Rocking My Phone, My Way

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser, Walmart Family Mobile. All opinions are mine alone. #MyDataMyWay #CollectiveBias

It’s here! My trip to Malawi, Africa for the Habitat for Humanity Orphaned and Vulnerable Children build has come. I’ve been planning for this trip for MONTHS now, and this time next week, I’ll be in the middle of building one of two homes for two different families who lost their parents to HIV/AIDS. It’s been all types of weird for me to figure out everything that I would need in order to make this trip a reality. From the fundraising, to the planning on what to pack, I’ve had to make sure to have it all at my fingertips literally and figuratively. Of course, in these days and times, it all has to do with my phone. As you know, I’m a Walmart Family Mobile ambassador, and I love the way this phone plan allows me to be super versatile at a low price. Being able to jet into my local Walmart and pick out one of the great phones, or pick up a SIM card and use in my current phone. This way, I can always have #MyDataMyWay #CollectiveBias

Disclaimer: All prices for phones and plans included in this post are accurate as of the date of posting; however, these prices are subject to change. Please refer to http://cbi.as/6zxv or your local Walmart for current pricing.

As with any trip to any foreign land I had to make sure to have a list of all vaccines that I needed to take. Luckily for me, I only needed two – the typhoid vaccine, and malaria medication to start taking the day before leaving, and seven days after arriving back from Malawi. I wasn’t sure which medications I would have to get, so while out getting items from REI, I was able to look up what I should expect. Thank goodness for wi-fi enabled stores that let shoppers browse while spending money. Speaking of spending money, the Walmart Family Mobile service is $29.88/month(for the first line) Unlimited Talk, Text & Data service plan which includes up to a gig of 4G LTE data. You can also discuss the $39.88 for 3 gigs of 4G LTE service if you’d like. Look at all of these great deals on phones that you won’t be embarrassed to carry, and won’t be too broke to keep. I know that all of the money that I’m saving will be used to exchange for Kwacha in Milawi!

ZTE Zinger – $29.88
Nokia Lumia 530 – $49.88 (was $69.88)
Nokia 635 – $79.84 (was $129.88)
Galaxy Avant – $149.00 (was $199.99)
ZTE ZMAX – $179.00 (was $199.88)
Alcatel Fierce 2 – $119.00 (was $129.99)
Alcatel Evolve 2 – $39.83 (was $59.88)

I also plan on keeping up with my family with any wi-fi connection that I can find. While my husband has already told me to just have fun, and not worry about them, it’s going to be a bit difficult going across the world and not checking in with them at least once or twice. Good thing that I do have the wi-fi capabilities and I don’t have to worry about incurring any extra charges on the phone for those fifteen days. Can you imagine how expensive my phone bill would be? Being able to send the photos of the great scenery around this place is priceless. While I can share on Facebook, it’s nice to be able to send a couple of sneak peeks to my husband and my father, who were the two biggest requesters of photos while I’m gone. They know that I will oblige.

Being able to check out the food, and videos of Malawi have really been helping to still my fears of doing international travel alone. I often find myself in the car randomly checking for little bits of information that may help me along the way. Nsimi for instance, is a side dish that is served at almost every meal. It’s almost like a polenta, but white, and just as dense. So, I’m looking forward to trying it for the first time. Maybe I’ll even be able to get the recipe and make it for the family when I get back home.

The last thing that I have been able to use my phone for, and appreciate being able to have all the data that I want, is to check the newsletters that our team leaders send. So far, we’ve had 8, and I doubt we’ll get any more since we leave this Friday, but they are necessary because they provide important information about the countries and cities that we’ll be visiting. Those emails were so pertinent for me, and for my overplanning self, and sometimes when I couldn’t get to my laptop, because of not being in the same building as it, I was able to reference certain emails while out and shopping for supplies. For instance, I don’t think that I would have gotten a quick dry towel had I not read about it in the newsletter. I’m sure that when I saw them, I would have been like, “Hey, cool! A quick dry towel, but I don’t need that because IT’S NOT ON THE LIST!” You see how my mind works under pressure?

The thing that I love most about this phone is that I don’t have to worry about being overcharged. While I am not using any data to make phone calls, I have been able to find wi-fi in almost every place that I’ve slept. We won’t have wi-fi on the build site, but I’ll make sure to take photos and upload them to instagram so that my donors and supporters and families can enjoy the time in Malawi right along with me.

Be sure to check out more great phones and the fabulous Walmart Family Mobile service by visiting their website: http://cbi.as/6zxv