When you’re traveling overseas the last thing you want to do is to spend a fortune and half on staying connected, that’s why we‘ve put together a list of rules of thumb (and practical advice) that can help you identify apps that will not ruin your vacation budget:
Data plundering apps and services
When you’re overseas and you’re using your home carrier to communicate, there are a few types of apps that you might want to avoid.
* Apps that use a lot of video content (Youtube, Vimeo, Netflix, online-TV etc.) will all consume data faster than you can imagine.
* Apps that use a lot of audio streaming (Pandora, Jango, Last.fm, etc.) will do less damage than video apps, but still enough to cause a serious “bill shock” when you get back home.
* Video/Audio chatting apps like Skype, Viber and Fring will all save you a lot of money on your communications expenses, but you will still need to pay for the data they consume overseas. These charges can easily add up to thousands of dollars.
* It obviously depends which content you consume online, but the types of websites you visit will influence your data usage. The more rich content there is on a website, (flash, video, high-resolution images etc.) the more you’ll data you’ll end up using = the more money it’ll cost you.
* When you’re navigating in a small area, your GPS navigation app (like Google maps, for example) won’t use a lot of data. But if you’re traveling far, your nav app will need to download lots of maps to continue navigating – and this can end up costing you a bit. If your app allows you to pre-download maps of a certain area and store it, we suggest using this option as it will save you the need to download this over 3G data.
Data monitoring apps
From apps that burn MB we’ll move to apps that track your MB. Because a wise person once said – awareness is key.
Data Usage – This little app tracks your data usage from the background, allowing you to get some control and see the big picture. Though this app is really useful overseas, its mostly built for people who are using this service with their home carrier.
Data Monitor – What the name says, that’s exactly what it does – it monitors your data. Available on iOS and Android devices.
My Data Manager – What’s unique about this app is that besides tracking your data usage like all other tracking apps, it is also able to breakdown the usage to individual apps. So you can get a list of the apps that have been using data, and how much exactly they’ve been using. Really handy when you are looking for culprit that’s responsible for your data drainage. Available on iOS and Android devices.
Data saving apps
Besides being able to track your usage, we’re sure you’ll welcome the idea of saving data while preforming the same things you do anyway.
Onavo Extend- This is one of our top 10 favorite apps (we’ve never actually compiled this list, we’re just sure that Onavo will be in it). Not only can it help you track your data usage like other data tracking apps, but it can reduce the amount of data you consume by almsot five fold, without changing your routine. Available on iOS and Android devices.
Opera Mini – Opera mini is a browser, and like Onavo it also compresses your data on it’s own servers before reaching you, as a result you’re able to do exactly the same things you’re used to, but with a much smaller data footprint.
Though we might be slightly impartial, we did build our company for the sole purpose of helping our customers save big on their data needs overseas.
If you’re looking to enjoy your vacation (rather than obsessively count megabytes), we’ve got truly amazing offers that will save you hundreds, and even thousands, of dollars on your communication needs overseas.
Check out our offers. We guarantee a 100% satisfaction, or your money back.
iPass – The iPass mobile network is the world’s largest WiFi network with over 779,000 hotspots in over 120 countries and territories around the world. These hotspots are located in areas like airports, hotel, restaurants, cafe etc. iPass offers users the iPassConnect multi-platform client which manages the user’s connectivity on various platforms like Windows, Mac, Android, iOS etc. – enabling him to switch automatically between various connections (3G, WiFi, LAN etc.). 
WeFi – As the previous two services were paid and belonged to giant companies, WeFi is different. First off, WeFi is free, you download it to your smartphone and there are no subscription costs of any kind. Second, WeFi claims to support over 130,000,000 hotspots (that’s not a typo, by the way) – more than 13o times than iPass. Third, WeFi doesn’t actually own these or has contracts with these locations like the other 2 companies before – it merely “documents” their presence and records them in it’s database. More than anything WeFi is like a giant database of available public and private hotspots – that’s why it’s free, handy and popular. But that’s also why it’s the least reliable of all 3. The biggest downside of WeFi? It doesn’t support iOS – only Android, Symbian and PC. Though we do not recommend using WeFi on it’s own – it is a great back up tool for when you travel overseas and stuck without internet.
We, at KeepGo, work very hard to make sure travelers are able to enjoy a seamless internet connection while going abroad. That’s why we honestly think that from all the helpful accessories above, the one you will benefit the most is our 
When one uses his smartphone, he/she might often forget that they’re using a pretty advanced piece of electronic equipment. These devices are essentially computers, and like all computer they use a lot of power. Since the iPhone does not have a removable battery, you end up charging it often. During travels, you will usually need to charge your phone even more, as you’re taking pictures, using the web, using the GPS etc. – these activities will drain your iPhone’s battery even faster. As you’ll often be outside when traveling, charging your phone through solar means just makes sense, and while this is in’t the quickest way to charge your phone, it’s definitely the most environmentally friendly one. BTW, 
As we mentioned before, iPhone’s battery can not be replaced without special equipment. So what do you do when you don’t have an outlet nearby? You can use a solar charger or you can use an external battery. External batteries come in two form factors: bulky and bulkier- since the external battery takes quite a bit of space. But the idea is that you will only use it when you’re really running out of juice, giving you at least a few extra hours of use (depends on the model). But they do offer a much quicker charge compared to solar chargers.
Your iPhone is a fairly expensive piece of equipment, so when you travel abroad you’ll be using it quite a lot, which does increases the chances of something going wrong. As the iPhone is quite slippery, one bad grip and it could be flying mid air – on it’s way to meet its maker. Hard cases, and especially hard impact cases might make your iPhone look visually less appealing, but will texturize its surface (which makes for a better grip) and protect it when it falls to the ground. Highly recommended if plan on doing quite a lot of walking or even hiking.
We’ve written in length before
Windshield mounts are necessary if you plan on car-navigating while traveling, or using your phone any other way while driving (music, hands-free calls etc.). Windshield mounts come in a few form factors – some are fully adjustable, some are partially adjustable and some allow for almost no adjusting. Though each type has it’s own advantages and disadvantages, based on our experience we’d recommend going with something less adjustable, as these mounts are much better at keeping the phone stable and relatively shake-free while driving.
As these cellular networks were mostly aimed at voice services, and data was only a welcomed (but not necessary) solution, the need for networks that could accommodate high-speed data services became a natural way forward. Though it took some time for handset manufacturers to catch up (namely, after the launch of the iPhone), the deployment of 3G (UMTS) networks enabled carriers to offer services and devices which are internet-centric and bring the WWW to the user. That, combined with the absorption of mp3 players, cameras and computers into the mobile phone has created the need for super-fast data networks.
