Traveling usually means turning off mobile data on my phone so I won't be charged an arm and a leg for roaming fees by my phone company. That need not happen anymore - I have found a solution to keeping me connected while in the US: Roam Mobility, a prepaid wireless service for Canadians traveling to the states.

There are 3 daily plans for USA roaming starting at only $1.95 per day:

• Text+Data CA$1.95 per day
• Talk+Text CA$2.95 per day
• Talk+Text+Data CA$3.95 per day

I flew to Los Angeles in the first week of April and signed up for the Talk+Text+Data plan for 8 days, which included unlimited calls to Canada and the US. The great thing about Roam Mobility is that you get all your data up front. You get 400MB of data for each day purchased, so 3.2 GB was plenty for an 8 day trip!

To use Roam Mobility, you will need:

1. Unlocked mobile phone, and
2. Roam Mobility SIM card, which can be bought online or at many local retailers such as London Drugs, Superstore, 7 Eleven and Staples. It costs $9.95 and looks like this: 

I like how the SIM comes with an "adaptor", which allows you to use it in all type of phones!
It is very easy to set up the SIM to work with your current phone.  You just need to activate your SIM card online, which then generates a US phone number for your use. What was weird was a stranger’s name showed up in caller ID. The number must have been in use previously. This certainly confused my relatives when I called them! But this was a minor hiccup.

Prior to traveling, select the plan you want and the number of days you need service for, including the start date. When you are in the US, pop in the SIM and you will automatically be connected directly to Roam Mobility's US network thereby eliminating any roaming fees! Hurray!

When I was in Los Angeles, I was relying solely on mobile data as the Wi-Fi on my mobile device was not working at all. Roam Mobility made it easy to check email, make updates on my social media accounts and access apps like Uber and Google maps. If it weren't for Roam Mobility, I wouldn't have been able to call for an Uber and would have been stranded at Disneyland...not that being stranded at Disneyland would be so bad! I’m very dependent on data day to day, especially when traveling out of the country. How else was I supposed to find how to walk from the hotel to the nearest attraction? Roam Mobility's coverage was excellent. I was even able to get a signal when I went to Paso Robles for a wedding, farther out in California.

Roam Mobility was very easy to use and such a convenience since you can do everything yourself, without having to add upgrades to your existing phone plan. Phones are also available to buy for $49.95 if you don’t have an unlocked phone.

Are you traveling to the US soon? Want a chance to win a Roam Mobility Breeze USA Travel Phone with a SIM card and 7 days of unlimited USA talk and text? Roam Mobility is giving a prize bundle to one lucky winner each week until May 15, 2015 - so there are four Breeze Phone prize packs up for grabs. Enter for your chance to WIN now!

Roam Mobility Breeze Phone & 7 Days of Unlimited USA Roaming Giveaway


Disclosure: Roam Mobility covered the cost of the talk+text+data plan for the 8 days I was in the US. I bought SIM card myself. No other compensation was received. The opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own and have not been influenced in any other way.

Battery life sucks. This is a common complaint I always hear about people's mobile phone. I'm in that camp. Using my phone to check email, update social media sites, and uploading photos on Instagram really drains my phone battery quickly; especially now that my phone is a couple of years old, the battery seems to run out faster and I can't even last until the end of the day on one battery charge! Powerocks is the solution when I don't have access to an outlet; it is a portable charger that provides the extra battery power when I desperately need it.


Portable batteries are not a new concept but Powerocks now has a new line of stylish, light, and easy to carry portable chargers called Super Magicstick. It is pretty small and light so is very convenient to carry around everywhere in my purse.

This is what comes in the box. You get an instruction guide, a USB cable, a pouch and the Powerocks Magicstick. I love how it comes with a soft pouch to carry your Magicstick in. It makes sure that it doesn't get scratched or it doesn't scratch anything!

To use your Powerocks Magicstick, you first need to charge it.

 A red light at the end tells you that it is still charging up. 

Once it is done charging, it turned a blue colour. Ready to use! It took about 2 hours for it to completely charge.


Super Magicstick provides 2800mAh of power - enough for two full charges for your smartphone or other mobile devices! It's especially great to use when you are traveling! We all know we need to take those pictures for Instagram!

I love my Super Magicstick and now carry it around with me everywhere I go so that I'm never caught with a dead phone ever again. If you are interested in getting one yourself, you can buy them online from Bestbuy or Futureshop or www.powerocksusa.com, www.powerocks.com, www.amazon.com and hundreds of Canadian retailers, mobile carriers, and online stores, including Wireless Wave, Telephone Booth, Costco’s Wireless Etc., Canadian Tire, Bell, Rogers and Telus stores. They also have bigger Powerocks if you need even more power!

Giveaway!

One lucky reader of mine will win their very own Powerocks Super Magicstick! Here's how to enter; do one or all of the following:

1. Visit www.powerocks.com look around and leave a comment below telling me what caught your eye. (1 entry)
   
   
2. Like Mashed Thoughts on Facebook. If you are already following on Facebook, just leave a comment saying so below. (1 entry)
   
3. Like or share the contest post on Facebook for another entry (1 entry)
   
   
4. Follow @mashedthoughts on Twitter
   AND tweet the following (1 entry per tweet, you can do this once per day):
   

   RT to win a Powerocks Super Magicstick portable charger from @MashedThoughts http://bit.ly/183XHNV #giveaway

Giveaway ends on November 15th, 2013 and open to Canadians. Good luck!

EDIT: Congratulations, Marisa!

Disclosure: I was sent a Powerocks Super Magicstick to review. The opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own and have not been influenced in any other way.

 

BzzAgent (a word of mouth company) has a new product testing campaign for me (yay!). I was sent 2 cans of Nabob Coffee, each a different flavour. I received Full City Metropolis and Breakfast Blend. I have brewed both for my family and all I can say is mmm...coffee. Delicious!

Nabob Coffee comes in several other flavors, such as Sumatra Blend, Colombian and Espresso. If delicious coffee doesn't want to make you go out and try it, how about it being environmentally friendly? I guess people don't really think about coffee being environmentally friendly, but Nabob Coffee is Rainforest Alliance Certified, meaning the farms that the beans grow on use non-harmful methods to remove pests and helps protect animal habitats like forests and rivers! Yay for protecting the environment!

Go out today and buy a can of Nabob Coffee to help support the Rainforest Alliance program! I also have a few $1 off coupons that can be used on any Nabob Coffee, so if you're interested send me an email! Act quickly though, I only have a few left!

I was sent a bottle of Ultra Palmolive Aroma Sensations dish washing liquid to test out from BzzAgent, an awesome word of mouth company. Palmolive has changed the look of their line of dish soap and revamped the formula to a new and more powerful cleaning solution! I was sent a bottle of Aroma Sensations, with the Fresh Green Apple scent but it also comes in other scents such as Lavender and Tropical Blossom.

I've been using it for the past few days and I'm quite pleased with it. I've used Palmolive in the past but now because of their new formula, it only requires a little amount of detergent to make all my dishes nice and clean! Plus Palmolive is phosphate free and uses biodegradable ingredients in its formula so that's good for the environment! I really like how it smells and the green colour of the soap is also very pleasing to the eye. I'm looking forward to trying the other scents as well.

If you or anyone you know would like to try Palmolive's new Aroma Sensations, I have several $0.50 off coupons for any Ultra Palmolive 591ml dish liquid. Just leave me a comment or send me your email, and I will send a coupon your way. Canadian residents only please. If you live in the US, the Palmolive site has a $1 off coupon available for normal Palmolive and a $0.55 off coupon for Aroma Sensations.

I have been part of BzzAgent for a while now, a really cool word of mouth company. Basically they send out products to people and you get to try it out, then tell people about it! It's a lot of fun! The newest campaign I'm doing is for Danone DanActive. It's a yummy probiotic yogurt drink. They come in small bottles so it makes a great snack, while helping your body's defenses at the same time! OOO, what more could you ask for??

Well there IS more actually! I have some $1 off coupons so you can try it yourself AND save a buck! And not only that, there is a contest to win a year's supply of DanActive! All you need is a pin number, which I will gladly send you if you leave me a message or email!

I hope everyone goes out and tries it because this drink is DEE-LISH!

Woot! I received my free 8GB Zune in the mail recently. This was part of Matchstick's word of mouth promotion and I was lucky enough to qualify! I was already considering getting it as it has FM radio which is a great plus!

The Zune is pretty sweet! It is so pretty. Even the box is nice. Haha. I can also transfer songs and pictures wirelessly between Zune users! Cool eh? I added all my pictures from my gallery onto it so I can show people.

I think I can download some games to play on it too. I'll have to experiment some more.

Now something for you guys:

As part of the promo, you all have a chance to win up to $500 in Amazon.com gift certificates!

Here's how:
Log on to ChatThreads.com and enter 102 986 0387 for the Conversation ID and you'll be entered to win a $500 Amazon.ca gift card! You can also tell your friends about it and give them the conversation ID if you talk about the Zune.

I so love it. So what do you guys think of the Zune?