Bloggers Wanted for Australian Road Trip

by Neil Woodburn on

Want to travel Australia and blog about it?

World Nomads is looking for 16 “Adventure Ambassadors” to travel around the Australian continent and blog about their experience.

At first, I thought this was a free trip in exchange for writing daily posts. It’s not. You have to find your own way to Australia (or be living there already) and are responsible for daily expenses, including gas. The gas is for free use of the Nomads Ambassador Van (above). World Nomads will also provide a “laptop computer, iPod & audio recording gear” to aid in the blogging process. They weren’t too clear on their website, however, whether the participants get to keep these items or not.

The idea behind the journey is that various teams of Ambassadors will drive the van around Australia for up to 6 weeks at a time before handing the keys off to the next group of travelers. Each group can plan their own itinerary and go wherever they want–providing, of course, that they blog about it.

It’s certainly not the “free” trip I imagined it was when I first read the press release, but it will provide a wonderful opportunity for aspiring travel bloggers to ply their craft and receive some great exposure while doing so. And hey, even if you’re paying for most of it, you’ll still be traveling Australia for six weeks in a van–which certainly won’t suck!

A to Z of Adventure Insurance

by Dave (Blogsmith Old) on

While on the topic of health insurance, I have to point out this clever page from the World Nomads website. This Australian insurance company caters to the independent traveler, and although I’ve never used them myself, I’ve read positive stuff from travelers who have purchased a policy with them. Heck, I’d use them just because of their noteworthy creative writing skills. Never have I been so enthralled to read about insurance.

Their A to Z of Adventure page is written with true Aussie wit. It gives a run down of all the zany activities that they do – and more importantly, DON’T cover – so travelers know what’s in store if something goes wrong on the road. They start out with a few scenario questions that I laughed out loud at while reading, and point potential customers to The Darwin Awards to illustrate the really stupid things folks do. Then they tell us again and again, all the way down the page, that they will not cover us for stupid things, or things that they think folks are crazy for doing, like chasing a bear while on the piss, running with the bulls or BASE jumping.

World Nomads doesn’t cover any activity that uses support ropes (that means no hang gliding, ice climbing or parachuting) but they do cover bungee jumping, camel riding and zorbing. Go figure.