Are you planning a tour? Yes, you can anytime. But even traveling may not be that fun without the internet. One of the most prominent questions we hear from travelers is, “How much data do I need for travel?”
Do you know what? The amount of data you need for traveling largely depends on the traveling period and how you browse the internet.
Depending on your type of internet user, you may need around 1-3 GB per week if you are a light user.
But if you are a medium user and often need to perform heavy internet browsing, you need around 5-10 GB of internet. For heavy users, it is more than 10 GB.
In today’s blog, we’ll try to give you an overall idea of how much internet you may need during your traveling period. Are you ready?
Key Takeaways:
- Mobile data is a crucial tool for internet browsing, allowing users to access the internet anytime, anywhere.
- Internet Usage Needs
- Light users require 1-3 GB per week.
- Medium users need 5-10 GB for heavy browsing.
- Heavy users require more than 10 GB.
- The purpose of internet browsing determines data usage.
- Understanding data usage patterns for efficient travel planning.
- It is important to prioritize data plan investment for optimal data usage.
What Is Mobile Data?
Mobile data is your phone’s secret weapon. The invisible link connects you to the digital world anytime, anywhere. No Wi-Fi?
No problem. Mobile data has you covered, letting you surf the web, stream videos, and play games on the go. It’s like having the internet in your pocket!
When traveling, you are most likely using mobile data you need to purchase from your SIM provider company. They offer different packages to meet different types of needs.
As you know, mobile data comes with a certain amount in each package, and it expires within a specific period of time. Many carriers offer international plans with a set amount of data and a fixed price.
How Many GB of Data Do You Need When Travelling?
Look, not all platforms take the same amount of internet in order to browse. For example, the amount of data you need for a 1-hour Facebook browser is not equal to 1-hour Netflix streaming.
So, the purpose of your internet browsing while traveling can determine exactly what amount of data you need.
| Type of Internet Browsing | Expected Amount of Data Per Hour | Expected Amount of Data Per Week |
| Social Media | 0.244 GB | 1.706 GB |
| GPS/Map Navigation | 0.005 GB | 0.032 GB |
| Music Streaming | 0.674 GB | 4.717 GB |
| Messaging | 0.103 GB | 0.718 GB |
| Email Sent and Received | 0.018 GB | 0.123 GB |
| Audio Call | 0.006 GB | 0.041 GB |
| Video Streaming | 0.244 GB | 1.706 GB |
| Gaming | 0.135 GB | 0.943 GB |
| Netflix | 0.5 GB | 3.5 GB |
The above table is based on the Average Data Usage per Day for a good number of internet users.
As we mentioned, the amount might vary based on your user’s behavior. But you can surely have some sort of idea from the table about the eSIM data plan.
Social Media
We spend a good amount of time every single day browsing different social media sites. If you are a social media addict, you may also want to check your newsfeed while you are traveling.
Therefore, it makes sense that you are supposed to spend your mobile data browsing social networks.
Now let’s say you are an average user of several social media platforms. If you spend one hour on social media browsing, it will require approximately 0.244 GB of data.
This becomes 1.706 GB for a single week. Got it? If the average data usage per day changes, the estimated data will also change.
Read here how much data WhatsApp uses.
GPS/Map Navigation
When you are on a tour, you may need to access the GPS or Map navigation several times. Let’s say you have to use the GPS for around one hour per day. For this, you need to somehow spend 0.005 GB of mobile data. On a weekly basis, it will be 0.032 GB.
To avoid roaming charges, activate an eSIM for your iPhone before you travel. As you can see, accessing the map won’t cost you too much data.
Music Streaming
Are you fond of listening to music? You may also love listening to music when you are traveling. In order to listen to music on your tour day, let’s say for one week, it requires 4.717 GB of data.
On a daily basis, the amount of data required is 0.674 GB. So, we recommend you to purchase a competitively bigger eSIM data plan if you think you need to spend much time on listening to music.
Messaging
You would like to communicate with your near and dear ones when you are traveling, don’t you?
So, you need to purchase eSIM for Android or eSIM for iPhone data plan considering this.
For messaging, you need to spend around 0.103 GB of mobile data every single day for one hour. But this continues; the data spend will be less than 1 GB after a week.
Email Sent and Received
If you are a professional, you need to spend data on sending and receiving emails. But you may not do this all the time of the day. It usually costs 0.018 GB of mobile data for one hour a day.
And for a week, the mobile data you need to spend in order to perform the task is 0.123 GB.
Audio Call
This is something you can’t just avoid when you are on the move. But the good news is that audio calls don’t take too much data.
On average, spending one hour per day on an audio call will require 0.006 GB of data. Now, the amount goes to 0.041 GB, considering a week’s usage.
Video Streaming
If you like streaming videos while traveling, you need to spend enough data on this. On average, video streaming will require 0.244 GB of data for an hour a day.
Now for a week, the data you need for video streaming is 1.706 GB. So make sure you purchase a traveling data plan based on that.
Gaming
Gaming often requires more data usage. If you want to play mobile games during your traveling period, it will cost 0.135 GB of data for one hour.
Let’s say you spend one hour gaming in a single day. It will be 0.943 GB for a week. For one month, you have to spend around 3 GB of data.
Netflix
Planning to binge-watch your favorite Netflix shows while on the road? Be mindful of your data consumption. A single hour of standard-definition Netflix streaming can consume around 0.5 GB of data with minimum resolution.
For high-definition streaming, the data usage can double or even triple. So, if you plan to watch a few hours of Netflix each day, consider investing in a data plan that offers ample gigabytes.
Final Words
With a clear understanding of your data consumption, you’re well-equipped to plan your travels efficiently and avoid unexpected data overages. Don’t hesitate to take the time to understand your data usage patterns before investing in a data plan.
The right amount of data can help you stay connected, explore new places, and make the most of your travels.
