In South Africa, you cannot do anything without a smart phone. As a result of the fact that a lot of people live in tin shanties, you cannot open up a bank account or be paid without a smart phone. The smart phone is used to confirm that you are who you are. By the same token, you cannot buy a smart phone without proving your address. When you are a nomad like I am, that becomes one helluve problem.

I went through the same thing in Germany when I decided to live there. Ten weeks later, I decided to move to Portugal. This morning, the first thing that the authorities wanted was my Portuguese cell phone number.

My bankers in the UK want my current phone number and they verify every financial transaction through that cell phone. So does my bank acccount in South Africa, and so does my international forex card.

I don't know how you managed without a phone, but if I could chuck it, I would.