I trust that you have WIFI? It's all that you need. Also provides you with access to more than a million free hotspots. Does not require 4G - can use any cellular network connection.
My total cell phone bill is $30 per month including data. And they refund what I don't use. When I travel internationally (including Mexico), it's free. Voice and TXT. No silly SIM card or Skype needed).
How much is your monthly bill on VZW? Forget the ministrations that that you have to perform to be able to dial out without selling the family jewels in a foreign country.
Sprint covers my part of the county with 2G, and we really don't have wifi spots here in Mayberry - much less out on the dirt roads. Even just using the 2G coverage for voice & text over internet, I doubt that it'd work well here.
Why do you say
"can use any cellular network connection"? It said Sprint & T-mobile, neither of which is well regarded around here. ATT is a close competitor for Verizon, but I don't think they're close enough to consider here.
3 of my kids recently renewed 2 year contracts to get iphones, so maybe Wifi will be up to speed here in 2017. I might even use it in Yellowstone when I go up for the total solar eclipse that August.

I wish the kids would all renew together tho. One only has a year left and he always want to upgrade well before his contract is out. I can always bail on them and go on my own as mine has not been under contract in years, but I doubt I could fall off a farm machine from 4 feet landing on hard turnrow onto a smart phone and still use it ok. We'll see as things change.
It's so much cheaper than when I got my first cell phones. That 160 minutes/month plus 120 nights & weekends for $35, as long as I was in West Texas and not calling out of state. I know the companies have been making great profits, but they did have to build the towers, computers, and all that serve us now and will serve us with date calls in the future.