travelingtrish
Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Hoping to go in April (2014)
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What I need to know is can I get this in France and will it cover Spain? I don't want to wait until I get to Spain to buy it. I guess WiFi will be available most places, but I am keen to be all set up before I get underway.
thanks, Trish
That is just a couple of hours after leaving SJPdP, so you won't get much use from a French SIM chip -- just Bayonne to SJPdP. Roaming data charges, when you can get a signal, for a French SIM will be incredibly expensive in Spain.Toss it when you cross the border
I took an iPad mini on my Caminos and blogged from it. It worked great. I bought a SIM card in Spain from Vodafone. The coverage was great and the card was cheap like 10 or 15 Euros for 1GB of data for 30 days, which was plenty. Also, you can relaod it, which I did. It was painless with a translation app (see below). You will need to show your passport - you do not need Spanish ID.
I looked into buying a SIM card before I left the US but decided to buy it in Spain because it costs a lot less to buy it in Spain. Also, if there's a problem it's easier to solve. Buy a card in Spain and have a problem just go to the Vodafone store!!
I know very limited Spanish and it was difficult but not impossible to buy the card even without the translation app, which I didn't have for the initial purchase.
If I were in your shoes I'd write the blog posts the first three days and send them via Wifi (wefee in Spain) when available the first three days. When you get to Pamplona I'd buy a SIM from one of the big carriers - Movistar, Vodafone or Orange. If you are truly worried about navigating the purchase with limited Spanish, buy a very small international data plan from your carrier in Australia and get a translation app that uses the microphone on the iPad. Then both you and the clerk at the store can talk into the microphone and have it translated. Or just pay the data roaming for this one translation as it will be limited. Make sure you have your email turned off otherwise your email will be downloaded and that could be expensive.
Whatever you do it will be an adventure and the Camino will provide. You will get your SIM - it just may not go as you planned!! And that's part of the magic of the Camino!!
Hi... sorry if this sounds dumb, but do I need an international SIM card for my IPAD mini if I only want to use available wireless? Isn't wireless universal? I don't want phone service, just internet. I am taking an IPAD mini only, probably no phone. I want to mostly Skype my dear heart husband and post blogs. Do I need a change of the included SIM card for that ? Will be only in Spain, starting Pamplona. Does an IPAD mini with wireless and no cell phone sound okay?I took an iPad mini on my Caminos and blogged from it. It worked great. I bought a SIM card in Spain from Vodafone. The coverage was great and the card was cheap like 10 or 15 Euros for 1GB of data for 30 days, which was plenty. Also, you can relaod it, which I did. It was painless with a translation app (see below). You will need to show your passport - you do not need Spanish ID.
I looked into buying a SIM card before I left the US but decided to buy it in Spain because it costs a lot less to buy it in Spain. Also, if there's a problem it's easier to solve. Buy a card in Spain and have a problem just go to the Vodafone store!!
I know very limited Spanish and it was difficult but not impossible to buy the card even without the translation app, which I didn't have for the initial purchase.
If I were in your shoes I'd write the blog posts the first three days and send them via Wifi (wefee in Spain) when available the first three days. When you get to Pamplona I'd buy a SIM from one of the big carriers - Movistar, Vodafone or Orange. If you are truly worried about navigating the purchase with limited Spanish, buy a very small international data plan from your carrier in Australia and get a translation app that uses the microphone on the iPad. Then both you and the clerk at the store can talk into the microphone and have it translated. Or just pay the data roaming for this one translation as it will be limited. Make sure you have your email turned off otherwise your email will be downloaded and that could be expensive.
Whatever you do it will be an adventure and the Camino will provide. You will get your SIM - it just may not go as you planned!! And that's part of the magic of the Camino!!
I am curious as to why one needs a Sim card? We took our iPad mini and an iPhone on our last Camino and were able to post my blog using WIFI whenever it was available, which seemed to be very frequently.You can buy it but you shouldn't.
A French SIM will roam in Spain. For data that can be pretty expensive.
Truth is if you're more then a week in Spain it'll be cheaper to buy a French SIM. Toss it when you cross the border and buy a new Spanish SIM .
I could check email and the internet from almost everywhere on the Camino. I did not have to wait for WiFi or input some very complex passwords.I am curious as to why one needs a Sim card?
Perfect, Falcon269! Now how or where does one insert a SIM card in this iPad Mini (just so that I don't swap my iPod touch which works fine on WiFi for the Mini)
I could check email and the internet from almost everywhere on the Camino. I did not have to wait for WiFi or input some very complex passwords.
So it was worth it for you, it sounds like. Thanks. I might do this too. I am finally starting to understand a bit about the SIM thing.Falcon is correct (as always) - to use WiFi you do not need a SIM. For what you want to do - blog, email and Skype you can get by without a SIM by using WiFi. WiFi is pretty ubiquitous on the Camino. There will be a few days when it's harder to find. I don't remember a day when it wasn't available.
I used a SIM card in my iPad because I didn't want to thrash around trying to find WiFi. By having the SIM I was connected most places and for a really low price. I could have easily lived without it.
Thanks for further clarification. The simplicity of it appeals to me. I am not planning on being online or phoning mid-hike, but rather at stopping points. Good points. Thank you.We took ipad minis and used wifi only. Available everywhere along the Frances except for the tiny village where the 2 brothers own the only bar in town. There is an "internet station" outside that is another profit center for them! Otherwise we were fine everywhere. We didn't need to stop mid hike to access the internet on the mini so were fine. The phone would work for emergency internet access and the wifi was used at night or morning for email, blogging, checking routes etc.
However, if you need that access at any time then the sim model would be great and the same rules for data cost would apply as for phones.
I was just thinking of this. I am not sure about my mini... I bought it last year. I will take it into the Apple store and see.Anyone buying an ipad mini ought to know that only the ipads with sim card/3g capability have GPS. They are not really related, just on the same chip. You don't need a SIM to use GPS but if you have wi-fi only ipad, you have no gps receiver.
Very useful information! These forums are great. Thanks for taking the time to post these.Just off the Camino as you leave Pamplona:
Swarovski El Corte Inglés
Calle de Estella, 9
31002 Pamplona
Navarra, Spain
Open today
- 10:00 am – 10:00 pm
Just off the Plaza del Castillo and near the albergue:
Vodafone
Calle de la Estafeta, 79
31001 Pamplona
Navarra, Spain
Open today
- 10:00 am – 9:00 pm
Thanks for this explanation. I have not yet purchased the iPad Mini with Retina display. Will check for the 4G/LTE model with nano SIM card.It would probably allow me using Skype at any time; not just in WiFi zones?Fraluchi, is your iPad Mini a wifi only or is it a 4G/LTE model? If you have the wifi only there is no SIM card just like your iPod touch.
Thanks for this explanation. I have not yet purchased the iPad Mini with Retina display. Will check for the 4G/LTE model with nano SIM card.It would probably allow me using Skype at any time; not just in WiFi zones?
Hi Trish,I have just bought an ipad mini cellular tablet. I will want to put a sim card in this so I can access the web wherever I am. It is my intention to write a blog while on the trip. What I need to know is can I get this in France and will it cover Spain? I don't want to wait until I get to Spain to buy it. I guess WiFi will be available most places, but I am keen to be all set up before I get underway.
thanks, Trish
I have just bought an ipad mini cellular tablet. I will want to put a sim card in this so I can access the web wherever I am. It is my intention to write a blog while on the trip. What I need to know is can I get this in France and will it cover Spain? I don't want to wait until I get to Spain to buy it. I guess WiFi will be available most places, but I am keen to be all set up before I get underway.
thanks, Trish
Did you have 3G on or just use gps on mini? If so was the accuracy similar?More on the GPS capability of the mini: I did a drive/hike and recorded the entire trip (6 hours) on MotionX GPS on both the iphone and the ipad mini. It used 50% of the phone's battery power, but the mini still had 90% left.
Thanks for that as I would not have thought of doing that. I would have used up mine.http://store.apple.com/us/buy-ipad/ipad-mini-retina There is the WiFI model and then there is the WiFi + Cellular model which has a nano SIM card slot.
The WiFi + Cellular model will allow you to Skype most anywhere without a WiFi connection and go online as well. I'd still get the WiFi password when it is available so you won't use up your monthly data allowance.
Thanks I will try that. I tried the post office biu they had none for mini or SpainHi Trish,
Check out the Woolworths International Travel Sim.. As you know global roaming from an Aussie phone is ridiculously expensive A fellow pilgrim (Australian friends of the Camino - www.afotc.org.au) told me she used one and found it very affordable. Can be bought at Woolworths - but not the smaller stores. Good luck. I am also planning to go but in May. Buen Camino
Hi Trish,
Check out the Woolworths International Travel Sim.. As you know global roaming from an Aussie phone is ridiculously expensive A fellow pilgrim (Australian friends of the Camino - www.afotc.org.au) told me she used one and found it very affordable. Can be bought at Woolworths - but not the smaller stores. Good luck. I am also planning to go but in May. Buen Camino
love the sound of that! Perhaps you could let me know how to get the blog onto this site? I would like to share mine on here when I start it in 4 days time. Yike.And I was able to write my blog posts from my bed in the albergues and slowly slip into my nap each afternoon upon completion!
Does your iPad mini need to be unlocked, which is the case with the smartphones in order to use the European sim cards?
I took my Ipad 2 on the Camino, which I will never do again. It was too big and got too heavy. An Ipad mini or better an iPhone would be ideal. Wifi (wee fi) was available in most places, if not at the albergue, then I would get wifi at the eateries. Buen Camino.I have just bought an ipad mini cellular tablet. I will want to put a sim card in this so I can access the web wherever I am. It is my intention to write a blog while on the trip. What I need to know is can I get this in France and will it cover Spain? I don't want to wait until I get to Spain to buy it. I guess WiFi will be available most places, but I am keen to be all set up before I get underway.
thanks, Trish
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