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Did you know that if you refer a friend to Brightroam's services, you can extend the life of your Brightroam SIM Card for one whole year? It's easy to do - just click here to get all your friends talking!

Destination Unknown - Cleveland, Ohio, USA

In honour of our newly launched USA SIM Card & Cell Phone Bundle, we'd like to explore a few American destinations that are the perfect place to visit this fall!

Located about five hours driving distance from Toronto, Cleveland is often overshadowed by other close-by trip favourites like New York City and Chicago; it's really too bad, because Cleveland has just as much culture, cusine and as many fun attractions as any other major US city!

Things to do in Cleveland

1) Rock out at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum

Probably the biggest tourist attraction in the city, there's good reason why - boasting permenant exhibitions about The Beatles, Films at the Rock Hall, and Treasures from the Vault (including artifacts from legends like Tina Turner, Led Zeppelin and The Bee Gees), plus a cool roster of visiting exhibitions like Women Who Rock: Vision, Passion, Power, there's something for every music fan.

2) Take part in a Taste Cleveland Food Tour

If you're passionate about food, this is the sightseeing tour for you! There are several tour types to choose from - our pick is the Westside Food Market, for its array of treats from artisenal cheeses to an olive oil tasting, plus the city's best falafel is said to be there.

3) Thrill seek at Cedar Point

With all there is to do in and around Cedar Point park and resort, it's no wonder it's a top-rated attraction in the USA. From rollercoasters to Challenge Park (which has activities ranging from go-karting to RipCord), you can indulge your fear factor - and maybe even conquor it - with a trip to Sandusky Island.

4) Treat your ears to the Cleveland Institute of Music's student orchestra

 Every year, the renowned CIM Orchestra performs (usually at no cost) at the gorgeous Severence Hall. The repetoire ranges from symphonic works to concertos, and spans generations of compositional talent.

5) Behold the Holden Arboretum

You can imagine how beautiful this 3,500 acre outdoor museum is in the fall! There are several tours to take part in (including a tram tour), and until late October, their Leaf Trail is out of this world. It's also the only place in the Arboretum where leaf collecting is permitted!

Stay connected in Cleveland with Brightroam’s USA SIM Card or Cell Phone Bundle, which include wireless data services.

Talk Freely When You Travel To The USA

With so much talk about high roaming rates from service providers, Brightroam puts it in plain sight! Check out the comparison chart for our new USA SIM Card vs. the rates provided by Rogers.

Learn more about our new USA SIM Card & USA Cell Phone Bundle, and how you can save big when you go anywhere in the States.

 

Destination Unknown - Leipzig, Germany

It may not have Berlin's notorious nightlife or Munich's museums, but Leipzig is known for its historical happenings and famous past residents (including Bach and Geothe).

Just a few hours south of the bustle of Berlin, this fast-growing city has it's own cultural cache, including the Thomaskirche (the church where Bach played organ), and Spinnerei Gallery. The gallery used to be an old cotton manufacturing plant, and its tagline, From Cotton To Culture, demonstrates the shift in Leipzig from industrial town to up-and-coming metropolis.

Photo from germany.travel

5 Things To Do in Leipzig

1) Attend Bachfest

Indulge in some high culture at the city's renowned festival to honour perhaps their most famous resident, Johann Sebastian Bach. Not just for hardcore classical music lovers, the festival also includes programming for children and families - a great way for everyone to enjoy the day!

2) Visit the Church of St. Nicholas

Visually stunning, the Church is not just an iconic religious symbol; it holds great significance in the 1989 demonstrations against Communism that began in East Germany and lead to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Their motto is now "Open To All".

3) Take in the Leipzig Festival Of Lights

Another mesmerizing emblem of the peaceful revolution in Leipzig, the day-long project illuminates the route taken by protesters in 1989, and includes concerts and art installations.

4) Experience Amazonia

As if the beauty of Leipzig weren't enough, the Asisi Panometer will surely astound you! The world's largest 360 degree panorama, Amazonia is Yadegar Asisi's "magical picture of nature". At a scale of 1:1, the representation of Brazil's rainforest is unique and quite unbelievable.

5) Spend the day at the Belantis Theme Park

With roller coasters, water rides, and a castle to boot, Belantis is a huge attraction ready to receive guests from children to the young at heart. Get your Segway driver's license for an added sense of adventure!

Stay connected in Germany with Brightroam’s Germany SIM card, which includes wireless data services.

Be Prepared For Back-To-School Abroad

Photo courtesy of graur razvan ionut/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Now that the Labour Day long weekend is over, all parents' thoughts have returned to back-to-school mode. Some of us have kids who will be studying abroad this year for homestay programs, exchanges and more. How can you prepare them for a successful year of studying? With a cool care package!

1) An international outlet plug will aleviate the stress of replacing current electronic items.

2) A subscription to their favourite magazine, sent to their new address, is always a nice surprise (who doesn't like receiving mail?).

3) Find out what the hottest boutique in town is, and purchase a gift certificate for your child to indulge in a little retail therapy.

4) A variety pack of teas is a greaty way to help your child de-stress or re-energize. Green tea is full of antioxidents, and peppermint calms an upset stomach.

5) Buy "airline safe" clear bottles and package up some of your child's favourite products to bring with them.

6) Brightroam's World SIM card can be used in over 200 countries, and will keep you and your child connected while they're away.

It's never easy seeing your kids off to school, whether it's just down the street or halfway across the world. Just remember, absence makes the heart grow fonder!

Brightroam SIMs Can Save You Thousands

 

Photo courtesy of Ambro/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

There have been many articles published recently about the outrageous bills people have received upon their arrival home from a getaway or business trip. In her article for The New York Times, Michelle Higgins recounts the story of Jeff Gardner, who racked up an $11,000 Verizon bill while in Jamaica for four days. Jim Eagles of the New Zealand Herald talks about two friends, who together faced roaming charges of about $800 traveling to France and Spain, each sending only a few texts and making a handful of calls.

In both cases, the articles mentioned the simplicity and spendthrift advantage of SIM cards. Brightroam's SIM cards work in over 200+ countries, and the service is post-paid, meaning you'll never use up your minutes before you're finished your trip - and the cost per minute is very, very low.

One of our customers, Steve Connolly of New York, gave this testimonial about his switch to Brightroam: "My partner and I have switched to your service from pre-paid SIM cards. We pre-order, they arrive on time and it's less hassle when we're in-country. Amazing service that saves us money."

Sounds a lot happier than Jeff Gardner, doesn't he? Read more of our testimonials here, and remember Brightroam for all your communication needs while traveling.

Brightroam is giving away Free SIM Cards!!!

To start your summer off right, Brightroam is offering a FREE SIM CARD when ordered on or before July 31, 2011.

Your SIM card will remain active for 90 days and an extension can be purchased if you need one in the future.

Just follow the link provided and enter the promo code "FREESIM11" at checkout for your discount. www.brightroam.com

World SIM Card

If you find yourself traveling overseas a lot, then chances are you have a huge phone bill. Perhaps you have already heard about International SIM cards and how you can switch the SIM card in your unlocked cell phone for a local country card every time that you travel saving you a bundle on roaming fees.

Maybe your even a step farther and have a cell phone that you use only for International travel by buying a SIM card for that trip for that country. You are certainly ahead of the game if you travel one country at a time. However, if you spend a lot of time in several countries or even several continents – you are spending unnecessary time and money by constantly switching your SIM cards.

The World SIM Card from Brightroam is the ideal solution for international travelers roaming through more than one country. It covers over 160 countries and still gives you 50-80% savings you expect from Brightroam International SIM cards.

So if you’re an international jet-setter who travels everywhere all the time, your worldly knowledge has expanded to saving valuable time and money with one SIM card to keep you in touch. 

Timezones

Yes it seems simple, time zones are pretty straight forward.  But when you’ve travelled 23 hours and have no idea what time it is, it can be difficult to know what time it is back home or in another country you need to call. I used to have a fancy little business card that had all the time zones on it and a moving circle to line up the zone you’re in and the one you’re calling. In today’s world of technology, it’s a lot easier to find the info you need online.

Here are some handy time zone converters:

• Time and date.com World Clock (long alphabetical list by cities)   
• TimeZone Converter (drop down lists by continent) 
• Time zone Check (click-able map) 
• Honda World Clock (map based)
• Qlock (Google map based)

Here’s how I keep track of it at home
I have the time difference (in hours) between my home town and the time zones of my friends and family recorded in my Outlook address book. For example, my friend Ema lives in Bahrain, in her contact information, I have a note – 7 hours ahead of Toronto. That way when I look up her number, I always know what time it is in Bahrain. You can do the same thing on your cell phone address book.

Sharing photos while on the move

Some business trips last just a little too long and you want to send photos home of the awesome places you’ve been or perhaps access photos of something great you missed back at the house. There are many ways to share photos online, through email or your cell phone while on the road.

My husband likes to send me photos by the poolside or at the beach when he travels on business to California. He simply snaps a photo with his camera-enabled BlackBerry and emails it directly to me. I have mixed feelings when I open the email to see an ocean vista - on one hand I’m a little bitter as I sit in snowy Toronto but on the other hand, he wanted me to see the view. There is something amazing about sharing a moment instantly. Camera phones have enabled us to do that no matter where we travel.
Another way to share a series of digital photos from your trip is to create an online photo album. There are hundreds of options on the web:

Flickr: Well known, easy to use and once you have an account set up, you can easily upload new photos and send an email to all your friends and family to come see your latest album. This tool is great for the 2.0 enthused who like to add comments and find related photos. 

Shutterfly: This service is geared towards the family looking to share photos on holiday or for the less computer literate. It’s easy to use and prompts you through the process of uploading photos and sending the link to your loved ones.

Wherever they hang out: Seriously, if your kids are always on Facebook  then upload the photos to a Facebook account. If your friends use MySpace, then upload the photos to your MySpace   page. And if your family prefer to check their email and not go onto social networking sites to share family photos, then upload the photos to your laptop, resize them to a smaller size and email them directly to their inbox. No sense uploading photos somewhere nobody is going to see them.