How to Keep Your US Phone Numbers While on International Trip?
Most people in the US who will be traveling internationally for an longed period stress about how to keep their existing number. The existing number is precious to them because of the need to remain in touch with their client and business reasons.
Many digital nomads keep their old number while traveling internationally while buying new prepaid SIMs when arriving in the host country.
Forwarding Calls to US Phone
Google Voice can forward calls to multiple devices. So you can use Google Voice to forward calls to your US number. Keep in mind that Google Voice cannot forward calls to international numbers only US numbers. But you can have multiple Google accounts in Google Hangouts that way you can route multiple numbers to one place.
Another good option is using Skype. As long as you have the Internet on your phone, it’ll work. Skype will let you add ten numbers from multiple countries. Skype charges about $52 per year for a dedicated number and around $30 for unlimited calls to the US. So this option will cost you around $7 per month. There are other VoIP services based apps such as Flyp that provide service similar to Skype at around the same rate.
Other Options of International Roaming
Other Apps you can look into are Talkatone, Burner, Sideline. Some of them also provide you with one additional number.
You can also do this with almost any bargain SIP VoIP provider and mobile VoIP client. This workaround is much cheaper and powerful, but it’s not easy to configure. For example, you can install Zoiper on your phone while using services of a provider like Voip.ms. They charge around $1 per month per number and then another 1c per minute for incoming or outgoing calls.
Most people prefer to call on Google Voice number and then forward to Skype and then in turn forward to local SIM number. This is because local SIM cards are pretty cheap and easy to get. You’ll need to get new local SIM in each new country and change the number in Skype regularly.
Written By Kate Mark
Kate is a mid-lifer who quit a growing corporate career to reawaken her passions and her lifelong dream of traveling the world.
