Tuesday, July 21, 2015

I love to travel and U.S. Cellular Keeps Me Connected

FTC disclaimer:  This is a sponsored post from U.S. Cellular.  All opinions are my own.


U.S. Cellular offers a FREE PRINTABLE Parent Child agreement to help you discuss safety of the Internet, cell phone usage, limits, and courtesy with your teen or tween.  You don't even need to be a U.S. Cellular customer to access this, although I have been for 10 years and highly recommend them. 

I love to travel.  When I was growing up, my mother used to tell me my room had more maps hanging on the walls than the school did.  I'd sit and study maps for hours dreaming of places I'd never been, wondering what life would be like there, and eventually getting interested in penpals because I wanted to learn about other places.  I read every book about places our library had.



I barely traveled when I was growing up.  When I was six years old, I remember we had a huge yard sale to use the money towards a three day family vacation in the next state.  This was before my fascination with geography, and I remember asking my mother if they spoke English in Pennsylvania or how would we know where we were going.   It sounds cute now, but it was a serious question for me before I was able to read all the books about different states in our country.  But that's how millions of Americans are -- they have never left the state they have grown up in!  They would like to travel, but haven't had the time, money, or opportunity.*

After one vacation, my dad decided it was fun and that started our annual yard sale to fund our vacation.  I never flew on an airplane until I was in college, though, so all our destinations were within driving distance.

It is on my bucket list to visit all 50 states.  So far I have been to 31.  One thing every state I've visited has in common?   I've been able to get service from my U.S. Cellular cell phone!  Because I love geocaching and quirky roadside attractions, my phone is quite useful in finding neat spots to visit when I am traveling.  Above is my husband on the steps to nowhere.

U.S. Cellular is promoting their nationwide coverage with a new web series called Big Country.  You can watch the episodes online and edited ones will appear on The Food Network and The Travel Channel.   There are four episodes already produced, but they are looking for more applicants.  If you are a U.S. Cellular customer and have never traveled, you could apply to be on this new show with Andrew Zimmern!  But what does this show entail?

U.S. Cellular developed this series with The Scrips Network Interactive and Andrew Zimmern.  The show features people who have never had the time or opportunity to travel getting to go to a place in the United States they have always dreamed of visiting -- and since they are U.S. Cellular customers, they are able to stay in touch with family and friends back home.  Be it Bend, Oregon, or Portland, Maine, U.S. Cellular makes it easy to call home, upload that selfie to social media, or Instagram that new food you discovered -- such as a West Virginia pepperoni roll which is one of my local favorites.  In my travels I've discovered such local favorites as boiled peanuts and poutine.

So what are you waiting for?  Go ahead and apply to be on the show.  You have until August 10 to do so, and you might be the lucky one who is chosen to travel somewhere unique in America.  If you don't know where to pick, come to West Virginia.  It's beautiful here!  Or maybe you want to call your friends from the desert of Arizona, or post a selfie of yourself at Niagara Falls.  Even if you decide not to apply to be on the show or are not selected you can enjoy the travel of others as this started airing on July 20.

Staying in touch is important when you travel.  Three quarters of Americans say this is true for them, and 74% say it's important for others to be able to reach them  as well. *
 I can remember calling my mother from Miami, a friend tucking in her daughter in bed over the phone from Los Angeles, and even the friend watching my guinea pig texting me when I was in Louisiana to see if he could eat a certain fruit.

Women and adults age 18-34 are the most concerned about being able to stay in touch while traveling, even though these groups don't travel as much as some demographics.  The favorite thing to do when traveling is seeing new places, and did you know that Facebook is the most popular online site to share photos of travel?  *  So, the good news is this:  wherever you travel in the United States, U.S. Cellular is there for you to be able to post a photo of your feet at the beach, your delicious Tex Mex food in the Southwest, or beside a larger than life fiberglass cow that talks to you!




* “Results are from an online survey of 3,562 nationally-representative smart phone owners conducted by Ipsos Marketing on behalf of U.S. Cellular. The survey was conducted from Jun 18-25, 2015.”



12 comments:

  1. What a great idea for a television show! I love it. We travel a lot but I know many people who do not have the luxury of travel.

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  2. I love the idea of having paper maps on the wall! I'd love to take my kids on a trip that included a plane ride. Someday...

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  3. I love geography! One of the last things my dad gave me before he passed was a globe. I look at it all the time and not only remember him, but think about the various countries that I see. Thanks for sharing your memories with us!

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  4. I would like to check out US Cellular. I don't think I'd want to be on the show but it sounds fun!

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  5. Isn't it amazing how much/how easy it is to keep in touch with our far away friends and family thanks to cell phones that take great photos, and the ability to then post those photos on Facebook!

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  6. I'd love to do this but I don't have US Cellular.

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  7. It is great to get in touch with nature.

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  8. I think I might have to check out US Cellular! Thanks for the story.

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  9. We use to have US Cellular until we moved to Texas and there wasn't good reception there.

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  10. I have been to all 50 states. Being in the Air Force got me many of them.

    slehan at juno dot com

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