The Global Scavenger Hunt is looking for competitors

by Katie Hammel on

Ever watched “The Amazing Race” and longed to run around the world, racing through airports, darting in and out of countries and competing challenges? Well, if you’ve got about $10,000 to spare, you can, as a competitor in the 2010 Global Scavenger Hunt.

The event, which is described as being “like Survivor, The Amazing Race and the Eco-Challenge all rolled into one except with much more cultural interaction” is limited to 25 teams and takes place over three weeks in April. The teams will visit ten countries while traveling west around the world from Los Angeles to New York and competing in challenges in order to win the title of “World’s Greatest Traveler”.

Contestants must apply and go through a screening process and pay an entry fee of $9,900 per person, which covers accommodations, all flights, and 40% of meals. The event kicks off on April 9, 2010.

The event isn’t all airport mad-dashes and physical feats though. According to the website, the goal isn’t to race through each country as fast as you can, performing outlandish stunts as you go, but to connect with each culture (though with only 2-3 days in the country, that may be difficult) through the challenges. Each team is also asked to raise $1 per kilometer (which equals the daunting figure of $40,000 per couple) for a total of $1 million raised per event for the Great Escape Foundation, a nonprofit that funds long-term projects and micro-loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries.

Four resources for horse-crazy travelers

by Katie Hammel on

I grew up riding horses, and though now that I live in a big city I don’t get to ride as often as I’d like, I still love the feeling of galloping on horseback to the rhythm of hoof beats. I’ve ridding with the gauchos in Argentina, through coffee fields in Honduras, over rolling green hills in Hawaii, and on the five-gaited four-legged teddy bear of an equine that is the Icelandic Horse. If you love horses and are looking to plan an equestrian vacation, here are four resources to get you started.

Equitours, “America’s largest and oldest horseback riding vacation company”, offers packaged tours for avid equestrians. With tours in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, Europe, America, and the South Pacific, they pretty much cover the globe by horseback. The site allows you to search by experience level, location, length of tour, and date. Trips range in cost from $800 to $2900 and include riding, accommodations, meals and transfers, but not flights.

Hidden Trails Equestrian Tours offers packaged vacations, but goes beyond the standard trail rides. In addition to vacation treks, they offer cattle and wild horse drives, riding clinics, covered wagon treks, riding safaris and pack trips in over 40 countries. Specialty trips include ride and cook, ride and fish, woman only, and gaited horse trips. Rates range from $600 to $3000 and include riding, accommodations, meals and transfers, but not flights.Equitrekking works with local riding companies to offer equestrian vacations throughout North and South America and Europe, with few options in South Africa, India and Nepal. In addition to offering links to the individual companies and their tours (which range in price, riding ability required and length) the site also offers advice and information on equestrian travel, travel tips, and clips from episodes of the Equitrekking TV show.

Nancy D. Brown, a travel writer and the lodging editor at Uptake.com, details horseback vacations around the world on her new blog, Writing Horseback. Detailing everything from full-service ranches and resorts to equestrian vacations and companies offering trail rides, her site covers destinations from California and Oregon to Antigua, Norway, and Hawaii. It’s not a fully comprehensive list of everything that’s out there (the site is quite new) but if you are open to suggestions for a destination, want to plan a trip to a resort that caters to riders, and prefer first-hand reviews, this website is a great resource.

Rafting the Grand Canyon: Adventure of a lifetime

by Jamie Rhein on

Even a few hours raft trip can feel like an adventure. A raft trip down the Grand Canyon is perhaps one of the greatest raft adventures of all. My husband used to be a rafting guide in Alaska and Montana and still recalls the 21-day raft trip he took down the Colorado River years ago with friends as the one trip he’d love to repeat one day.

Rafting the Grand Canyon takes planning, reservations, time and money. Because the number of trips allowed down the Colorado River through the canyon are limited, it’s important to plan ahead.

In my husband’s case, their trip was a do-it-yourself, non-commercial trip (private) which cut down on the money part, but increased the level of planning to make sure their food lasted for the 21 days and to make sure they had all the gear they needed.

To get a permit for a private 15 to 25 day trip from Lees Ferry to Diamond Creek, apply through the Grand Canyon National Park’s weighted lottery system. Before you apply, though, read the requirements to see if your group qualifies. The lottery is held each February for trips for the following year.

If you want a private trip for a shorter period of time, apply for a non-commercial 2-5 day trip. This trip through the Lower Gorge section of the canyon offers 52 miles of smooth and white water paddling. Permits are given out on a first come, first serve basis a year in advance. Here’s the application that includes a phone number.

If you want just a taste of rafting where someone else does the planning, consider a commercial one-day or half-day trip.

The Hualapai Tribe operates the Hualapai River Runners which offers full-day white water trips that begin at Diamond Creek.

For or half-day or full-day smooth water trips from Glen Canyon Dam to Lees Ferry, check out Colorado River Discovery, LCC. Trips start up in March.

Like the non-commercial trips, reservations need to be made well in advance. There are other commercial operations that offer trips of the several day to a few hours variety.

Rafting The Grand Canyon and Utah’s website is one place to look at a variety of options. There are links that highlight sections of the Colorado River. If you have some cash to spend, go for it.

Also, check out Rafting through the Grand Canyon by Philip Greenspun for a up-close look at a longer raft trip. Greenspun does a tidy job of highlighting a commercial trip he took with the outfitter OARS. Wonderful photos are part of the mix.

Good luck lining up the trip that’s perfect for you and happy rafting!

Cyber Monday: not just for retailers any more

by Tom Johansmeyer on

After four days off, the world will slide behind its desks again on Monday morning. They’ll try to get back into the swing of work life, but it won’t be immediate. So, as they ease back into productivity, many will push into the shopping world they dodged three days earlier on Black Friday. The hotels will be waiting for them, with more than 60 of them pushing deals to try to get in on the holiday shopping action.

Around 69 million people are expected to jump into the Cyber Monday fray, with workers aged 18 to 24 seen as the most likely to shop at work. Overall, 54 percent of people with internet access at work will start to take care of their holiday season obligations on Monday.

According to a Shop.org survey, 87 percent of the retailers surveyed plan to get deals out in front of online consumers this holiday season, up a tad from last year’s 83 percent. So, it’ll be tough for the hotels to stand out, but this won’t keep them from trying.

Fifty of Starwood‘s resorts will be offering deals during a three-day sale that starts on Monday, with discounts of up to 45 percent. But, you’ll need to travel between the beginning of January and the end of April. Seven Affinia Hotels properties are offering 15% off a 2010 stay at properties in New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C. The James Hotel in Chicago is offering a 100% bonus on gift cards purchased.

Caribbean cruise is 60% off and kids travel free

by Jamie Rhein on

If you’ve ever thought about taking a Caribbean cruise, here’s a deal for you to consider. MSC Cruise Lines is offering 60% off on a 7-night Caribbean cruise that departs from Ft. Lauderdale and stops at the following ports: San Juan, Puerto Rico; Basseterre, St. Kitts; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; Cartagena, Colombia, Puerto Limón, Costa Rica and Cristóbal, Panama. There are other itineraries as well, so check out the options. Prices range from $349 per person for an inside state room to a few hundred more for a balcony room with an ocean view.

To sweeten the deal, children 17 and under who are accompanied by a paying adult are free. That’s right, free. There needs to be one adult for each child, however. This cruise line is one that offers activities for kids of a variety of ages and the rooms are big enough that four people can share.

This summer I took an MSC cruise on the Musica from Venice to several Greek islands with my 7-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter. All of us loved it, and up until this summer, I was not a cruise type person. In case you’re a cruise type person or wondering if you might be and are looking for a deal as winter cold looms, I didn’t want you to miss this one if it strikes your fancy.

Unfortunately, this sale ends today–November 30, but I’ve noticed MSC cruise line offers deals often so get on the mailing list. If you miss the 60% off, try for 50%.