Hushed App to the Rescue: ‘A million thank-yous!’

Nova Scotia family grateful Canadian VoIP number saved the day on their Costa Rica vacation

Having a local phone number in the Hushed app was a huge help for a Canadian family on vacation.

Victoria, Andrew, and their three children were exploring Costa Rica on a 10-day adventure when one family member fell ill.

Luckily, their Hushed app was loaded with Nova Scotia (902) phone numbers tied to international phone plans. They were able to dial a doctor back in Nova Scotia to get medical advice, which saved them from having to trek to a local clinic or hospital for assessment.

After a phone consultation with the doctor from back home, Victoria says they were able to use their Costa Rica eSIM from aloSIM to snag an emailed prescription, look up a local pharmacy, and send the prescription to be filled.  

“Within just a few hours, our trip was back on track,” says Victoria. “A million thank yous for that!”

Using the Hushed app for international travel

Costa Rica was just a trial run for a much bigger trip. 

The family is preparing to spend more than six months traveling the world, and it’s a trip that will be especially meaningful for their two sons with choroideremia – a rare, hereditary, and incurable eye disease that causes blindness in males.

But it takes a lot of work (and organization) to prepare a family of five for an around-the-world trip. Along with making reservations and booking travel arrangements, there’s also figuring out how to ‘do life’ in more than a dozen different countries.

They weren’t sure about one big question: How would they use their phones while halfway around the world? 

A few months ago, Victoria popped into the mall to speak with her phone carrier about their upcoming travels. She couldn’t believe their ‘suggestion.’

“They said it would probably be $20 a day – per phone, every day, for six months, depending on which country we were in. So minimum $80 a day if we bring four phones,” says Victoria. “They were basically like ‘It’s probably easier to just disconnect your phones for six months.’”

Free international phone numbers from Hushed

Luckily, there’s a much better option than paying $14,000 to use their regular phone numbers abroad for six months. 

To help everyone stay in touch, Hushed contacted the family and offered to provide free phone numbers for the whole family. Since Hushed phone numbers run over the internet, everyone was able to choose a phone number in their local 902 area code for easy calling and texting anywhere in the world. 

“Setting up our Hushed numbers before Costa Rica was really easy,” says Victoria. “We used them a bit before we left – sending texts to family and friends so they’d know how to reach us while we were away.”

Hushed’s sister app, aloSIM, is also providing the family with free mobile data in all of the countries they’ll be visiting, which include Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Bali, Japan, India, Dubai, South Africa, Namibia, France, and Norway. 

Preparing for the big trip

Now the family is back home in Nova Scotia, preparing for the big trip this fall. There’s still a lot to organize, but at least they won’t have to worry about how they’ll use their phones internationally.

If they need to make local calls on the trip, their Hushed international phone numbers will let them call local restaurants, hotels, pharmacies, and any other numbers they may need to dial.

If they need to call or text with family and friends back home, their Hushed numbers all have 902 area codes so it will be considered a ‘local’ call – even if they’re actually halfway around the world.

“The kids are nervous about leaving their best friends, especially for the majority of a school year,” says Victoria. “So we’re very excited to use Hushed to keep in touch with each other during the trip, and also keep in touch with our friends and family back home in Nova Scotia.”

How will Victoria, Andrew, and their kids use Hushed on their around-the-world trip?

1. Shortly before they leave Canada, Victoria, Andrew, and their kids will record their outgoing voicemail messages to say that they’re travelling and can be reached on their Hushed numbers instead.

2. They’ll make sure family and friends know to contact them on their Hushed numbers while they’re away. (Since these are 902 area code phone numbers, it will be a local call for anyone calling from Nova Scotia.)

3. Right before they leave Canada, they’ll toggle off their primary SIMs from Canada to avoid roaming charges. The Hushed app will work perfectly on their phones with either Wi-Fi or data.

4. They’ll use their aloSIM app to activate on the first eSIM they’ll need for the trip, and continue to activate different eSIMs as they move into new countries and regions.

5. When they get back to Canada, they’ll toggle their primary SIMs back on and resume using their regular phone numbers and data plans.