Why I Decided to Go Numberless

[mouakter13]

Living on the Road with No Phone Number (And Why It’s the Best Decision I’ve Made)
For the past two years, I’ve been traveling full-time—living out of a backpack, hopping between countries, and working remotely—all without a traditional phone number. At first, people thought I was crazy. "How do you get verification codes?" "What if someone needs to call you in an emergency?" But the truth is, ditching my number didn’t just work—it made my life on the road easier, cheaper, and more secure. Here’s how I did it, and why you might want to consider it too.

1. (And How It Works)
When I first started traveling, I realized how pointless traditional phone numbers are. Every new country meant buying a local SIM card, dealing with registration hassles, and worrying about losing access to accounts tied to my old number. Then I discovered something: I didn’t actually need one.

Instead, I set up a Google Voice number (free in the U.S.) for the special database rare times a service required a number (like ride-sharing or bank verifications). For everything else—messaging, calls, and logins—I switched to:

Encrypted messaging apps (Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp)

Email for 2FA (or authenticator apps like Authy)

VoIP services (Skype, Zoom, or Discord for calls)

The result? No more juggling SIM cards, no surprise roaming charges, and no spam calls waking me up at 3 AM.