Travelling is not always about getting away from it all.

In today's travel trends, travellers are as eager to FaceTime with their bae as they are to share photos with moody filters on their social media sites while on a vacay.

Data presented by Expedia at Millennial 20/20, a conference held in 2016 on trends in next generation commerce, showed that staying connected with their friends and family back home is a priority with millennial travellers.

Of those surveyed, 94 per cent used social media sites like Facebook while on holiday, and 66 per cent of them loved sharing their experience abroad with their friends daily.

Compared to previous generations, 75 per cent of millennials use travel apps on their phones.

This translates to mature adults travelling with family and children too.

Even if you are not perpetually tethered to your mobile device, a fully functional smart phone is a lifesaver when you are lost in a foreign city.

Staying on the grid
Unless you have been living under a rock, you may have heard the buzz surrounding pocket WiFi routers.

These essentially function as a mobile WiFi hotspot that you and fellow travel companions can connect to while abroad as long as you stay within the device's reach.

They can be rented and their prices and data limit varies according to the different vendors.

While they may seem like a good solution for your data needs, do consider that they can lean towards the costly side - especially so should you absent-mindedly lose one on your holiday.

These require you to pack additional batteries, cables and pouch that may add on to your luggage. Not so ideal when you are thinking of packing light or if you already have your hands full tending to little ones while on the road.

Most require a deposit, in addition to the data plan of your chosen destination. Additional charges include extra batteries, accessories and late fee penalty.

Furthermore, some vendors impose a minimum rental period of at least three days, which can be unnecessary for weekend trippers.

Besides portable WiFi routers, travellers can also use a local SIM card from local telcos at their holiday destination. However, these can prove to be quite the laborious task as shopping around for a "cheap" SIM can be a confusing experience. Not to mention that these cards usually come bundled with talk time and text messages that are often not utilised by travellers.

Another downside to using a local SIM card is that you have to switch to a foreign number for the duration of the trip. This means you are not contactable via voice calls and unable to receive credit card alerts as only your Singapore number is officially recorded by the government and banks.

Pack light, stay connected
Why add on to the hassle of planning for your travels? If you are a klutz who may lose a thing or two on your travels, or worry about out-of-pocket expenses, data roaming is the way to go.

For instance, Singtel data roaming plans removes the headache while keeping you seamlessly connected to anywhere in the world.

Singtel has partnered with over 472 roaming networks in more than 238 destinations worldwide.

So whether you are Instagramming the Aurora Borealis in Norway, or Snapchatting from Potato Head in Bali, you are connected to your loved ones back home.

No bill shock
Singtel roaming subscription will only charge you once even if your charges overlap two billing cycles. Furthermore, you can monitor your data usage on My Singtel app anytime!

Singtel follows the time zone of your destination, so you are charged as is, incurring no extra charges due to time zone differences.

Visit www.singtel.com/dataroam for more details.

Freedom to roam
Planning your travel itinerary based on locations with free WiFi can be very restrictive.

Why let Internet connectivity limit your exploration abroad when you can stay connected with data roaming always?

Contrary to popular belief, data roaming plans are not only something to be enjoyed by business travellers.

For backpackers braving it out and finding their way in a new locale, Singtel's ReadyRoam starts at very reasonable prices.

For 11 of the top Asia-Pacific holiday destinations such as Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, you can stay connected from as low as $20 for 1GB of data that is valid for 30 days. So, if you use 500MB in Japan for days 1-5, you still have a leftover of 500MB to use in any of the other 10 ReadyRoam destinations as long as it's within the 30 day window.

If you are travelling further to destinations in Europe, the US and Canada, 1GB of data from Singtel's ReadyRoam is just $35 and it covers a total of 26 destinations! This is most ideal for when you have a stopover. If you have a couple of hours to kill while transiting at Hong Kong before arriving at San Francisco, ReadyRoam covers your data roaming in both destinations with one plan and price!

Going on a last-minute trip with the BFFs? Singtel users can activate ReadyRoam instantly via My Singtel app.