The Dufresnes

If you're a digital nomad, a long-term traveler, or planning a round-the-world trip, the eSIM math is completely different from a two-week vacation. You're not buying data for one country and one week — you need connectivity that follows you across borders, month after month, reliably enough to work on. After 14 months using Holafly Plans Unlimited as our only mobile connectivity across seven countries, this is our honest guide to the best eSIM setup for life on the move — and why, for this specific use case, a subscription beats buying eSIMs trip by trip.

Code THEDUFRESNES = up to 26% off annual Holafly Plans. 👉 Get Holafly Plans · New to Holafly? Our complete Holafly guide.

We've been official Holafly ambassadors since 2022, full-time travelers for 9 years. Holafly Plans has been our sole connectivity for the last 14 months across Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Malaysia. This is written from living it.

Why nomads need a different eSIM approach

A vacation traveler buys a destination eSIM, uses it for a week, and it expires. That model breaks down completely for long-term travel:

• You cross borders constantly. Buying (and installing, and activating) a new eSIM every time you change country is friction you'll feel every few weeks.
• The per-trip cost adds up fast. Stack up a year of individual destination eSIMs and you'll usually spend more than a single subscription would have cost.
• You need to actually work on it. Tethering a laptop, joining video calls, uploading files — that requires unlimited hotspot, which destination eSIMs don't offer.
• Reliability isn't optional. When connectivity is your income, "mostly works" isn't good enough. You need something you've proven across many countries.

For occasional trips, a destination or regional eSIM is the right, cheaper choice — we say so plainly in our Plans explained guide. But once you're traveling most of the year, the subscription model is what fits.

Why Holafly Plans Unlimited works for this

We use Plans Unlimited specifically, and for nomads these are the features that matter:

Unlimited hotspot. This is the one that separates a nomad plan from a tourist plan. On Plans Unlimited you tether your laptop, tablet, and other devices freely — no daily cap. For anyone working remotely, this is non-negotiable, and destination eSIMs (which share ~1 GB/day) can't do it.

One eSIM, 160+ destinations. Land in a new country and it just connects — no new purchase, no reinstall. Over 14 months we've crossed borders repeatedly and simply kept working.

Unlimited data, no rationing. When your work depends on data, watching a counter is a tax on your focus. No GB cap (a fair-use policy applies under heavy congestion, like every unlimited plan).

Optional phone number for 2FA. Unlimited Plans bought Nov 4, 2025 or later include an optional US/UK/Canada number for receiving SMS — the fix for bank and service verification codes when your home carrier is roaming-off.

Always On safety net. Even between billing cycles you keep 1 GB/month of free backup data across 150+ destinations, as long as the eSIM stays installed.

Cancel anytime. No lock-in — pause when you're home, restart when you leave.

Plans Unlimited vs Plans Light for nomads

Holafly Plans comes in two tiers, both covering the same 160+ destinations:

• Unlimited — unlimited data + unlimited hotspot + optional phone number. For remote workers, heavy users, and anyone tethering. This is the nomad pick.
• Light — 25 GB/month, hotspot shares that allowance, no phone number. Works if you're a lighter user mostly on café/coworking WiFi and don't tether a laptop heavily.

Honest guidance: if you work off your phone's connection, get Unlimited — the hotspot alone justifies it. If you're a slower traveler who's usually on WiFi and just needs mobile data for maps and messaging, Light saves money. Full breakdown in our Light vs Unlimited guide.

Pricing with THEDUFRESNES

Plans is where the code saves the most (destination eSIMs get 5%; Plans get far more):

Plans Unlimited:

• Monthly: $64.90 → $58.41 (10% off)
• Quarterly: ~$52.79/month (up to 20% off — good for a season in one region)
• Annual: ~$595/year (~$49.56/month) — up to 26% off, the best value for full-timers

Plans Light:

• Monthly: $49.90 → $44.91 (10% off)
• Annual: $456.26/year (~$38.02/month)

The nomad math: if you're abroad most of the year, the annual Unlimited plan works out to roughly $49.56/month for unlimited data and hotspot across 160+ destinations — less than most single-country monthly SIMs, with none of the per-country buying. That's the case for the subscription in one line.

The realistic setup for full-time travel

Here's how we actually run it, and what we'd recommend:

1. Plans Unlimited as the backbone — your always-on primary connection, installed and forgotten.
2. Keep your home SIM active (data roaming off) for your existing number, calls, and any 2FA tied to it.
3. Use the optional Holafly number for SMS codes if your home carrier is unreachable abroad.
4. Lean on Always On in the gaps — if a billing cycle lapses while you're between bases, you've still got backup data.
5. Download offline maps for remote stretches — no eSIM beats physics in a dead zone.

That's it. One subscription, one eSIM, and you stop thinking about connectivity — which, when you're doing this full-time, is exactly the goal.

What other nomads say

Across nomad and long-term-travel communities, the recurring realization matches ours: people start out buying destination eSIMs trip by trip, then switch to a subscription once they add up the cost and the hassle. The unlimited hotspot is the feature remote workers cite most as the reason to go Unlimited over any tourist eSIM, and the "I stopped thinking about data" relief comes up again and again. The honest counterpoint also appears — for someone who travels only occasionally, a per-trip eSIM is still cheaper — which is exactly the line where a subscription starts making sense.

(Paraphrased general sentiment from public traveler discussions — not direct quotes.)

FAQ

What's the best eSIM for digital nomads? For full-time and long-term travelers, a subscription like Holafly Plans Unlimited beats buying destination eSIMs trip by trip — unlimited data and hotspot across 160+ destinations on one eSIM. For occasional trips, a destination eSIM is cheaper.

Is Holafly good for working remotely? Yes — Plans Unlimited's unlimited hotspot lets you tether a laptop freely, which is the key requirement for remote work and the main thing tourist eSIMs lack.

How much does it cost for a year of travel? Annual Plans Unlimited is ~$595/year (~$49.56/month) with THEDUFRESNES — up to 26% off — covering 160+ destinations.

Is it really unlimited? No GB cap on Unlimited; a fair-use policy can briefly manage speeds under heavy congestion, as on any unlimited plan. Light is 25 GB/month.

One eSIM for a round-the-world trip? Yes — Plans covers 160+ destinations on a single eSIM with automatic switching, so a multi-country or RTW route works without buying per country.

Can I pause it when I'm home? Yes — cancel anytime and restart when you travel again; the eSIM keeps Always On backup data while installed.

The bottom line

For a two-week trip, buy a destination eSIM — we'll always tell you that. But for digital nomads and long-term travelers, the eSIM that actually fits is a subscription: one eSIM, unlimited data and hotspot, 160+ destinations, no per-trip buying. After 14 months running our lives on Holafly Plans Unlimited across seven countries, it's what we trust and what we'd recommend for a life on the move.

Code THEDUFRESNES: 10% off monthly · up to 20% off quarterly · up to 26% off annual Plans.

👉 Get Holafly Plans with THEDUFRESNES

More from The Dufresnes: YouTube · thedufresnestravel.com · See our Holafly Plans review, Light vs Unlimited guide, and Plans explained guide.