This post is part of my partnership with the
US Cellular Blogger Brigade Ambassador Program.
The first time I stepped on an airplane I was in Junior High. My dad, had signed us up for a trip on Blackbeard’s SCUBA diving cruise – a 65 foot sailboat that cruised from Miami to the Caribbean Islands.
Until that time, I had never ventured past the cornfields of the Midwest, and the closest I’d ever been to the ocean was watching Baywatch {I was a child of the 80’s what can I say}.
The moment I stepped off the plane I was in awe.
The sea of corn fields I was used to, was replaced by an ACTUAL sea.
It was at that moment I realized there is so much to see in this big country of ours, and this trip was just the beginning.
Don’t get me wrong I’m definitely not a cross-country traveler. The number of states I’ve visited barely passes a dozen {if you count Nebraska – poor Nebraska}. Compared to the millions of Americans who have never left their home state, I’m pretty lucky.
In fact, a recent travel survey conducted by U.S. Cellular found that about one in three Americans (30 percent) have never traveled across the country.
I find this fact truly fascinating, because how can experience life if you’ve never even stepped beyond the borders of your home state.
This summer, U.S. Cellular, teamed up with award-winning television personality, chef and food writer, Andrew Zimmern, to premiere “Big Country,” a five-episode digital series where the mobile carrier and Zimmern find U.S. Cellular customers who have lacked the time and opportunity to travel far from home.
Participants were selected via nominations from friends and family encouraging them to enjoy the travel experience. Their stories include overcoming the fear of flying and seeing the New York City skyline via a helicopter tour.
This is a chance to provide ordinary people an extraordinary experience – like the one I had on a sailboat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
Unlike myself {because smartphones didn’t exist when I was in Junior High} these folks were able to share their amazing moments with friends and family in real time with U.S. Cellular’s National Coverage.
Eighty-one percent of all Americans share vacation photos with fifty-seven percent being sharing on Facebook. That’s a lot of smiling faces and traveling places.
While I didn’t have a smartphone, back in 1980-something, I do now and it’s my favorite travel companion – documenting memories, to finding local hotspots and calling to check on the kiddos.
Do you need a vacation or know someone who does?
U.S. Cellular is searching for one more hopeful explorer to star in the fifth and final episode of “Big Country”. You can apply or nominate others HERE, now until August 10 for the opportunity to travel with Andrew Zimmern, backed by U.S. Cellular’s nationwide wireless coverage. This opportunity is only opened for U.S. Cellular customers.
Tune into “Big Country” beginning July 20 online at www.USCellular.com/BigCountry, as well as on uLive.com, FoodNetwork.com and TravelChannel.com. Edited vignettes will air on Food Network and Travel Channel.
Where are your summer travels taking you?
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Disclosure: Through the rest of the year I’ll be sharing some more of My BETTER MOMENTS as a US Cellular Better Moments Blogger Brigade Ambassador. All opinions are my own and an honest view of my story as a US Cellular customer.