Traveling with just a smart phone.

I see no disadvantage at all, as on all of my trips to Europe I've left my tablet at home and used only my smart phone for all my communication, computing and entertainment needs.

The main disadvantage is smaller screen size for viewing and typing everything you use it for. I've owned my iPad longer and favor its larger screen, but I have managed with iPhone only for a couple of trips now.

Pluses include less weight to carry, fewer total valuables to keep track of, and the option to use either Wi-Fi or cellular data on the same device. If you brought both, you might wear down your phone battery less quickly but still have to charge both, of course.

We don't take our smart phones either. Well, actually we do, but turn them off and don't turn them back on till we return to the US. At 76 we just don't the need to be in constant contact with the world. But it is a travel style that we adopted in the 60s and never changed.

I started with a laptop, then tablet and now just a smartphone. I travel for months at a time and this is my second trip with just a phone. I also take a folding Bluetooth keyboard for when writing.

No disadvantages that I can see. We started with a netbook but have abandoned that in favor of smartphones. Since our phones are Tracfones, they do not work in Europe, which is fine with us. In the past, when we needed to make phone calls, we've purchased international phone cards. We use the phones to take photos and go online as needed at our hotels. The only other device we take is a Kindle Paperwhite, which is useful for saving documents, guidebooks, and other information.

The main disadvantage would be if you like to use the iPad to watch movies or TV. Now, I know no one goes to Europe to watch movies or TV, but jet lag is weird. If you find yourself awake at 3 AM, sometimes it's nice to have the iPad rather than turning on a TV in a foreign language or else watching BBC news repeat the same stories every 30 minutes.

I'd turn it around and ask what advantage do you see in taking one? If you can't think of one, then you have your answer. Yes everything you can do will be bigger and brighter on an iPad, but is it necessary? One more thing to lose or get stolen. I'm with Frank: a phone is enough for me, and even that, I only turn on a couple of times if at all.

I like having my own movies and books with me in case the inflight entertainment system is down or for longer train and bus rides. For me it’s a much better experience to consume media on a tablet vs small phone screen. Also I find some websites frustrating to deal with on a phone. So I take both.

Perhaps try a dry run at home? Spend a few days or week using only your phone and see if it works for you.

We plan on taking only our iPhones when we travel to Europe next year. We will also bring our E readers, but no other electronics. I want less weight and it will be freeing to enjoy travel without needing to be checking my IPAD all the time. I will look for free WIFI and catch up with my phone then. We did this a few years ago and was happy with our decision.

I have not taken anything other than my iPhone to Europe with me when traveling for leisure this century. Never needed anything more.

I now travel with only a phone, and a Bluetooth keyboard (I want to be able to type emails, as well as the occasional Rick Steves Forum post, and using the small virtual keyboard on a phone gets old fast). I used to take a laptop, but now I love not having the extra weight and bulk.

I agree that the only thing I miss is a large screen. I don't own a tablet, but that would be the only reason I'd take one.

At one of my upcoming hotels (a Hub by Premier Inn in London), I know from a prior trip I can "mirror" my phone onto the room's TV screen. I assume more hotels will offer this in the future; if you can get it to work, that helps with the small screen issue.

Oh, and as for "losing it easier," taking only one device means only one device to keep track of, and since a phone is smaller, it's easier to keep with you at all times. So for me, taking only my phone means it's actually less likely to be lost.

I like traveling with my iPad, for reading books, watching movies on long flights or train rides. I don’t carry it with me when I am siteseeing. My husband likes only taking his iPhone for all the reasons mentioned: it is light, fits his needs for texting, listening to music, and it is one less thing to worry about losing.

I understand the appeal of just taking the iPhone. I prefer to take my iPad and iPhone. I read a lot on the kindle app on the iPad, and yes the larger screen is much nicer. I take only the iPhone when sightseeing since that's my camera as well. On my last trip to Europe, my iPhone froze for about a day early into the trip. I was so glad I had a backup device to access wifi, check internet (especially on what to do with the frozen iPhone), etc. I will probably always take both devices.

I see no real downside. We take our iPods (essentially iPhones without the cell service) and do fine. They can do anything our laptops/ipad would do for travel, and they take up little space. So leave your iPad at home. My husband did take his iPad last trip for some reason and was sorry he did, and has indicated he won't ever again.

In 2014 I traveled twice to Europe with just an iPhone (w. extra battery), and I was ok. My pictures were ok, but I couldn't enlarge anything very much. I could check my finances once in a while. I could make a few posts in social media to stay in contact with family. But, I wasn't really satisfied with my picture quality. The last few trips to Europe (2014, 2017, 2018), I have decided to travel with my iPhone and iPad. With the iPad mini, I can edit photos and read better at night. The iPad mini is small and really light. This last trip, I also carried a small, compact Canon camera for better photos so that I could enlarge photos to frame. On my next trip, I'll carry my iPhone, iPad mini and camera. I travel with just a carry-on. If I had to lose one, I'd leave the iPad behind.

I like to bring kindle guidebooks on an Ipad mini. The guidebooks are pretty useless on my Iphone.

I take both since I like to read the newpaper and watch Netflix in the evening. but I love having the guide books on Kindle on my phone so that I am not carting around my Ipad during the day. having Google maps has been great too. even with good paper maps, Google tells us where we are. I also like to put 'map-my-walk' on while we are walking around just to see how many miles we end up walking in a day. and it tells me where we walked so I can find on a map later and confirm where a photo was taken.

Well you have to consider the battery usage. Because if you carry your iPad you'll have an alternate gadget when the phone's battery is drained. But you can buy an external power bank to recharge your phone when needed.

I carry an 8" tablet every day. I like the extra real estate in the display.

I only use my iPad to take pictures. Otherwise, I don't need it. So it sounds like you'll be fine, seacoastpet, without it.

I do not see any disadvantage as well when you choose to bring/carry just an iPhone. Mainly because what you can do in an iPad could be done using your iphone. The more gadgets you bring, the more it take space and adds up to the weight of your baggage. The lesser the better.

Always off line when i travel, on screen enough when i am at home! So phone just for camera and the odd text. Friends can wait till i get home to here about my trip and never post on social media when away or house insurance is not valid. So relax you are on holiday😎