Foreign streets can be scary at night.
I walked by the light yellow colored house for the third time, dragging my rolling luggage, over the rough, worn, blacktop road at night. Alright, they're going to start thinking I'm a thief. That's not the place is it? That can't be the place. This is the address.
I can't knock, I'm in Brazil in the middle of the night, and I know 5 words in Portuguese! WHY isn't this guy answering my message?! The airbnb host has one job, make sure your guest can get in!
That was me in February of 2024, at about 1:00 in the morning in FlorianĂłpolis, Brazil. It was my first time ever in a brand new country, with a language I barely spoke, unable to get into, or even locate the airbnb.
It was scary for sure. Especially not speaking Portuguese. But because I had internet on my phone, even under high stress, I was able to pull up google maps, find a hotel I could walk to, and book myself a room for the night, and deal with the airbnb situation the next morning.
...In four years of living abroad. But it could have been so much worse. What would I have done without internet? No Uber, no Hotels.com, no lifeline, no hope.
That moment between the airport and when you've checked in and can put your bags down, is when you are at your most vulnerable.
So on your first trip abroad, how can you prevent a potential disaster, if you can't get into your airbnb or hotel?
Well, that's where the power of eSIMS comes in! Any decent phone made in the past 5 years will support an eSIM. With an eSIM, you can buy an international plan, while you're safely at home in America, and activate it the day before you leave.
As soon as you touch down in the airport and turn off airplane mode, it will automatically connect to a local tower, and you'll be in business! It's also significantly cheaper than doing any sort of outrageously priced "international roaming" plan with a U.S. based company.
You may even have seen ads for these companies on Facebook or Instagram, if the algorithm knows you plan to travel soon. Maybe Holafly? Don't use Holafly, they are great at marketing and advertising, but they are way overpriced.
The company you want is….. Airalo!
I have been using them for 4 years now. Once I get settled in somewhere - if I'm going to be there a while, it's still cheaper to ultimately use a physical SIM. But for the first week or two, or maybe the whole time if it's a shorter trip, eSIM's are the way to go!
Look for the GLOBAL option, unless you know you will only be going to one country. The country specific ones are not that much cheaper than the international one anyway. It's under $10 US dollars for 1 gb for a week. And under $20 for 2 gigs for 2 weeks! Or you can pay more for more gigs if you need it.
I was skeptical the first time - what if it doesn't work?! What if it doesn't connect like it's supposed to? But I've been to… at least 5 different countries since I discovered this trick, and it always works.
What you can do is, buy the international eSIM when you're still in America, activate it the night before you leave, pull your physical SIM out, and turn WiFi OFF. Then open Chrome, or Instagram, or something. With your regular, American SIM pulled, and Wifi off - if anything loads, it's working.
Buy the eSIM in front of a computer if you can, then simply scan the QR code it gives you. That QR code, launches the "Install new eSIM" settings on your phone. It's much easier than trying to install it from the Airalo app on your phone.
That's your first big travel hack before you go abroad! If you compare $15 for 2 weeks with airalo vs $100 in roaming fees with Verizon… you just saved $85!
That night in Florianópolis taught me something. The difference between a disaster and a story you laugh about later isn't luck — it's preparation. After four years of living abroad full-time, I've had a lot of near-misses. And I've figured out how to avoid most of them.
The eSIM trick? That's one page out of 106.
I wrote a book called How To Leave America — not as theory, but as a field manual from someone who actually did it. The kind of stuff Google buries under noise, and ChatGPT can't tell you because it's never been stranded in Brazil at 1am.
If one blog post just saved you $85 and a night on a Brazilian sidewalk, the book will do a lot more than that for your wallet — and your peace of mind on that first trip.
👉 Get The Book — How To Leave Americahowtoleaveamericaplan.com
Whether you grab it or not — I hope the eSIM trick serves you well out there. Safe travels!