Going to see family in Colombia and arriving without being able to let them know you're downstairs

There is a category of travel that gets prepared worse than any other, and it is not because of carelessness.

It is the trip to visit family.

Someone going to Bogotá, Medellín, or Cartagena to see their loved ones does not feel like they are going abroad. They are going to their homeland, or to their parents' homeland, speaking their language, to houses they know. In their mind, this is not an international trip: it is going back.

Your phone, however, could not care less.

Colombia weighs much more than it seems

Booking data confirms it. In the ranking of international destinations most booked by Mexicans in 2025, Cartagena de Indias, Bogotá, and Medellín occupy three of the top ten spots.

Source: 2025 international destinations ranking compiled by Despegar.

That means three out of every ten destinations in the national top ten are in Colombia. Only the United States contributes more.

And the overall volume of departures is large and growing: 6,641,155 residents of Mexico visited abroad in September 2025, 10.4 percent more than the previous year.

Source: INEGI, International Travelers Survey.

Why the family trip is prepared worse

There are three specific reasons, and all three are psychological, not logistical.

The first is the one already mentioned: it is not perceived as an international trip. Same language, familiar family, sometimes even your hometown.

The second is that the logistics are handled by someone there. They pick you up at the airport, you stay at a relative's house, someone drives you around. That removes the feeling of having to prepare.

The third is that on these trips, almost everything is organized on the fly and by messaging. Whether we meet at aunt's house at four, whether the cousin picks someone up, whether the dinner location changed.

And that third reason is precisely what turns the lack of data into a bigger problem than it would be on a tourist trip.

The specific moment: leaving the airport

On a tourist trip, landing without data is inconvenient. On a family trip, it is something else.

The scene repeats itself: someone is coming to pick you up, you arranged it by message the night before, and when you land there is no way to text them. The exit of an international airport is full of people waiting, with signs and entire families, and finding one specific person among a hundred can take a long time.

Not being able to write "I'm out" turns a reunion into a search.

And there is a second layer: the person who stayed in Mexico. Parents, children, or a partner waiting for confirmation that you arrived safely. Often that person has been awake for hours waiting for a message that never comes because your phone has no signal.

Being without data on a family trip means being absent

During the following days, the problem changes shape.

On a tourist trip, the lack of data translates into practical inconvenience: maps, reservations, transportation. On a family trip, it translates into not being present.

Plans are decided in a group chat that moves all day. Someone who joins that group six hours late, when they connect to a home Wi-Fi, arrives when everything has already been decided. Photos of the baptism, the meal, or the birthday circulate in real time, and that person gets them in a batch two days later.

None of that is a data problem. It is a presence problem.

A language twist that works against you

There's a factor that makes this worse and it's counterintuitive: speaking the same language reduces preparation.

Someone traveling to a country where they don't understand anything assumes from the start that they'll need a translator, maps, and constant help, and they prepare accordingly. Someone traveling to a Spanish-speaking country assumes they'll manage by asking around, and to a large extent that's true.

The problem is that asking works for finding a street, not for opening a reservation that's in an email, nor for seeing the exact address someone sent in a message, nor for ordering a ride from an app, nor for finding out the plan changed location.

Those four things need data and can't be solved with conversation.

That's why it's worth treating a trip to Colombia with the same preparation as one to any other country, even if it doesn't feel the same.

What you can sort out from home

The solution doesn't require any paperwork at your destination and can be done from home.

Digital profiles, called eSIMs, are a file you download to your phone over your own Wi-Fi days before you fly. When you land, your phone connects automatically to a local network, without buying or installing anything at the airport.

Four consequences that matter especially on this kind of trip:

1. Your phone works from the jet bridge, so you can text "I'm out" before you reach the arrivals hall.
2. Your local SIM stays in. Your number, WhatsApp with all its groups, including the family one back home, and your bank messages all keep working.
3. The price is fixed and prepaid, with no open-ended charges that show up weeks later.
4. No lines and no passport needed at any store when you arrive.

That second point carries extra weight here: on a family trip, your own number is exactly how everyone on both sides of the border reaches you.

Why install it ahead of time and not the night before

Installing the plan at home, with days to spare, doesn't eliminate the chance something goes wrong. What changes is where you find out.

At home, a problem is a twenty-minute annoyance with Wi-Fi, time, and the option to request a refund. When you land, the same problem ruins the reunion.

This is possible because the plan's days run from first use at your destination, not from purchase, and you have 180 days to install it. You can buy it today, test it this week, and travel two months from now without losing a single day.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check if my phone is compatible?

Open the dialer and type `*#06#`. If an EID number appears next to the IMEI, the device supports digital profiles. Two warnings for Mexico: several Redmi and Xiaomi models sold here are the Latin American version and don't include it even if the international spec sheet for the same model says they do, and being unlocked is not the same as being compatible.

Can I use it to call Colombian numbers?

Data plans do not include a local number or traditional phone calls. You call through messaging apps, which is how most people communicate today. If your trip involves any procedures that require a local phone number, it's worth keeping that in mind.

What if I'm visiting several cities within Colombia?

A destination plan covers the whole country, not a single city. Moving between Bogotá, Medellín, and Cartagena doesn't require buying anything extra.

Can I share data with a relative there?

It depends on the plan, so check before you buy and don't assume it's possible. On a family trip, it's usually more practical for everyone to have their own plan, because the group splits up constantly and relying on a single phone drains that phone's battery.

What if I'm traveling with my parents and they don't know how to set anything up?

You can install and activate everything from Mexico before you leave, and they won't have to touch a thing during the trip. This is also the scenario where buying ahead makes the most sense: their phones are the ones that use data without them noticing, because they back up photos and sync email on their own.

Will my family in Colombia see a different number when I message them?

No. WhatsApp is linked to your number, and your number stays on your phone. They'll see exactly the same thing as always.

Is it better to buy a plan for the whole stay or just for the first few days?

It depends on how much time you'll be spending in places with Wi-Fi. If most of your stay is at a relative's house with internet, a shorter plan may be enough, as long as it covers travel days and arrival. This is something worth figuring out at home, not on the fly.

What if my travel dates change?

No problem. The plan doesn't count from your flight date but from first use at your destination, so a date change won't use it up.

What's worth remembering

• Colombia is one of the top three international destinations booked by Mexicans.
• Family trips are the ones you prepare for the worst, precisely because they don't feel like international travel.
• Leaving the airport is the critical moment: without data, a reunion turns into a search party.
• On a family trip, being without data isn't an inconvenience — it's being late to everything the group has planned.
• It's all handled from home, with no paperwork at the destination and keeping your own number.

PuraSIM sells destination data plans that you buy and install from Mexico before you travel, with a fixed price, for over 200 destinations. Customer support is by email and WhatsApp, with people who respond in English. There is no phone support.