Phone dependence while traveling is a recent yet pervasive phenomenon. Here I talk about when my phone died and when someone had their phone stolen while Interrailing, as well as basic phone requirements.
Interrailing on an open start date ticket is only possible with a phone app, Rail Planner. It’s a well thought out app that allows you to research possibilities, save ones of interest, and then convert any into actual day tickets if you decide to use them. You just show the QR code.
To show the QR code page you need to be online, so it is worth doing a screen shot of a big journey day, especially if you are having data issues. However this only is of use if your phone is powered and functioning and you have it on you!
On some long distance trains you have to also reserve a seat elsewhere. In most cases this is through the Interrail website. In some it is via train company websites. You end up with a pdf reservation on your phone. In places like Romania it needs to be a paper reservation ticket, in reality via a ticket office in a major station.
Same for dog tickets, though in Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands for example, dog tickets can be bought at station machines too, and you may get away with doing so on the actual train from the conductor, if your own ticket is okay.
So like most Interrail travellers, I’m dependent on my phone for travel. It’s also nigh on essential for maps and directions, booking accommodation ahead of time, researching destination possibilities, translation, photography, Happy Cow for vegan eating treats, oh, and communication.
This is even though I was an experienced traveller in pre smartphone days. Some of the resources I used back then, like a tourist information office in every town for last minute accommodation and maps, cannot be counted on any more, though they are sporadically available, especially in larger and more touristy destinations. My guide books are even on my phone to save weight.
When your phone packs up
My phone went completely crackers in Romania, luckily after I’d already shown my ticket on the train to Bucharest. It got locked in restart cycles. Completely unusable when I was supposed to be meeting my cousin from the UK. Luckily she is so chill and I’d managed to warn her my phone was playing up. We both reasoned the same best place to meet so eventually found each other.
I ended up buying a cheap smartphone as I’m so utterly dependent. But when we moved location, my original phone started working again. From stuff my cuz looked up it might have been that I was in a 5G area. Bucharest may be full of stray dogs and be grottier than 1980’s UK, with adults not visibly using phones, but they have 5G.
I had the last few days of an eSIM I had to get for Switzerland. The Airolo eSIM happens to have 5G. I guess Romania was the first 5G place I’ve been using that SIM in, so only now was the phone going crackers. I’ve now switched the 5G facility off permanently. I could only do this once in a 4G area so the phone would let me use it to set this.
My normal SIM card I can just switch between unlocked phones. So top tip is to have a SIM you can transfer between phones, ready to use in an unlocked phone if you need to.
What if I lost my phone or it were stolen?
This happened to my daughter’s friend. The phone was taken out of their hand in Barcelona station by someone who said “it’s my phone now”.
A new phone and new SIM with a local number were bought. They had their Interrail booking number (always keep a record of this), and after a 24 hour security period the Interrail ticket was up and running again. Same for their NHS app back when you needed your COVID vaccination status.
It’s best to keep a record or memory of someone’s phone number who has a list of all your important information (documents, Google login, etc) so you have access to these for a new phone or the now very rare internet cafe option. I had only done so sketchily, in my hurry before leaving my country. Having a few more of these down on paper with me would have been reassuring. It was handy knowing by heart my Google login, which I had changed to something memorable but unique before I left the UK – phew!
Using someone else’s phone to make a call to an overseas number may not be a fair request. Payphones are fairly non existent in most of Europe now. Several Romanians offered me use of their phones to call my cousin when I was trying to find her, really kind. I didn’t have her number written down, but I would have turned them down anyway for fear of generating high costs for them.
Buying a new phone
Here are the basic requirements I had for a stand in phone, when not going for insurance replacement, which you can’t do if your phone just dies:
- Latest OS so all the apps I need will work
- Unlocked for my SIM as I still had it
- Not on contract
- Enough storage for my photo and video needs (I chose 128G plus a SD card port)
- A new SIM would need to be economical and valid in all the countries I plan to roam in
- A reasonable camera, as I don’t have a separate one
- Higher ethical rating – Motorola has the best of commonly available phones, Samsung the worst.
- For about 100€ it is possible meet all these requirements in a general technical store in a big city. Pay through the nose and have limited options at a network specific store, I was told at one network store! In some countries you may find a second hand technical store for cheaper, refurbished, options. But if your phone is dead or gone, research may be out the window.
Railway Dog 
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