International use of smartphone?

IPhone 5?

If so, you should be able to buy or rent a nano-SIM card at your destination. I'm not sure about AT&T, but that works with a Verizon iPhone 5. We did that while on vacation in Israel to get unlimited text, voice, and data for something like $20/day.

I've had good luck all over the world with AT&T. I can't remember which service plan I had when I was in Peru. Nextel maybe?

Just remember to 1) turn off your cellular data and use wifi, and 2) call your service provider the week before you leave to activate international coverage.

"turn off your cellular data and use wifi"

If you're going to use local wifi, get yourself a VPN and ALWAYS use it when you're traveling (actually, you should use a VPN whether you're traveling in the US or overseas). IMNHBOBO.

Doug must have traveled to the Olympics in Sochi.

"Doug must have traveled to the Olympics in Sochi."

Nah, I don't even watch the Olympics – no interest. But I did cover the Atlanta Olympics as an Army photojournalist. That was pretty interesting.

AT&T iPhone will work there, but you do have to enable international coverage first.

If you don't plan to get a sim card when you get there, you will want to sign up for one of AT&T's data plans *before* you leave the US. I usually do this at the airport using the AT&T app. Cancel as soon as you return and some of the plans will be prorated (they change the rules sometimes).

Do not even turn your phone on with data enabled if you don't get a plan. Sure enough, someone will have texted you a video or something, and without a plan, AT&T data roaming is $20 per MB!

If you are planning on getting a SIM, you need to get your phone unlocked first or it won't work. AT&T will allow you to do this if you have completed the terms of the service agreement (you've had it longer than the two-year contract) or otherwise own it outright. It isn't a simple process.

If you do get a sim, keep in mind that you won't have your normal phone number during that time.

Someone has told me that the latest version of google maps allows you to cache maps for use offline, but I haven't verified it. Of course the outdoor oriented gps apps allow you to do that.

Awesome advice. I'm downloading the Att app to enable international now. Thanks a mil!

I hope it was clear that you need to enable intl roaming and then also purchase a data plan if you plan to use ATT data abroad (at least at a somewhat reasonable rate). You will see the available plans in the app. There are separate plans for data, text and voice. Data is the most critical if you will use any cellular data at all. The text and voice plans aren't as critical if you don't plan to use them much.

>> Someone has told me that the latest version of google maps allows you to cache maps for use offline, but I haven't verified it. Of course the outdoor oriented gps apps allow you to do that.

This is true and pretty easy. Even though I bought a data plan for a recent trip to China with my AT&T iPhone, I downloaded the city maps I was visiting. Just zoom into the city you want to cache and then type "OK Maps" in the search. The app will prompt you to zoom/pan to the area you want to save. If you try to save too large of an area, it will warn you.