While out walking the dog this morning, I got to thinking...

J is on Verizon and V to V calls are free. V also has the best reception around here. But I really like the idea of a GSM phone for traveling overseas, etc. But I hate Verizon and don't want to be tied to them if there's a reasonable alternative. So I'm thinking about the possibility of an iPhone (maybe unlocked to save over the life of the phone) on V and maybe later an unlocked Nexus 7 (especially if a 3G version is available on a month-to-month system - http://www.androidpo...around-six-weeks/ ) or Nexus or Galaxy S3 other unlocked Android GSM phone for traveling, etc.

This must be fairly common - many people must have a main phone then another one for traveling. Presumably we don't hear about it much because the carriers want to push phone plans that lock you into a 2 year contract, and who would want 2 phones like that...

Presumably on the GSM travel phone, one would only buys a SIM and signs up for the service when they need it.

How does that work exactly? Can you get an unlocked GSM phone in the US and only pay for voice/txt/data for the months you want to use it?

If you're in the US on a pre-paid or month-to-month service, presumably your minutes expire at the end of the month (I believe that's how it worked on a phone I got about 5 years ago). Does the phone also get deactavated some-how so that you can't just buy new minutes a few months later? Do you lose your phone number if you don't keep buying minutes every month? I would think the number was somehow encoded on the SIM, but presumably they eventually expire so the number can be reused eventually...

I've got a 3G iPad v1 with AT&T and they happily bill me $25 every month. I would like to only have the 3G active when I travel, but I haven't figured out how to so...

Hmm. It seems like it is (or at least was) fairly easy on AT&T to go in and out of a 3G iPad plan (at least for some period of time - but how long?), but on Verizon it is (or was more problematic) - https://discussions....?start=0&tstart=0

I don't really care if I lose the number on the travel phone. I won't be storing stuff on the account's servers. I just don't want to get a travel phone and then have multiple unexpected activation/deactivation fees or have to spend $100 for a SIM to use it for a couple of weeks on a trip or end up bricking it somehow because my carrier decides I'm not spending enough with them or ... I want to know what I would be getting into.

I've seen things like this - http://www.independe...ut-costs-overseas - but I'm looking for some first-hand input. Any comments will be appreciated. Thanks.

Cheers,
Scott.