In the spirit of "there are no stupid questions" I'm hoping to get some help for an upcoming trip. You see, I feel like the information in this thread is way more technical than I need. But I also know I need information about esims. I have an iPhone and Verizon as my carrier. I'm an infrequent traveler and so last year I activated Verizon's $10 a day for both me & my husband. We were charged for each day we used our phones overseas. But in a sense it's still an active plan, since Verizon only charges the subscriber when they use their phone overseas. So if I do this wrong, it's very likely that when we travel to Europe next month, Verizon's going to charge us. 2 people, 14 days in Europe and it's going to run into some serious $$$.

I'd rather get an esim, but I am pretty ignorant about practical aspects. I don't seem to understand basic concepts. A lot of the posts here read like they're written by software engineers and I'm just a user. I don't need to know the deep technical stuff. I just need to know is how to use my phone if I get an esim for my trip, so I don't have to pay Verizon's high prices.

I believe that an esim gives me data, correct?.But not voice, right? I also understand that I should use a phone app instead of using the regular phone feature on my phone. I have a Google Voice account that I use right now to make calls when I'm home in the USA and want to call Europe. But those calls are charged by the minute. So do I need a different app? Or a local European phone number somehow?

So here's what I don't understand and would like to know, if I have an active esim card on my phone:

• If I just turn on my phone with an esim card, will Verizon know I'm using my phone? Does merely turning on the phone invoke that $10/day charge?
• Will someone from home be able to call me on my regular phone number? Not that I want it, but if they do, will Verizon charge me that $10 a day?
• If I don't answer the phone, do I need to turn off my voicemail? Cause in a sense, voicemail is the same as answering the phone, right?
• Can I prevent regular calls from coming to my phone altogether? Can I forward calls from my regular phone to go to a VOIP app in case I really DO want to get calls from "home" while I'm away?
• If someone from home texts me, will those texts come through? If I open those texts, does Verizon view that as using my regular calling plan?
• If I'm using a VOIP app in Europe and I want to make a call to a local European business (say, a restaurant or to call an UBER) am I making an international call? Or am I making a local call?
• Should I cancel my international plan with Verizon? (I'm thinking that is probably a "yes")

I guess I'm hoping I can avoid paying Verizon $10 a day, but I don't want to do something when I'm in Europe (like even just turning on my iPhone) that would allow Verizon to charge me for doing so.

I hate it when people post questions and say thing like "Answer me like I'm a 5 year old". But honestly, I feel like an idiot. I'm not stupid, but I'm ignorant of the fundamentals here, and I'm hoping someone will help me understand the underlying theory.