

You should also install WhatsApp on your phone if you haven't already. It's how pilgrims often communicate with each other and with albergues and other accommodations.

 

[Elle Bieling]

I'm a Roamless person now. Set it up at home, then switch when you land. No individual data plans. You have a wallet, where you only pay for what you use, in a pay-as-you-go model. It is inexpensive and the data that you buy never, ever expires. You never again have to purchase multiple eSIMS, but use your same eSIM account whenever and wherever you travel. In my experience, it is seamless moving from one country to another.

You can now make calls through Roamless, but, that service is brand new - I have only ever used data. Roamless to Roamless calls and messaging is coming soon for free. Roamless.com. Check it out.

 

[DwainS]

I can’t believe I’m less than 2 weeks away from starting this adventure! A little over a year ago I learned about the Camino de Santiago, and thanks to the guidance of this forum I decided this was how I wanted to spend my sabbatical.

I’m both excited and nervous, which I think is a good thing. Getting out of my comfort zone is one of the reasons I’m doing this.

A few last questions…

I’m going to use the Verizon international plan for cell service. Any recent feedback on how service is?

I’ve got my pack down to 14 lbs. (Zpacks Nero 38L w/ hip pads). I’ve had some calf tightness in recent training hikes, so I’m going to get poles in SJPDP. Sounds like this is easy to purchase there, correct?

Bugs - are folks treating their pack for bed bugs? How about bugs on the trail? I’m planning to bring some repellant.

I’m starting in summer and ending in fall at Muxia. I assume temps there at that time will be cooler, but not anything some pants, long sleeve merino and rain jacket can’t handle?

Thanks for all of your wisdom.

Vamos!

I walked Camino Francés last year from SJPP and the Camino Francés this year from Pamplona as well as the Camino Portuguese from Tui on the same trip. I did not spray any of my gear last year or this year and had no bug problem. Now i'am not saying don't spray your gear i'am just saying if you don't spray doesn't mean you will automatically have a bug problem. Buen Camino

 

[Stephan the Painter]

RE: Phones.
I found what works best for me is to have an ESIM from my home provider and put in a physical SIM when I get to the foriegn destination. They often have them available at the airports. In Madrid go to left luggage, they sell them there.

Most phones can support multiple numbers.

Interestingly, on my last trip I bought an “orange” SIM and they claim that if I top it up with Five euros every six months I can keep the number active.

So at the moment I’m just keeping it and hopefully I can just flick it on the next time I land in Europe.