I’ve been lucky so far. I’ve never had my smartphone stolen. But I wanted to know: What if? So, I simulated the whole thing, switched off my smartphone, and tried to access all my important documents. It turns out that it’s not so easy - especially if you use 2FA almost everywhere.
That’s when I realized the importance of having a backup plan, especially when traveling far away from home. Being prepared to expect the unexpected can make all the difference between a smooth trip and a stressful nightmare.
Enter the one thing I’ll never travel without: A second phone. It’s my previous smartphone with a pre-paid SIM card that I always keep separate from my main phone. It either stays in my hostel/hotel room or it’s being kept in a separate bag when on the road. Having a secondary phone gives me peace of mind, knowing that if my primary phone is lost, stolen, or damaged, I have a backup ready to go. This backup phone serves multiple purposes:
It has a secondary phone number I can use to make calls in case of emergencies.
It contains important documents, such as my passport, travel itinerary, and insurance information.
It contains essential apps, such as my password manager, my email account and relevant apps for the journey (e.g. airline apps).
I can easily deactivate my main phone remotely using this secondary device.
Perhaps most importantly, I can activate my main line on the secondary phone using an eSIM, which can be done through my provider’s website. This means I can quickly regain access to my primary phone number without needing a physical SIM card.
So my advice to other travelers who might have an old phone at home or about to replace their current phone: Maybe reconsider selling it. Set it up with a pre-paid SIM and crucial information. It’s a simple travel hack that can save you from a lot of stress and inconvenience should the worst happen.
When I replace my current smartphone at some point, I will also keep this one and set it up as a third emergency phone - which will always stay at home. Like a third line of defense to at least get easy access to my stuff once I return.
I don’t even know if a sim is necessary. I did this for a recent trip and figured I could just use hotel wifi if I needed to set everything up again and get a sim or buy an esim.
Vale said:
I don’t even know if a sim is necessary. I did this for a recent trip and figured I could just use hotel wifi if I needed to set everything up again and get a sim or buy an esim.
If you’re traveling to a foreign country, you’ll have a hard time getting your main number to the second phone on a physical sim. If you don’t use your phone number for 2FA this might not matter, but if you do, it matters a heck of a lot.
Leith said:
I just keep my main phone at the accommodation and go out with my “burner” iPhone.
This is what I do as well. There’s also very little personal data on the phone I’m carrying on the street. There are no banking apps, no Apple Pay. If someone steals it, I’m okay with WiFi on my regular phone that’s in the safe where I’m staying.
I was in an accident, totaled my car and my phone went flying out the window into a pond. Not having a phone was worse than totaling the car that day.
Had one stolen while I was in New Orleans. I always carry a spare in my carry-on luggage and suggest to friends going to high crime areas to do the same.
Last week I left my phone on a plane. Through a second phone and ‘find my phone’ I could see it flying all over the US - and I live in Canada! Once it stopped moving (it must have been lodged somewhere the cleaners didn’t immediately find it) I was able to call the airport. Thank goodness it was a small one and a REAL person just looked around at the lost and found and at the ticket counters and found it. It is now returning to me via UPS. I will also now always keep my old phones and keep them linked in this way.
Not that I want to be a fanboy for Apple…but if your iPhone is lost or stolen, you can still receive notifications via iMessage on your laptop or iPad. Additionally, you can receive the text message on your Apple Watch.
@Finch
This is one of the reasons I own an iPhone. Had my phone stolen in Paris and within 2 hours I had a new phone with all my info back in hand and my stolen phone was safely removed from my iCloud. The helpful people at the Apple Store said they do this at least twice a week, almost daily in the summer.
@Finch
I can confirm this works. I had my iPhone stolen a few days into a month-long trip (Vietnam) I am grateful I had my MacBook and could just wait until I got home to replace my phone.
I love this conversation, though, and am now considering getting a burner to carry with me on my next trip. Great ideas here!