How do you find a cache when you are in a different country?

[+nurseloon]

I travelled to Canada last week from New York State.  As soon as I crossed the border, I could not access the geocache map, because I do not have international calling on my iPhone.  I really wanted to drop off a couple of travel bugs in Canada.  Fortunately, we stayed with a friend, and I used her internet to find the cache that was nearby, and I was able to find the cache that way.  But, when we travel in Canada again, how can I geocache when I do not have a phone connection (without exorbitant costs)?

Thanks!  Carolyn

[+niraD]

When I'm traveling and have time to plan ahead, I often load a pocket query and/or a bookmark list of potentially interesting caches to my device(s) (an Android phone and/or an eXplorist GPSr). That includes "traveling" to places just a half hour away that have no cell coverage.

[+thebruce0]

Oh man, I was so tempted to answer thread title, "by couch logging"

No. But really, please don't.

 

But seriously, yeah you'd need a device or app that would save data offline. GPS doesn't require roaming data, so also either a device that is just GPS, or a phone that lets you use GPS while having no data connection.  Combine offline geocache data with your GPS and you should be golden.

[+AnnaMoritz]

If you use the official app, see this article how to save geocaches and map data for offline use (chapter 1.9):

https://www.geocaching.com/help/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=102

Edited December 6, 2017 by AnnaMoritz

[+Mausebiber]

Just use public Internet access points.  McDonald, many Coffee shops, railway stations, and many more.  Login to Groundspeak and download what you need.

 

 

[+WeightMan]

When I have traveled outside of North America, I get an international data plan that does not  include calls. For Canada, using the phone offline as suggested would work well.

[+hzoi]

When I took my phone on a short trip outside the US recently, I avoided international roaming charges by getting a limited international data plan through my carrier (I think it was AT&T Passport).  That let me call and text as well for less than regular international roaming.  Which was helpful, as we were meeting friends who were on a sailboat and had to rely on texts and calls to link up.

[+thebruce0]

From Canada, Rogers has the excellent Share Everything plan with Roam Like Home. In the US, $5/day lets you use your own plan as if local, and overseas is $7/day. It was perfect for my trip to Iceland, as I have a 9GB plan and continuing to use it like normal made things so much easier.

[+Viajero Perdido]

Those travel plans are priced high enough to be profitable, but just low enough to entice people to use them, for the convenience.  I understand the data speeds can be quite slow, throttled on purpose to save money for your phone company.

I typically pay about $1/day (thin Canadian dollars) when I buy a local SIM in a foreign country for a few weeks.  (I've got a teeny little pile of 'em.)

And to re-answer the original question, just load your maps and caches in advance.  All the good caching apps support that.  But having a data plan can be handy if you need to download extra logs or spoiler pictures if you're having trouble with a cache.

[+Twinklekitkat]

I just cached offline while on a Caribbean cruise.  Had my phone in airplane mode the whole time.  Granted, I used Cachly, but you can accomplish the same thing following the link posted by AnnaMoritz.  It worked great for me.  I was able to find a few caches, collect a DNF  and save my logs as pending which then uploaded as drafts when I got back to the US.  I then completed my logs at home.  All my logs were in the order I found them and it worked flawlessly.  You just need to plan ahead.  Make a list of the caches you'd like to find and save them to a list and be sure to download the list for offline use before leaving the country if using the official app.  I just tested this using the official app at my desk in airplane mode with no WiFi and it works great.  

I also use this method when I know I'll be going into the woods and might lose service.  I just move the map pointer in the app to the area I'll be in and save all the visible caches to a list available for offline use while I still have LTE service.  That way, if I do lose reception, I'll still have access to caches to find.  When I'm done I just delete the list. 

[+WarNinjas]

When we found ourselves in canada.  I think my plan was fine but I did loose service.  We went and had pizza and it had free wifi.  I downloaded caches from there and went and found them.

[+pantadeusz]

Whenever this is a relevant problem, I usually use the official app and download the offline descriptions of the caches. But in the EU since May (I think), data roaming is free, so it's not usually an issue for me.