Can I make calls and send texts with a travel eSIM?
Most travel eSIMs are data-only: no traditional calls or SMS, no phone number of their own. In practice this rarely matters, because WhatsApp, FaceTime, and Telegram calls run on data, and your home SIM still receives texts (like banking codes) for free in most countries. If you need a real number abroad, pick a provider with voice options like Yesim or BNESIM.
The data-only design is a deliberate simplification: phone numbers come with regulation (identity checks, emergency-call requirements, number portability) that pure data plans sidestep, which keeps prices low and activation instant. Your travel eSIM gives you internet; everything else in modern communication is an app on top of that internet.
For the typical traveler the gaps barely show. Calls home run over WhatsApp, FaceTime Audio, or Telegram at better quality than roaming voice ever offered. Your home number stays reachable because your physical or primary SIM remains active: incoming SMS, including the two-factor codes your bank insists on, arrive free of charge in most destinations. The genuinely annoying cases are local: calling a restaurant, a taxi line, or a hotel in-country. Workarounds exist (many businesses worldwide answer WhatsApp; Google Maps often books directly), but they are workarounds.
If your trip actually needs voice and a number, three routes exist. Providers like Yesim sell virtual numbers next to their data plans, good for receiving SMS and calls in an app. BNESIM offers calling packs and numbers for frequent travelers. And for long stays, the old answer remains the best one: a local prepaid SIM with minutes, bought in-country, alongside your travel eSIM for data continuity. Emergency numbers, for completeness, work from any phone with any SIM status: 112 connects in Europe regardless.