Prepare for the worst. Loosing your phone & access to banking, apps, and means of communication puts you in a vulnerable position.
While in a foreign country your ability to fix your situation is more difficult.
Backup Device
Have an extra phone or device as a backup.
Prepare your device. This device should help you fully recover in case if loose your main phone.
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Login to your accounts via web browser (for cookies).
Note
Browser cookies get stored within the browser. They are used to verify & authenticate you for your logins.
So, if you lost your main phone then the account you logged into will recognize your phone/browser as you and not required extra steps to prove that you are you.
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Download apps.
This includes apps for 2FA, email, messaging, VOIP such as Google Voice, transportation/ride hailing 🚕, banking 💰, and/or cloud storage ☁️. Whatever is important for you.
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Email – have your email accounts saved and accessible on the backup device.
Add apps or logins as needed. If you sign-up for a new important account, make note to sign-in on your backup device, too.
Periodically update your backup phone with updates (security updates) and app updates. Being connected to the internet should also update various settings and things like having added a new contact to your Contacts app on you main phone, which will update it on your backup phone.
Tip
Spread your devices across multiple bags 🎒🧳👜. If one bag gets lost, you still have access to a backup device.
You can have 1 device (phone) on you, 1 device (laptop) in main bag, and 1 device (backup phone) in a small carry-on bag. That’s 3 devices – a laptop, main phone, and backup phone.
Warning
It is not secure to use old smart phones 📱 that no longer get system updates (i.e. they are no longer supported by the manufacturer).
⚠️ Every device has an “End of Life” date set by the manufacturer. The device may continue to work just fine after that “expiration date”, but it will not get security updates, which are becoming much more serious these days.
⚠️ So, use them at your own risk. Using the phone as a 1-time emergency backup may be an acceptable risk for you.
Android users can look into flashing custom ROMs to extend the life and security of your backup phone. Lineage OS is one example of these.
Internet Access
The first thing you need to do when loosing your phone is gaining access to the internet. This will connect you to emails, accounts, and apps.
🛜 Wi-Fi is common in Southeast Asia, so you can count on using someone’s internet if you have an emergency situation.
If you wish to purchase an extra SIM card or e-sim for your back-up phone, then that is up to you, but not necessary. This would require 1) updating the sim for each country you are in and 2) paying for it when rarely using it. And, we just do not see that as necessary. But, the choice is yours and everyone has different needs.