Best mobile data ESIM & VPN apps for China firewall

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This mobile data & VPN list is updated and absolutely working as of AUGUST 2024.

Like everyone else, I had to start thinking about a mobile data plan & VPN app on my first visit to China. As you know, China’s great firewall blocks many western apps and websites like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp/Telegram, Google, Yahoo, etc. (They just won’t work, won’t connect, nothing loads.) So you’ll need to learn how to use a VPN to access them.

It all sounds like a complicated and overly-technical task but I promise it’s not. By using a VPN service, your device automatically connects to another server (aka “proxy” or “proxy server”) in order to connect to the internet service you want. It all happens behind the scenes and will appear to you on your device as if everything is working.

I’ll go over several options ranging from simple to complex, free to paid, quick to slow, and working to non-working!

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Spain – quick travel guide

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Origin of one of the most common languages, rich culture, architecture, known for nightlife and latin beach vibes.

In pop culture, we think of Spain for beaches, nightlife, tapas, and siesta. Most people don’t know it also has many big squares (like Italy’s piazzas), rich unique architecture (castles & moorish & Gaudi), and many inland destinations (not only beach stuff).

You could see Barcelona and Madrid in a week. Put 2 weeks and you can add in some popular spots in the picturesque southern Andalusia region. Or spend a month and you can comprehensively jump around all the main spots of north, center, and south…exploring both beachside and inland destinations, perhaps even one of the islands. Spain is rich in tourist destinations.

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Portugal – quick travel guide

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Popular sunny coastal country in Western Europe. Amazing food, architecture, culture, panoramic hilly views, and English-speaking latin country.

For decades, Portugal was one of Europe’s best kept secrets. A less-expensive country in Western Europe that had beaches and English speaking. You couldn’t have catered any better to travelers, expats, and nomads.

But then it blew up and got popular seemingly overnight. Everybody was buying property in Portugal that prices are totally jacked up now. Its capital, Lisbon, became one of if not THE top favorite expat/nomad locations in the world since about 2010. And I think in 2021 was the year that its popularity reached the brink. Housing became expensive and yet people still love Portugal.

If you’re going there today, it’s to enjoy the beauty and the hilly views and the beaches. (And for English-speakers, you can enjoy that the Portuguese speak amazing English compared to Spain or France.) Forget about the low-price thing.

1 week would be enough to see Lisbon, Porto, and mayyyybe a day trip to a nearby beach town. But Portugal truly deserves 2 weeks.

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Seattle – quick travel guide

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American big city in nature. Proud of its art, culture, and beautiful pacific northwest nature landscapes across the water.

Seattle is among the best “big nature cities” in the USA. It won’t compare to Honolulu (most people’s favorite), but it’s up there. Most of the all, the community is quite used to nature and doing outdoor activities. And I love that it’s REAL NATURE. Not like the casual nature, where it’s just beaches and sun. The pacific northwest has a whole range of weather and landscapes and not just one boring shade for the whole year. I love the mix.

You can see the important inner city things and perhaps even some surrounding areas within 3 days. But having an extra day or so would really give you time to relax and enjoy.

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Osaka – quick travel guide

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Western Japan’s biggest city. Smaller, lower-cost, more laidback, and friendlier than Tokyo.

Osaka was Japan’s former historic business center conveniently near Kyoto (Japan’s former political center), before both were consolidated and moved to Tokyo in the east of Japan. Today, Osaka is a cheaper (compared to Tokyo) but still very vibrant city. Lots of fun and nice place to live. It’s in the vincinity of many tourist-worthy sites but they’re kinda spread out so you can do some tourist things here, but not all unless you commit lots of time. Mainly, you’re here for a less-touristy vibrant city life.

2 days is enough to walk through the main sites. 3 would feel more comprehensive. 5 if you want to really lay back, and perhaps visit other nearby areas (such as Nara).

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San Francisco – quick travel guide

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Beautiful foggy hilly American city surrounded by water, combining West coast sunny California hippie-artsy vibes with East coast charmy old Victorian architecture and vibrant street life.

You could easily call San Francisco “the New York of California”, or “west coast version of New York”. Because it really feels like a balanced mix of both. I also highly recommend San Francisco for European tourists because I know they’ll love it. Tighter, more compact, denser, good public transportation, and lots of action on the streets. Buildings are built right next to each other which feels more familiar to Europe. Everything is much more walkable, similar to New York. It’s definitely the most European-vibe big city on the West Coast.

You can see the main highlights in 3 days, and feel like you really immersed yourself in the vibe. 5-7 days would give you time to check out more areas, and yes they’re worth seeing!

  • San Francisco is an absolute MUST SEE for me, and so often overlooked for much inferior cities IMO. I’m already proud that you made it here…you’ve made a great choice! It is one of the best tourist cities in America!
  • Last thing…you should really trust my guide because I’ve lived here. It was my home and I had friends all over the place and seen everything. Lots of local tips. 🙂

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Las Vegas – quick travel guide

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Popular tourist destination for out of town Americans and foreigners to come gamble, party, get wild, and enjoy a weekend of “omg, can’t believe I did that” style of debauchery. But Vegas is more than just that.

The world-famous “sin city” Las Vegas is well known for inspiring famous phrases like “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” A pseudo-luxurious lifestyle of opulence, dressing up, eating out, and living an (affordable) fancy life for the weekend.

For grown-ups…Vegas offers many hotels, gambling, fine-dining, nightlife, shows, shopping, beautiful European-inspired architecture, water fountains and light shows, and decorative installations to fill your camera. It’s beautiful and caters well to adult entertainment.

For families and non-party animals…there are family-friendly activities, shows, mini-amusement parks, games, and also nearby national parks featuring beautiful desert landscapes.

You could certainly catch the general vibe of Las Vegas within a day, but spending the whole weekend would be nice to give you time to enjoy the hotels, walk the strip, gamble, drink, see a show, and eat at nice places. 3 days is good to do city and tourist things. With another day for hangover-recovery or enjoying nearby desert landscapes.

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Ashland (Oregon) – quick travel guide

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One of America’s favorite small towns…cute, charmy, artsy, nature, peaceful.

Ashland is a common midway stop between San Francisco and Portland. If you’re not staying Mount Shasta, Ashland makes a great pitstop if even for only a couple hours. That’s the limit of how I’ve ever known it.

Couple hours is enough. Couple days if you absolutely love it.

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Tello vs US Mobile – comparing USA mobile carriers

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Which MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) offers the better plan for your cell phone in America?

If you’re here, I assume you want a cheap plan. Maybe you’re trying to save money or are visiting the US for a short time. I didn’t personally try both but here’s what I found from my research:

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Belo Horizonte – quick travel guide

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Big friendly city in inland Brazil, known for good food from Minas Gerais region, modern architecture and art.

Belo Horizonte, aka “BH” and pronounced by locals as “Beaga” [bay-ah-gah], is the capital of Minas Gerais (historically known as a place of mines…gold, etc). Although considered an important tourist destination for its historical significance and natural beauty, foreigners don’t usually come to Minas Gerais.

And generally, nobody goes here because it feels like BH doesn’t have any of Brazil’s typical nature highlights…beaches, rivers, waterfalls, jungle, etc. And the town itself doesn’t have much to offer tourists. I’d say the best tourist highlight in BH is #1 Inhotim (outdoor contemporary museum), and #2 the best carnaval in Brazil. Other than that, it’s a chill city and mostly safe city.

You could easily pop in and out of this city in 2 days and felt you saw all the highlights. But if you stayed longer, there’d be plenty of everyday niceties and nearby towns and attractions to make it worthwhile.

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Curitiba – quick travel guide

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A smaller Sao Paulo. Modern, techie, safe, hip, arts, parks, eco-friendly, LGBT-friendly, and has capybaras.

Curitiba is probably Brazil’s hippest city…although labelled as the “world’s smartest city” (IMO nowhere near that but I appreciate the effort). Take the cool parts of Sao Paulo and compact it down to a smaller, more manageable version, making it overall cleaner and more modern, and you have Curitiba. It’s very green. Even things that are not a park, will have lots of trees and water and will look like a park. The weather here is among the nicest in Brazil, not too hot or too cold. Curitiba is also a good size for a city…not too big, not too small.

Curitiba is famous for parks and museums, and events…music, arts, theater, film. From what I see, it looks like your typical non-destination city (because it doesn’t have beaches or touristy things) that got gentrified and reinvested for tourism and quality of life. Many people say it’s boring in terms of tourism, and it’s a fair point. It seems tourists stop in Curitiba mainly for the capybaras, and as a stop between Florianopolis and Foz do Iguazu.

Curitiba’s strongest point is that it’s a nice place to live. Good quality of life due to the aforementioned qualities above. But from a tourist standpoint, it will definitely pale in comparison to a more majestic beach destination like Rio, big city metropolis of Sao Paulo, or a small charmy colonial town. Even within the southern states, Curitiba would probably rank lower to Florianopolis…a more picturesque beach city with lots of beautiful people and seemingly “fun vacation vibes” everywhere.

3 days is enough to see tourist highlights.

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Goiania – quick travel guide

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Interior posh city, nice to live but not much in terms of tourism. Good food and bar scene, friendly sexy locals.

Goiania was historically known as Brazil’s city with the highest socioeconomic disparity, having the richest of the rich and the poorest of the poor. Today, it seems like a very safe and well-off city. Everybody dressed up well and nice restaurants and bars everywhere. Very lively, very posh. Tons of nice apartment buildings to live in, trendy gyms, shops, etc. It’s known as a popular city for bachelor parties to mingle.

Stay for a couple days, a week, forever. Again…it’s not a touristy city. It’s always good weather.

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Ilhabela – quick travel guide

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Beautiful island of beaches on the Sao Paulo coast, with mostly only Brazilians.

A family-friendly beach destination, developed infrastructure with city comforts (shopping, stores, etc), nice beach boardwalk, many levels of accommodations to choose from, nature and trekking. If you want to hit a full island instead of just mainland coastal beach area like Ubatuba, then Ilhabela is for you.

3 days minimum considering that there are many areas to check out, and also for the effort you spend getting there. As with many Brazilian beach destinations…5-7 days is more what people spend. Soak in the vibe and feel like you have time to enjoy more different beaches.

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Jalapao State Park – quick travel guide

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Big state park in Brazil’s interior countryside, full of many beautiful natural attractions and activities.

Jalapao is a huge park with at least 50 activities, some more popular than others. So your experience varies depending on how many days you stay, without or without a tour guide, and of course which attractions you pick.

I’d recommend a minimum of at least 4 days (3 nights) to get enough variety. This makes sense since getting there already takes so much time, and then traveling between different parts also takes lots of drive time.

I had local friends who knew it well to took me around, and that was amazing since we spent as long as we wanted and never felt rushed. I’m sure other people going with a professional tour probably enjoyed it as well but didn’t have the freedom and flexibility we did. Flexibility is absolutely key if you have time, and/or want to alternate plans based on how you feel (e. g. wanting more X and less Y), or changing plans based on the weather.

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Do NOT book with Traveluro (SCAM COMPANY)

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Don’t fall for the low prices of this Israeli-owned BAIT-AND-SWITCH booking scam company!

  • You see low prices for hotel, linked from Google or some other price comparison sites.
  • You book and everything seems fine.
  • At last minute, they contact you with some excuse saying it’s no longer available and now you have to accept another one of their partner hotels.
  • You’re stressed and panicking last minute so you accept.
  • Of course, the replacement hotel is nowhere near as good and you don’t find out until you’re arrived and pissed.

Tons of horror stories online. Research and see for yourself.

Do NOT book with Vio.com (SCAM COMPANY)

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Their (skeptically low) prices are linked through Google Maps so it SEEMS legit, but they are not.

  • Tons of online research show endless complaints and the word “scam” and “fraud” again and again.
  • It’s the classic scam booking company where they take your money but no reservation is made.
  • You don’t find out until the day you arrive at the hotel to a surprise-surprise…YOU HAVE NO ROOM AVAILABLE! No reservation made under your name.
  • Calling their support does nothing. They might say they’ll fix it in 15 minutes, or get back to you, but nothing ever happens.

Whatever you do, do not fall for their low prices. Or else your vacation/stay can be ruined!

Kandy – quick travel guide

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Popular cultural tourist city in central highlands. Great food, variety of shopping, good mix of city accommodations or nature lodging.

Great food, lots of things to do and see. And still carries a very local vibe. I enjoyed my time in Kandy a lot. The more you stay, the more you find things to do.

Kandy and nearby tourist attractions can be seen in 2-3 days but with all the farther-out sights, I think 4 days might be better to fully enjoy it.

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Negombo – quick travel guide

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Popular beach city just north of capital city Colombo (and next to the airport). Very westernized, touristy with all big city comforts, and creditcard accepted everywhere.

Feels like a proper beach city with many hotels, restaurants, shops, and westernized touristy area. Everything is very comfy and convenient. The price is expensive compared to the rest of Sri Lanka, but still very cheap by western standards. I also noticed this area tends to be much more full of Germans, rather than Russian (in the south).

The best reason to go here is to be close to the airport and out of Colombo (which everyone recommends you skip). If you check the map, you’ll see CMB airport is actually in Negombo. Making this your perfect final stop in Sri Lanka. It’s not a necessary destination at all (very low unique tourism value).

But can be a nice stop for some days before you fly out of CMB. Luckily, they accept card everywhere here so you don’t have to pull out more cash.

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Trincomalee – quick travel guide

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Northeast beach city, with small beach towns adjacent. Very local and conservative vibe, with pockets of tourist areas during high season.

We came during off-season months of Dec & Jan, also stayed in the outer area of Nilaveli Beach, and felt like we were the only foreigners we saw everyday.

Definitely the least fun place we’ve been on our whole Sri Lanka tour. Beach nearby us was ugly. Everything was far and remote, needed to rent a bike to buy daily food and water. I guess it was nice in that we had time to focus on work stuff instead of getting distracted by tourist stuff. But that’s not why we go places, right?

I’d say 3 days is enough. But also, you need to have a reason to come here. Are you sure you want to see a more conservative part of Sri Lanka? A part that doesn’t have so many westernized food options and tourist things to do? A part that may not be a great place to visit during off-season? Because you might be better just skipping this place.

If you’re simply looking for the least touristy major city of Sri Lanka, skip this and go further north to Jaffna.

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