As I set out on my travel adventure to Italy on Tuesday, I reasoned it was a good time to get readers thinking about going on their own travel adventures. HostelBookers is supplying me with a book giveaway as part of my first contest.
The company that boasts the lowest price guaranteed and 8.7% cheaper than HostelWorld, is giving me a Ultimate Adventures Rough Guide to give to one reader. The Rough Guide to Adventure Travel features 30 different adventure sections. Priced at a whopping $24.99 originally, this contest may be the biggest in travel site history. In all seriousness, who doesn’t love receiving a travel book for free?
To win this Ultimate Adventures Rough Guide, all you have to do is leave a comment here answering this question:
Where would you go on your next great travel adventure and why?
Be creative. Don’t contests always say that? I will be selecting the best response. In my post announcing the winner, I will also feature my favorite responses with links back to your blog or website (if you have one). You have until 11:59 PM (US Mountain Time) on June 10, 2010 to leave your comment to be considered for this giveaway. The winner will be announced on June 15, 2010.
And finally, thank you to those that enter. This is my first contest after all. Hopefully the next one will be a trip for two to Maui.
HostelBookers is also running a price comparison competition right now. The grand prize is a Travelex Cash Passport preloaded with $1,000 (or whatever currency you want). All you have to do is answer one (simple) question and submit your email address. The last drawing is on June 9th so head on over and enter this week.
For my next travel adventure, I want to take several weeks and bike around the perimeter of Ireland. I don’t want to be confined by time but rather pedal for a bit, stop at a pub for lunch and a drink, then hop back on the road for the afternoon. I would stop when I wanted to take pictures and write, chat with whoever might happen in my direction and enjoy the countryside. Though it’s not an adventure along the lines of zip lining, white water rafting or mountain climbing, it would still take physical exertion and force me to slow down to play hide-and-seek with my thoughts and surroundings.
For my next travel adventure, the adventure would be in the travel to get there. Easter Island (Rapu Mui) is off the coast of Chile, a country I had the pleasure of visiting last year with Collette Vacations. Even from Chile, the flight is long. Mystical Easter Island is in the southeastern Pacific Ocean and is one of the world’s most isolated inhabited islands. But what is really intriguing to me are the weird moai that are there– you know, those monumental statues made famous in the “Night at the Museum” movie line “Dumb dumb want gum gum”. How did they get there? Perhaps when I visit there some day, I’ll learn the answer.
This is easy…Antarctica. It’s my last continent that I have yet to explore and I’m dyyyyyying to go there. To me Antarctica symbolizes the epitome of adventure.
I would love to do the Trans-Mongolian Railway for my next big adventure trip. I have been to China and Russia before but it would be nice to see the less urban parts of both countries. And Mongolia would be absolutely fabulous! I really want to stay in a yurt and, quite frankly, hang out with Mongols.
My next great travel adventure will be a road trip across the U.S.A. I know it’s not very exotic, but an adventure nonetheless. But a road trip, especially in the US, does have a bit of romanticism to go along with the notion. I know road tripping isn’t the most carbon friendly means of traveling, but for the first time in my life I have a car (and it’s still better than flying). But I will hopefully pick up travelers via craigslist, couchsurfing, and twitter, to try to make the journey the most efficient and the keep life on the road more interesting. The main events of the trip will be trekking in Colorado and California’s Sierra Nevada as well as the National Park’s of Utah and the vastness of Nevada’s desert.
My next travel adventure will take me to Argentina for a month without my ardent travel companion and wife, Sarah. It will be an adventure of finding and understanding self and the culture around me. From the congested streets of Buenos Aires to the white-tipped mountains of the Andes, I will be pursuing a new path in life. Why Argentina? Better to ask why travel. It’s the only path I can see.
My husband and I are great sport and festival lovers. For our next big, dream adventure, we would love to travel around the world and attend all the big sporting events and festivals. Some of the ones on our list would be Wimbledon, Superbowl, Grand Prix, Tri-nations rugby, any world cup sporting event that is happening, European and South American football (soccer) matches, and then festivals: Pampalona, Oktoberfest, La tomatina, Carnivale, Hogmanay and the list goes on… an adventure of fun and celebration local style! It’s all about the memories
If I could go anywhere (read: if I had the money to go anywhere) right now and do something completely crazy, I would choose to go to South Africa and get up-close-and-personal with the wildlife. Including a safari of some sort, and, of course, cage diving with great white sharks. It’s something very high up on my bucket list.
I want to visit the Seychelle islands because they are so remote and exotic. I would ride one of those elephants that bathe in the warm sea. The food, the culture and the people have always intrigued me. And I would not stay on the main island with the “tourists”, I would investigate an outer island or two as well. This may sound snarky but I like to go places where the majority of visitors are not from America. I think I would meet many people from Europe, Asia and Australia. This is my idea of travel paradise. Having visited 6 continents and over 30 countries, I’m ready for a kick-back island dream trip.
Although I am still on my current adventure with my wife and two young children (currently in Vietnam), I am already planning my next BIG adventure.
I plan on buying an old truck and converting it into an Expedition vehicle like this one (http://www.overlandcamperforsale.com/) or if can some how make 35,000 pound in the next 12 months I’ll buy this one 🙂 to head overland. From London to China, then down through Laos making our way to Singapore to put the truck onto a container to ship it to South America and travel around.
My aim would be to do this for a few years while the kids are still relatively young and homeschooling won’t be too difficult.
Oh the hours I have spent looking for expedition vehicles already. Maybe I should concentrate on making some money so I can just buy one already 🙂
Thanks,
Colin
A month from now, I will be exploring China’s best cities – joining the Shanghai Expo revelry, touring historic Beijing, visiting the terra cotta warriors of Xian, and relaxing at the lake of Hangzhou. A lot of changes has been happening in China, so I’m embarking on an adventure in this part of the world and discover why this country has been a global mover throughout history.
This is a tough one, but I’d have to say I’d go on a whirlwind trip trying to do as many zip-lines as possible – from the canopies in Costa Rica, to Catalina Island off the coast of Los Angeles California, to an urban zipline or two. It’d be a fun way to see some really cool cities, and something I’d be a little bit scared to try.
I’m still on an adventure after over a year, though I’m quite excited to start the adventure of teaching. I’ll be heading back to China to teach English in Xi’an starting in September for a year. After that, the adventure continues in other parts of the world and just keeps on going! Yes for adventures!
I am thinking India for the simple fact that I hear it can break even the most experienced travelers.
If you put ‘adventure’ into Google it brings up lots of adventure travel companies. For me, safe adventures organised by experts is the exact opposite of what it should be.
My ideal would be to go somewhere I’ve never been before where I get to have new experiences I don’t even know exist yet (please no to the organised “see a traditional village tour” where they call them in advance on a mobile) – why can’t I just turn up to a remote village and, being mindful of local customs, get to meet real people and learn about them and their culture, add something to their lives if I can.
Let’s get back to the pioneering spirit of true adventure, not knowing where you’re going, making it up as you go along.
You know the really exciting thing? I’m starting this adventure for real in September. I know I’m starting in Central America, but haven’t a clue what will happen after that. Seat of your pants, scary but exciting experiences – that’s what adventure means to me and I can’t wait.