TheVerge: Is it safe to travel with your phone right now?

TheAwesomenESQ Would not help, as it would still be relying on the discretion of the border agent who does the search.

I have never been asked to show my phone in EU and frankly in US couple of years back. But while I'd not worry about this in EU, anything else seem to be (not) a fair game..

My advice, if you're worried, just carry a spare dumb phone just to be in touch with people.

TheAwesomenESQ important data is encrypted

And? This won't help you in this situation. Unless utilizing an extra layer but this will also raise some suspicion in case of control so again, a dumb phone without any data if you're worried / expect a check on border.

Especially in some of the countries that explicitly want to deny the right to privacy.

If the nation state whose border you are crossing is part of your threat model then assume they will run a forensic examination of your phone, will deny you entry if you won't provide access, and will seize the device.

Use a travel phone that is factory reset before the trip and otherwise spends its time turned off. Also assume this phone is compromised and be full prepared to turn it over along with complete, forensic, access upon request.

Upon arrival in the nation, purchase an unlocked pixel and load GOS on it. Use a secure tunnel to download any data that you need on that phone from your server outside of the nation. When done with the trip either dispose of the phone or place it in secure storage until your next visit (safety deposit boxes and law offices are both generally good choices).

Basically, don't cross a national border with a device that you aren't willing yo unlock and have a full file system extraction performed on.