Cell Phones and Connectivity
This is a stub and not reviewed yet. Please do not link to this guide yet. Please do not use it as of now,, further review is needed.
One of the more difficult aspects of moving abroad is what to do with your mobile phone. So much of our lives are tied to our phone numbers both in the US and our new homes. As long as you still have bank accounts and other logins using your US number, you'll need to keep that number unless you are able to migrate your MFA/2FA to your new number. When you're in your new country you may also want to get a local number.
First Steps: International Roaming or SIM?
Your US carrier may offer international roaming to allow you to continue to get calls and data in your new country. But it may be less expensive to get a local SIM.
Some online companies offer data-only eSIMs you can purchase online. If you have a smartphone you can purchase the eSIM, then scan the QR code they give you to install the eSIM which will give you data in the new country. The downside of these eSIMs is they usually expire after 1-2 weeks and you have to manually renew them. So you can find yourself suddenly without data if you forget.
In-country: Prepaid SIM or New Subscription
If you want a local number, you can get a pay-as-you-go or "prepaid" SIM that gives you voice and data. These plans usually allow you to auto-renew with a saved payment method. In many countries, you only need to show up to a shop in person with a passport to get these. But see country-specific pages for details.
In order to get a full subscription to a cell plan, many companies require an identity document from that country, so a passport is not enough.
Dual SIMs
Many smartphones offer the ability to have multiple physical SIMs and/or eSIMs installed. You can configure your phone to only use data on one of the SIMs but be able to receive voice/text on both SIMs' numbers.
Long-term: Keeping your US number
There are some options for keeping your old number.
A popular choice is Google Voice, which you can answer texts and calls from within the google voice app.
Tello is a company that allows you to sign up from abroad (and transfer your existing number). However, you will need to sign up for their international roaming plan in order to get voice and data while living abroad.