What Can You Actually Do With 5GB While Travelling?

5GB can be plenty for a short trip if you mainly use maps, messaging, and browsing. But if you watch short videos, stream YouTube, or hotspot your laptop, 5GB can disappear much faster than you expect.

This guide gives you a simple 5GB data budget, what drains data most, and how to make 5GB last longer.

5GB data budget at a glance

Use this rough guide to estimate your trip needs.

Maps and navigation

• About 10–25MB per hour of active navigation

• Higher if you keep switching routes, loading new areas, or using satellite view

Messaging

• Text is tiny

• Photos are usually 2–6MB each (larger if high-res or Live Photos)

Music

• About 40–150MB per hour (depends on audio quality)

Video calls

• About 300MB–1GB per hour (depends on quality and connection stability)

Short videos and streaming

• About 0.5–3GB per hour depending on video quality and platform

• Autoplay short videos can quietly burn data fast

Hotspotting a laptop

• Can burn GBs quickly from:

  • system/app updates

  • cloud sync (Google Drive/OneDrive)

  • video meetings

  • high-res web browsing with lots of images

How long will 5GB last while travelling?

It depends on what you do most. Here are realistic examples.

1) Light traveller (maps + messaging + browsing)

Typical daily use:

• Navigation: 1–2 hours/day → 10–50MB

• Messaging: texts + a few photos (10–30 photos/day) → 20–180MB

• Browsing + bookings + email → 100–300MB

• Music: 30–60 mins/day → 20–150MB

Estimated daily total: ~150MB to 680MB
5GB lasts: ~7 to 30 days (for light usage)

Best for: city breaks, solo travellers, business trips with lots of Wi-Fi.

2) Normal traveller (some socials + occasional calls)

Typical daily use:

• Navigation: 2–3 hours/day → 20–75MB

• Messaging + photos: 20–60 photos/day → 40–360MB

• Social scrolling (mixed photos + some video) → 200–800MB

• Music: 1 hour/day → 40–150MB

• One short video call (10–20 mins) → 50–300MB

Estimated daily total: ~350MB to 1.7GB
5GB lasts: ~3 to 14 days

Best for: 3–7 day trips, road trips, travellers who post occasionally.

3) Heavy traveller (Reels/TikTok + streaming + hotspot)

Typical daily use:

• Short videos: 30–60 mins/day → 250MB to 3GB

• Streaming: 30–60 mins/day → 0.25GB to 3GB

• Hotspot laptop for “just a bit” → 0.5GB to 3GB+

• Everything else (maps/messages) → 100–400MB

Estimated daily total: ~1.5GB to 8GB+
5GB lasts: less than a day to 3 days

Best for: travellers who rely on mobile data for entertainment or work.

A simple 5GB plan by trip length

1-day trip: 5GB is generous (unless you stream)

You can comfortably do:

• navigation all day

• constant messaging

• browsing, bookings, emails

• music for a few hours

• short video calls

What can still break it: lots of short videos + streaming.

3-day trip: 5GB is enough for most people

Works well if you:

• use maps daily

• post photos

• keep videos limited

• don’t hotspot your laptop much

7-day trip: 5GB is “tight but doable” with discipline

You’ll want to:

• avoid autoplay videos

• download offline maps

• stream only on Wi-Fi

• turn off cloud photo backup on mobile data

10–14 day trip: 5GB is usually only enough for light usage

If you travel longer, consider 10GB+ or a portable Wi-Fi option.

What uses the most data (ranked)

Biggest data drains

1. Streaming and short videos (fastest way to burn 5GB)

2. Hotspotting a laptop (updates + cloud sync)

3. Long video calls

4. Uploading lots of photos/videos

Usually manageable

• Maps/navigation

• Messaging (unless you send tons of photos and videos)

• Email, browsing, travel bookings

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How to make 5GB last longer (high impact settings)

Make maps cheaper

• Download offline maps (Google Maps supports this)

• Avoid satellite view on mobile data

• Close navigation when you don’t need turn-by-turn

Stop video from eating your data

• Turn off autoplay in Instagram/TikTok/YouTube

• Set video quality to low on mobile data

• Stream only on Wi-Fi when possible

Prevent “silent” background data loss

• Turn on Low Data Mode / Data Saver

• Disable background app refresh for heavy apps

• Pause cloud backups (Google Photos / iCloud Photos) on mobile data

• Restrict app updates to Wi-Fi only

If you must hotspot

• Turn off automatic updates on your laptop

• Pause Dropbox/Drive/OneDrive sync

• Avoid video meetings on hotspot if possible

How to choose the right data amount

5GB is enough if you mainly need:

• maps + directions

• WhatsApp/iMessage + photos

• web browsing + bookings

• light social scrolling (limited video)

Consider 10GB+ (or another option) if you:

• watch short videos daily

• stream YouTube/Netflix on mobile data

• hotspot your laptop for work

• travel with multiple devices or multiple people

FAQ

Is 5GB enough for Google Maps?

Usually yes. Active navigation is relatively low compared to video. The bigger risk is leaving maps running all day plus lots of searching and reloading areas. Offline maps help a lot.

How many photos can I send with 5GB?

If photos are 2–6MB each, then 5GB (about 5,000MB) can cover roughly 800 to 2,500 photos in theory. In real trips, other usage (maps/social/music) reduces that.

How much TikTok/Instagram Reels can 5GB handle?

Short-video apps vary widely, but a rough range is 0.5–3GB per hour. That means 5GB could be anywhere from under 2 hours to about 10 hours depending on quality and autoplay.

Can I work remotely with 5GB?

Light tasks (email/docs) can work, but video calls and background sync can kill it fast. If you need reliability for work, you’ll want more data or a dedicated connection.