My Three Sacred Treasures for Overseas Travel! ~Revolut, Rakuten Mobile, and Epos Card~
As I continue living a life of traveling from country to country, my belongings have become increasingly minimal, but there's no harm in having more things that you don't need to carry around, right?
This time, I'd like to introduce my personal 'three sacred treasures' that resolve three major anxieties of living abroad!
Who should read this post
People who are about to start long-term overseas travel or working holiday life
People who don't want to lose money on currency exchange or payments abroad
People who don't want to wander around looking for a SIM card shop after arriving at the airport
People who are considering insurance just in case something happens during their trip
The bottom line
Money: Revolut (minimizes exchange costs to the absolute limit)
Communication: Rakuten Mobile (free overseas roaming up to 2GB per month)
Insurance: Epos Card (annual fee-free with automatic overseas travel insurance)
All of these should be prepared while you are still in Japan, so get them sorted quickly before you depart!
Revolut: Minimizing exchange costs to the absolute limit
I handle almost all my overseas money matters with just this one card.
There are two main ways to use it.
Card payments abroad
Withdrawing local currency via ATM cash advance
Revolut's greatest strength is that it minimizes exchange costs for both of these.
When you use a regular credit card for overseas payments, you get hit with around 2% in transaction fees, but with Revolut, it's almost at the market rate.
For long-term stays, the total payment amount adds up, so this difference becomes a significant amount that you can't just laugh off.
Even in cash-based countries, you can get local currency immediately by using a nearby ATM for a cash advance.
I live a life free from those rip-off currency exchange counters at airports.
By the way, for services in the same category, I think Wise or IDARE are also perfectly fine.
I have a past article with details about Revolut, so if you're interested, check it out here!
Rakuten Mobile: Internet access from the moment you land
This is for communication.
Rakuten Mobile allows you to use overseas roaming for free up to 2GB every month.
My territory, Southeast Asia, is almost entirely covered, and unless I go to a very remote area, I rarely lose signal.
And above all, sometimes it works as soon as the plane lands and I turn off airplane mode.
I can just open Grab, call a taxi, and head straight to my accommodation.
This is truly god-tier.
I can completely skip the ritual of lining up at the airport SIM counter and trying to understand plan explanations in broken English.
As someone with zero language skills, I really appreciate this!
In months where 2GB isn't enough, I just top up.
The top-up fees are quite reasonable, so considering the hassle of buying a local SIM, I think sticking with Rakuten roaming is fine.
Recently, trip.com's SIM seems to have a good reputation, so if I have the chance, I plan to try it and write an article about it.
Below is a link to Rakuten Mobile. (It's an affiliate link, so if you're uncomfortable with that, please search for it yourself!)
Epos Card: The best overseas travel insurance included with no annual fee
Finally, the insurance aspect.
The Epos Card comes with automatic overseas travel insurance, and the coverage amount is among the best for cards with no annual fee.
You just need to pay for the train, bus, or taxi to the airport with your Epos card, and there is no minimum usage amount.
If you pay for your train fare to the airport, you'll be covered for 90 days.
Buying your flight ticket with the Epos card works too!
The coverage includes 2 million yen for injury treatment, 2.7 million yen for illness treatment, 30 million yen for liability, and 200,000 yen for personal belongings.
Medical expenses abroad can reach staggering amounts, so staying long-term without insurance is just too risky.
My conclusion is that if you can have this safety net for no annual fee, there's no reason not to get one.
Fortunately, I haven't had to use the insurance yet, so I don't have any personal stories to share (staying healthy is best).
However, credit card benefits change frequently, so that's something to keep in mind.
If you have information about a better card available now, please let me know in the comments!
Below is a link to the Epos Card. (It's an affiliate link, so if you're uncomfortable with that, please search for it yourself!)
Summary
To summarize, here are the three sacred treasures for long-term overseas travel.
Revolut: Market rates for both payments and cash withdrawals. Minimizes exchange costs (Wise is also an option)
Rakuten Mobile: 2GB of free roaming. Land -> Turn off airplane mode -> Head straight to accommodation with Grab
Epos Card: Automatic insurance with no annual fee. A safety net just by keeping it in your wallet
Since this takes care of the three major anxieties of money, communication, and insurance, you can focus on enjoying your trip light and easy.
All of these need to be set up in advance, so please consider them before you depart!
#OverseasTravel #LongTermOverseasTravel #DigitalNomad #Revolut #RakutenMobile #EposCard #LifeAbroad