Win a trip to Dominica by showing off your adventurous spirit

by Kraig Becker on

As far as travel contests go, they don’t come much easier than this one. Wend Magazine, Adventure Dominica, and Ahnu footwear are joining forces to send a lucky winner, and their guest, off on a tropical escape to the island paradise of Dominica. They’re offering up airfare for two from the U.S. or Canada and five days/four nights stay at the Calibishie Cove Hotel, one of the top eco-lodges on the island, not to mention all the sun and surf you can take in while you’re there.

To win, you simply need to submit a photo that best captures your adventurous spirit. The photo can be from practically any place or any activity, but it needs to show off your adventurous side in the best way possible. For instance, perhaps you’ll need to dig up that photo of you hiking the Inca Trail or kayaking the Grand Canyon. What ever it is, find it, and send it to contest@adventuretodominica.com and if your image is selected, you’ll be on your way to a vacation you won’t soon forget.

Like the rest of the Caribbean, Dominica has plenty of beaches and sun to go around. But it is also an excellent destination for adventure travelers looking for a tropical location to explore. The island has miles of hiking trails that wind through lush rainforests teeming with wildlife and over a thousand species of flowering plants, while hundreds of beautiful rivers flow by, fed by the more than 300 inches of annual rainfall there. And when you grow tired of exploring above the surface, simply head below for something completely different. Dominica is a great diving and snorkeling destination too, with plenty of marine life and colorful coral reefs to explore.

So, dig up that photo and send it off today. It just might earn you that warm weather escape you’ve been dreaming of, and although spring is officially just around the corner, it never hurts to have a little fun in the tropical sun.

Update: Adventure Dominica has a posting on this contest too. You can find it by clicking here. As mentioned, the rules are simple and straight forward.%Gallery-22103%

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Be sure to check out Episode 4 of Travel Talk TV, which features a scuba diving adventure in California, international dating tips, and a sofa in an aquarium!

Win a Trazzler trip to San Francisco!

by Stephen Greenwood on

Did we get your taste buds tingling with yesterday’s Travel Talk San Francisco segment? Well you could win one of 10 free trips to San Francisco with Trazzler.com’s City Flavor Writing Contest!

How do you enter? Submit a story about a city that you love which corresponds with one of five themes; “Foodie Temples“, “Love in the City“, “LGBT Icons“, “Neighborhood Spots“, or “Only in SF“. If you choose the fifth theme, it must be about San Francisco, otherwise the destination is up to you!

You can enter up to five submissions (one per theme) to increase your chances at being one of the 10 lucky winners that will receive round trip flights to San Francisco and a 5 night stay in the Joie de Vivre. The 5 winners chosen by Trazzler.com’s editors will also receive a writer-in-residence contract, so if you’ve got stories to tell, start writing!

The entry deadline is February 28th at 11:59PM EST so don’t delay. For more information, head on over to Trazzler’s contest page.

Name Lufthansa’s plane, win first class tickets around the globe

by Annie Scott on


Lufthansa is offering one million miles — enough for two first class trips around the globe — for a clever name for their new LH A380. With the 1960s “Jumbo Jet” nickname for the Boeing 747 in mind, they’re looking for something iconic and catchy. This is an opportunity to make history.

The LH A380, Lufthansa boasts, is “the world’s biggest and most modern passenger jet.” Hmm, big, modern … The Mod Mammoth? (Thanks, thesaurus.)

Only kidding of course; like I’m going to tell you my ideas.

You can get a virtual tour of the LH A380 here to help you get started. Current favorites at the top of Lufthansa’s list include The Rheino, Starflipper and Shadow of the Crane. I know you can do better than that. Get to it.

Create your own adventure with Gap!

by Kraig Becker on

Do you have a destination that you’ve always wanted to visit, but just couldn’t quite find the right way to get there? if so, you’re in luck, as Gap Adventures, one of the top adventure travel companies in the world, is inviting you to Create Your Own Adventure as part of a new contest that could send you, and two of your friends, off on your dream trip.

Designing your own adventure couldn’t be easier. Simply go to the website and begin the process by selecting your destinations from a world map, adding countries to your planned itinerary. From there, decide the length of your trip and select possible places to visit from within your selected countries. Next, you’ll decide how you want to travel, with everything from trains, boats, buses, and even your own two feet as options. You’ll also get to choose your level of accommodations, ranging from overnight buses and home stays, up to boutique hotels and private lodges as options. Finally, you’ll name your tour, and write a summary about what makes it so exceptional. After entering your personal contact info, you’ll then submit your dream tour for consideration.

The travel company has put together an interesting group of judges who will turn their critical eye on your travel masterpiece, deciding if it is worthy of being called a Gap adventure. The panelists include the likes of Tony Wheeler, the co-founder of Lonely Planet, John Rasmus, the editor of National Geographic Adventure Magazine, and adventurer Alastair Humphreys, who has circled the globe by bike and paddled the Yukon River. These judges, amongst others, will help to whittle down all of the entries to the top 20 finalists, which will then be voted on by the public, to determine which tour is the best of the best.

You can enter the contest anytime between now and the end of March. The judges will then select the finalist in early April, with voting scheduled to run from April 8-25. The final prize winners will be announced on May 25, with the designer of the winning tour being sent on the trip with two of their closest friends. The tour will also be included in the 2011 Gap catalog as well.

Not feeling all that creative when it comes to designing your own adventure? Never fear, as Gap has you covered too. Five people will be randomly selected to join the trip as well, despite the fact that they have no idea at this point where they could be headed. Click here to enter to win one of these random slots.

So, if you’ve ever wanted to kayak down the Nile or cross the Gobi Desert on foot, this might be your chance. Perhaps a mountain biking tour of Ethiopia would be more your style, or camping in the Amazon Rainforest. Let Gap bring whatever trip you’ve been dreaming of to life and then send you on that adventure of a lifetime.

Creative enough to win a free trip to Amsterdam?

by Annie Scott on


The Netherlands Board of Tourism is at it again. Last year, they held an artsy contest awarding a free trip to whoever had the cleverest “what I would give up” photo entry. Now, there’s a new contest: “Just be. In Holland.“

By answering a Holland-themed question correctly on the website (no labor), you could win:

  • A monthly delivery of fresh tulips for a year
  • An exclusive Gassan 121 diamond made in Amsterdam
  • A quintessentially Dutch bicycle
  • An iconic piece of Dutch design furniture

A question will be posted each Thursday in February, starting today.

If you put in a little effort and create a photo entry “portraying how you might ‘Just be. In Holland,'” you could win two roundtrip KLM business class tickets to Amsterdam, as well as a four night stay at Sofitel Amsterdam The Grand (it’s grand).

While all this is going on, New Yorkers, keep an eye on the S train (Shuttle between Times Square and Grand Central). It’s going to look something like the photo at right, and there will be street teams from the Netherlands Board of Tourism distributing Holland-themed giveaways. Dank u wel!

The contest goes live on Holland.com today, February 4, 2010. Send this to all your artsiest friends, as the most “creative” entry will be picked!

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