Okay, I can’t wait to see who wins this one. Entrepreneur
Neill Kramer has a
house near the ocean in
Stinson Beach that he wants to share. One talented (and lucky) blogger
will win a week-long winter vacation at the home. Here are the
contest rules: Judging will be based on the
quality of your blog (a mix of writing, web design, photography/digital imaging, point of view, humor, insight, and a
good grasp of “place.”) In addition, your ability to articulate your reasons for wanting a vacation (see the submission
form) will be taken into consideration.
Of course, the hitch is, if you win, you’ll be expected to guest blog on the
journal of 24 Calle del Sierra (Yes, even vacation
rental houses have blogs now too, the latest trend in the travel weblog world!) We all know that many bloggers continue
to post while vacationing, so it seems like a no-brainer to give this contest a shot.
Neill’s been posting since closing on the house early this summer, sharing details of the
renovations they
did, and what Stinson has to offer: hiking trails, a theater, lots of peace and quiet. When I asked Neill why he is
doing this, he explained that he’d like to have a different voice on the blog, and, of course, it helps to generate
more traffic to his rental property website. As he says in the
first post, “This journal will try to capture
the feel of (part-time) living in Stinson Beach.” Sounds like a fair way to reward a blogger while spreading the word
about his beach home.
I asked Neill to tell me more about his personal travel experiences. Via email, he shared that at 18 he took off for
Europe, thumbed around and ended up in Israel & East Africa: “It was a huge eye-opener and I still see travel as a
way to open your soul to the world. However, now that I have an 8-year-old…I don’t think I would hitchhike with a kid
today, nor am I looking forward to him doing it. However, he will have to make his own mind up and I’ll support
whatever he decides.”
Neill seems like a pretty cool dad. He tells me that the winning vacation would have to be during the off-season
(Jan to March) but it could be for either the
upstairs or the
downstairs of the
wireless house (music to a blogger’s ears…)
This one-of-a-kind contest ends October 31 so enter soon if you’d like a chance to shack up at Stinson Beach in early
2006.