As part of the wanderers program, I get a bunch of free trips but, since I love to give away stuff (see July’s 350,000 airline mile giveaway), I think if I get free trips, you should get free trips too. That’s only fair right? So G Adventures and I are teaming up to give away a free trip to Alaska. I went to Alaska many years ago and I found its scenery breathtakingly beautiful. I saw whales, dolphins, whales killing dolphins, bald eagles, glaciers, icebergs falling into the sea, and so much more. Alaska is a beautiful place. Since G Adventures is just starting tours there, I figured that it would make the perfect place to send someone.

What Do You Win?

The winner (and sorry, there can be only one) wins G Adventure’s Highlights of Alaska tour. This is a 15 day tour that starts and stops in Anchorage. Here’s the route map:

Your itinerary:

Day 1 Anchorage
Arrive at any time.

Day 2 Homer (L,D)
Travel along the coast of the Kenai Peninsula to Homer.

Day 3 Homer (B,L,D)
Explore the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and enjoy the wildlife. Option for horseback riding or a flight over glaciers.

Day 4 Seward (B,L,D)
Hike to the Exit Glacier and Harding Icefield, then travel to Seward.

Day 5 Seward (B,L)
Explore Kenai Peninsula and the Kenai Fjords. Option to take a boat cruise or kayak.

Day 6 Valdez (B,D)
Take the ferry through the Inside Passage, across the Gulf of Alaska and into Prince William Sound.

Day 7 Wrangell St Elias NP (B,L,D)
Visit the Columbia Glacier and the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline terminus at Valdez. Stop at Worthington Glacier.

Day 8 Wrangell St Elias NP (B,L,D)
Spend a full day exploring Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.

Day 9 Wrangell St Elias NP (B,L,D)
Discover the ghost town of Kennicott, then visit historic McCarthy.

Day 10 Tangle Lake (B.L,D)
Drive through Copper River Valley river en route to Tangle Lake.

Day 11 Denali NP (B,L,D)
See Mt McKinley, the highest mountain in North America, en route to Denali NP.

Day 12 Denali NP (B,L,D)
Enjoy a full day tour exploring Denali National Park.

Day 13 Denali NP (B,L,D)
Another full day to explore.

Day 14 Anchorage (B,L)
Transfer to Anchorage. Enjoy a guided city tour.

Day 15 Anchorage
Depart at any time.

Here’s some more information about G Adventures:

Ohh, and did I mention that this prize comes with a free flight? Yup, that’s right you will be flown to Alaska for free.

So to recap your prize: G Adventures 15 day Alaska tour plus a free flight!

Who is eligible?

Anyone over 18 years of age with a valid passport who is also eligible to enter the United States.

How Do You Win?

Entering to win is pretty easy:

First, become a fan of my website and of G Adventures on Facebook.

Next, use this form to enter the contest. THIS CONTEST HAS ENDED. THANKS FOR ENTERING.

Sit back and hope you win.

That’s it!

This contest runs from December 1st, 2011 until December 10th, 2011 at 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time. The winner will be announced on December 14th, 2011 on my Facebook page.

All That Legal Crap

1. Neither G Adventures nor I cover your day to day, incidental expenses.
2. Your flight is purchased by me not G Adventures and will be a round trip economy class ticket.
3. Travel insurance is not included.
4. Participants who submit multiple entries to win will be disqualified.
5. G Adventures nor I are responsible for any visas the winner might need to get to enter the United States.
6. You must be a Facebook fan of both Nomadic Matt and G Adventures to win.

And crazy legal stuff all companies include from G Adventures:

Contest is open from 1 December 2011 to 10 December 2011, with a winner announced on 14 December 2011. The prize is a place on the “Highlights of Alaska (NUGG)” tour for 1 person and includes the land tour, accommodations and other services as specified but does not include insurance, airfare, incidentals or other third party services as determined. The prize is non-transferable, has no cash value and substitutions will not be permitted. As a prize winner, if the tour requires it, you must be able to travel internationally and posses or be able to procure a valid passport for the duration of the trip, according to current international travel law. Passport and visa procurement will be the sole responsibility of the winner. The prize must be booked by 31 March 2012 and with travel completed by 31 August 2012. It is the responsibility of the winner to contact the G Adventures sales department (as provided) by 31 March 2012 in order to claim the prize. You must be 18 or older to claim the prize and no G Adventures employees or immediate family are eligible. Please note, prize winners are required to book onto guaranteed departures that have already met their minimum participant requirements. G Adventures reserves the right to cancel any departure that has not reached its minimum participant requirements. In the event all departures of the NUGG are cancelled for 2012, the prize winner will be able to book onto another tour of the same or lesser value, with travel to be completed by 31 August 2012. G Adventures reserves the right to substitute tours for operational resources and blackout dates may apply. Participants acknowledge these contest rules are to be interpreted in accordance with the laws of Canada and laws of Ontario. By entering the contest and agreeing to our terms and conditions, the winners confirm their eligibility and compliance with the contest rules and release G Adventures from all liability caused by, or resulting from, the acceptance or use of the contest prize.

But the post received a few comments from other travelers about how using Eurail passes had ruined their trips. They didn’t save money, they couldn’t take certain trains, or they got kicked off trains.

As I’ve traveled Europe this summer, I’ve met a number of people using rail passes. In my inquiries to them, they all seemed happy with the passes. So I wondered, where was the disconnect? What makes a Eurail pass great for one person and not another?

Since I had planned to ride the train through Central Europe, I decided to see if the numbers still added up. The last time I had a European rail pass, I had the Global Flexi Pass and took trains from Spain to Vienna. I saved money with the pass because the long train rides (Barcelona to Madrid, Bordeaux to Paris, Berlin to Munich) were expensive. By stringing a lot of them together with my rail pass, I saved money over the cost of buying them separately.

After years of traveling without one, as well as hearing conflicting reports, I figured it was time to road test one of these passes again. I procured a Global Flexi Pass from Rail Europe. This pass is a first class pass for those over 26 (you can’t get a second class ticket if you are older than 26), and it allowed for 10 rides in a 2-month period. The pass costs $884.00 USD.

Did the numbers add up?

Here’s the break down of costs for my trip:

My trip cost me 0 Euros in reservation fees, so the only expense I had was the original cost of the pass. The price of buying my tickets at the train station would have come to 716.72 Euros or $1003.11 USD for a first class ticket. That means I saved $119.11 USD with this pass. That’s not a bad savings. I can think of a lot of better things to do with $119.11 USD than use it for train tickets. Plus, with the pass, you get to skip the ticket line and just get on the train, saving time.

Editor’s Note: I used the current exchange rate of 1 USD = .7145 Euro. The train ticket prices reflect the cost of purchasing the day before.

Why the Pass Worked

This pass worked for the same reason my last pass worked – I crossed many borders and visited multiple countries.

As we can see, short trips actually cost more with a Eurail pass. With the Global Flexi Pass, each trip is worth $84 USD, but the price of my short trips (i.e. less than 3 hours) was typically around 50 Euros or $65 USD. I found the same thing last year – you lose money on short trips. However, where I saved money was on the longer journeys. My trip from Berlin to Munich would have cost me $258 USD without the pass so I saved $174 USD in that instance.

Why the Right Pass is Important
Eurail passes only really work if you get the right pass and plan your trip well. Last-minute trains cost a lot of money, and rail passes really help in those sorts of situations. So if you know where you want to travel, but you prefer to make last-minute bookings, a rail pass will likely save you money.

If, however, you like to plan every leg of your trip months in advance, you will be able find cheaper train tickets without a pass. Advance bookings cost up to 50% less than buying tickets the day before or the day of. If you are OK with accepting that rigidity into your trip, then a Eurail pass probably isn’t for you. Advance booking my above itinerary (using the 2 week advanced prices available to me) would have cost me 553.72 Euros or $733.74 USD, which is $150.26 USD below the cost of a Eurail global pass.

But then again, I like to go with the flow, and hardly ever know my travel plans well in advance to book a discount ticket. I don’t think most travelers do. There’s been many times I’ve said or heard people say “I’m going to Paris tomorrow” only to then leave 3 days later. Eurail passes are much better than buying the tickets the day of and they retain that same “today, I’m going here” flexibility.

And, since Eurail has a variety pass options, and it’s likely that at least one of them will work for you. Based on my previous observations, I would recommend one of the multi-country global passes for those visiting at least 4 countries and taking multiple long journeys. In this case, the math works out in your favor. And, the global passes come in a lot of varieties.

If you are younger than 26, you can get one of Eurail’s youth passes, which are much cheaper (though they are only valid for second-class tickets). The second-class fares on my trip added up to 454.67 Euros or $636.35 USD. A youth version of the Global Flexi Pass is $576.00 USD, $60 USD cheaper than buying them separately.

You can also get a global pass for 15 days, consecutive travel, or (if you plan to do A LOT of train travel), unlimited train travel for a 1, 2 or 3 month period.

But if you aren’t trainsetting across Europe and are instead staying in one country or just a small area, you should consider a country pass. These are a lot cheaper than global passes. Do some research, look at train prices, decide where you want to go, add up the costs, and compare the total to the price of a Eurail pass. One of them will most likely work for you.

Read the Fine Print
The key to saving money with a rail pass is to do your homework before your trip. After reading through the criticisms about Eurail passes, I saw that most complaints were actually due to the fact that people either didn’t get the right pass, or they failed to read the fine print.

For starters, getting the wrong pass and underusing the trips will definitely lead to the pass costing more than what you would spend buying individual tickets. Moreover, if you just buy whatever pass you “think” is good without working out the numbers, you probably will also end up paying too much. If you go buy yourself a Global Pass and then visit one to three countries all close to each other, you’re going to lose money. And, unfortunately, a lot of people do that.

Secondly, you also really need to read the fine print on whichever pass you purchase. For instance, some countries require you to pay reservation fees, while others do not. France and Italy, for instance, charge reservation fees. But you don’t need reservations at all in Germany, Austria, or Holland. I had to pay fees when I used my pass in 2009 in France and Italy.

Lastly, a major criticism of the Eurail pass is that you have to make reservations for overnight trains and pay extra for them beyond what you paid for your pass. But this stipulation is right there on the website, as well as in the book they send you with train times and fees. You can’t just get on an overnight train in any country, find a bunk, and go to sleep. You have to reserve your bed and pay for it ahead of time. And if you don’t book ahead, you can end up stuck in the expensive sleeper, which will cost you a lot more than a night at a hostel. Rail passes reduce the cost of sleeper trains, but unlike for day trains, they don’t eliminate it.

And I think when people only find these things at the train station, it sours their experience on the whole pass.

After using these passes twice and listening to other travelers talk about their experiences, I still think they are a great deal. They wouldn’t still be around and popular if they were the rip-off detractors said they were. But, like everything else in travel, saving money involves research and knowing your options. A Eurail pass will be a good investment but only if you put the time in to make sure the numbers add up.

Editor’s note: An earlier, unfinished version of this post was sent out through my RSS feed. This is the corrected version so the numbers in the post actually makes sense. Sorry about the confusion. Moreover, the rail pass I used in Europe was given to me free by Rail Europe.

I AM GIVING AWAY FREE AIRLINE TICKETS AROUND THE WORLD!!

What? Really?
Yes, you heard that right. Over the last year, I have accumulated 350,000 frequent flier miles with American Airlines and I am just going to give them away to you because I never use them and too many of you just dream of travel. I want to help make that dream a reality.

The Prizes

Grand Prize
One “Oneworld Explorer” Round the World Ticket

Second Prize
One Round Trip Business Class Ticket Anywhere in the World

Third Prize
Two Round Trip Economy Class Tickets Anywhere in the World

Note: If you fly from a part of the world American doesn’t fly to, you’ll get their Oneworld partner. For more on the Oneworld airlines, check it out here.

How Do You Win?

All you need to do is be a fan of my Facebook page, which will let you see the contest form, fill out the form and choose where you want to go. If you win, that’s where I’ll send you!

That’s it. You don’t need to blog, submit a video, have your friend’s vote or anything else like that. Just tell me where you want to go.

The contest runs until August 1st, 2011.

Picking the Winner

Winners will be randomly chosen on August 2nd, 2011 and announced via my Facebook page.

Who can enter?

Anyone in the world over 18+ that has a valid passport.

All the legal rules and conditions

1. You must be 18 years or older and hold a valid passport.
2. If you win one of the prizes, you must book your flight by October 31st, 2011, and your departure date must be before June 30th, 2012.
3. Winners must fly to the destinations they choose in the entry form. If they can’t, a new winner will be chosen.
4. You are responsible for any additional fees and taxes for changes or problems after your ticket is bought. (Decide to change your route or travel dates? You pay for that!)
5. I am not responsible for any injuries, illness, or other misfortune that happens to you on your trip.
6. All tickets are subject to the rules and conditions of the booking airline.
7. All flights will be on American Air and their partners in the Oneworld alliance.
8. Prizes are not transferable or redeemable for cash.

So head over to my Facebook fan page, became a fan, and enter to win a plane ticket to your dream destination – no strings attached.

How to Enter
Entry into this contest is pretty easy, just use the following widget below to fill out the entry form:

Enter between April 5 – April 19, 2011 to win this contest. Simply user the widget above and fill in a “post card” on where you want to go, why, and what you will read and you are done. Pretty simple.

Winner Selection
Like so many contests these days, the winner is determined by public voting so you’ll want to get everyone you know and their family involved to crush the competition. The voting period is between April 20 – April 26, 2011. When voting begins, entrants will receive an email notifying them to start getting votes and will be given a unique URL for their entry so you’ll be able to share it with everyone you know. (So yes, they can vote once per each day of the contest!)

Visitors to the main site, http://www.readergetawaygiveaway.com will be allowed to vote for their favorite entries once per day over the course of the voting period which ends April 26, 2011.

The person who submitted the postcard that receives the most public votes on at the end of the contest will be rewarded with the grand prize: $10,000 travel stipend, 2 Reader Pocket Editions and $100 in Reader Store gift cards.

The winner will be notified on or around April 28, 2011.

All the Legal Stuff I need to Include
No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Open to legal residents of the 50 U.S. & D.C., 18 & older. Begins 3:00:01 a.m. ET on 4/5/11 & ends 3:00:01 p.m. ET on 4/19/11. For official rules, visit www.readergetawaygiveaway.com. Sony Reader $10K Getaway Giveaway is sponsored by Sony Electronics Inc.

So good luck and win a dream vacation for me!

Hostelbookers.com– I like Hostelbookers because they don’t have any booking fees. They have a pretty good inventory of hostels too. Their biggest competitor is Hostelworld, who does have a bigger inventory, but they charge a booking fee. I like not paying a booking fee either. (Here is a good guide to picking some good hostels.)

Seat Guru – Seat Guru lets you see the layout and configuration of all the airlines’ airplanes in the world. It comes in quite handy when I am picking seats on a plane. Seat Guru is definitely worth using, especially if you’re trying to decide if it’s worth using points to upgrade. Some planes are old and you aren’t going to get that many amenities and checking the planes on Seat Guru can help you plan better.

World Nomads – If I need travel insurance I use World Nomads. I like their coverage and their price. There are a lot of companies that sell travel insurance as it’s big business but I wouldn’t use anyone else. When problems arise, World Nomads has a great reputation for getting involved and getting travelers the help that they need. They have excellent customer service and they are very supportive of the blogging community, which makes me like them even more.

Lonely Planet – I love their guidebooks as they appeal to my travel style. I like how they are all over Twitter and other forms of social media. Mostly, I find their guidebooks better laid out than other travel guides. Travel guides come down to personal preference and LP is mine. (Guidebooks shouldn’t be used as the only thing you use when you travel. There are a lot of good other alternatives that you should also use.)

Huffington Post Travel Section – This where I get my travel news, interesting stories, and other travel related facts. They link to articles all over the web so its easy to find stories. I’d rather search one website for my news than 100.

Gap Adventures – The only tour company I use, Gap Adventures offers the most affordable tours out there and they are very eco-friendly. Moreover, the company is really involved in social media. Every employee has a twitter account and the company blog is constantly updated. Their CEO is very supportive of the travel blogging world as seen by their wanderers in residence program.

Momondo – I mostly book with American Airlines since I like to keep my Oneworld elite status. I find all my long haul flights on Momondo when I can’t use Oneworld. I don’t do know how their flight search algorithm but it always seems to find the deals that are hundreds cheaper than other sites. Plus, they sponsored TBEX Europe and I like companies that support the blogging world.

Skyscanner –This is the best site for finding cheap ticket deals on low cost and budget airlines. Whenever I book flights around Europe, for example, I use Skyscanner to compare all the budget airlines.

REI –They have the best gear. I still have my Mars REI backpacker after 4 ½ years of beating it up on the road. I believe any serious traveler should purchase all their gear from REI. Their products last forever. My backpack looks just as good as it did the day I bought it. (Here are my tips for buying a backpack.)

Best Buy – As a digital nomad, I use a lot of electronics. Cameras, video cameras, iPhone, converters, etc. They need to be bought somewhere. If I’m not buying them cheap in Asia, I’m buying them from Best Buy. They have a great selection and deals.

Couchsurfing – A great site for finding free accommodation when you travel. The site connects travelers with locals offering free accommodation. It’s been around for ages and it’s still one of the best sites out there, although it could use a bit of a redesign! I’ve used it many times and I hosted my first people this summer in New York.

Trip It – This is an app for your smartphone. It’s great. It tracks your reservations and keeps you updated on changes to your itinerary. For people who travel a lot and have multiple itineraries to manage, this app can help keep you organized.

STA Travel – I don’t use STA as much as I used too. I’m not a student or younger than 26. However, when I was either of them, I used STA a lot. They have great deals for students and young adults. I especially like their blue airline tickets because they are cheaper than regular airline tickets. I always managed to save money going through them and I recommend them for young travelers.

Priceline/Hotwire – For the few times a year I actually do get a hotel room, I use either Priceline or Hotwire to find a cheap hotel rooms. They usually offer great rates, especially if you name your own price. I’ve gotten 4 star hotels for 100 USD per night in New York City. That is a good deal! I’ve head better luck with deals on Hotwire than Priceline but it’s good to check both.

My book, “How to Travel the World on $50 USD per day,” features many of the above companies offering EXCLUSIVE discounts that will save you over $1000 USD off the cost of your next trip! Click here for more details!

Note: If you want to help support this site and keep it going, using the companies above through the links above when you book your trip, does just that! Please consider it!

Cheap Flights

For the past three years, the wonderful people at Passports with Purpose have been organizing the travel blogging community around a charity. I’ve written about them before as I love the idea of everyone getting together and making a difference. The world gives us so much when we travel, why not give a little back. Last year, they raised $30,000 to build a school in Cambodia. This year, everyone is getting together to help build a village in India.

What’s the Project?
Passports with Purpose is an annual Travel Bloggers’ fundraiser. In 2009, 90 bloggers participated and raised almost $30,000 to build a school in rural Cambodia (complete with a school nurse and a kitchen garden that provides each child a daily meal). Now, the whole blog community is getting together to build a $50,000 dollar village in India to give people access to a home, running water, and a future.

How can you help?
Simply go here and bid on a prize you want. Each entry is a 10 dollar donation and you get a chance to win a prize.

Some of the prizes include:

• First/Business/Coach class round-trip travel voucher to utilize for booking your trip on Delta airlines.
• Kodak PlaySport HD Waterproof Pocket Video Camera
• Full 1080p HD video, waterproof up to 10 feet, 2 inch color display, 5 megapixel HD stills
• Apple iPad 16 GB Wi-Fi + 3G
• Zeppelin flights in California
• Two Airship Ventures gift certificates for a 45-minute flight on a zeppelin in California, worth $375 each.
• 3 Night, Ocean View stay at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel on the Big Island
• Enjoy 3 nights in an ocean view room at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, a luxury resort on Hawaii Island’s sunny Kohala Coast.
• 3-night Stay at San Juan Marriott Resort, Puerto Rico
• A three-night stay at the San Juan Marriott on Condado Beach. Prize includes breakfast daily in the Executive Lounge and a dinner for two at Tuscany.
• A 5-night stay at any of the nine Paradise by Marriott resorts
• Enjoy five nights for two at one of nine luxurious resorts (all with gorgeous beaches) in Mexico or the Caribbean
• Osprey Packs Vector 22
• Roller bag from Osprey packs that’s TSA carry on certified!
• A Four-Night City and Country Getaway in Ireland
• Enjoy 2 nights at the 5* Fitzwilliam Hotel in Dublin, 2 nts @ the 5* Adare Manor in Ireland’s Prettiest Village & admission to 8 Shannon Region sites.

A full list of prizes can be found here.

So what is my prize? I am giving away:

ONE FREE ROUNDTRIP DOMESTIC FLIGHT ON AMERICAN AIRLINES (ECONOMY CLASS).

I don’t think that’s a bad prize and all you have to do to get a chance at winning it is donate $10 dollars to a great, great cause.

So I urge you all in this holiday season to help donate a little bit and give to those in need. Together, we can help build a future of a lot of people. Not only that but you also have the chance to win some awesome travel prizes…all for just $10 dollars!

On the way to Australia from BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas, I was talking to Darren Rowse from Problogger and, knowing he also runs a photography website, was lamenting to him on my poor photography skills. Coincidently, he was telling me he was just relaunching his travel photography book, Transcending Travels, and emailed me a copy to read. When I opened it, I was blown away.

First, I was blown away by just how amazing this book was laid out and how well it was designed. (I took notes for my own books.) It’s the best looking ebook I’ve ever seen. Secondly, I was blown away by the content of the book, which is what really matters. We don’t buy books to look at them, we buy them to learn something.

And I learned a lot.

The book is 80 pages long and written by Mitchell Kanashkevich, a documentary photographer. In those 80 pages, he covers quite a bit. The book starts off discussing lenses, cameras, and what to look for when you buy a camera. He doesn’t put one type of camera over the others but suggests you pick a camera that suits your needs. Bigger isn’t always better, which I fully believe. You often see a lot of people with gigantic expensive cameras when all they are doing is making scrapbooks. A point and click camera can be fine. Additionally, I learned a lot about lens size, why it matters, and what those numbers around my camera lens actually mean.

The meat of this book is not about cameras though, it’s about how to use a camera to take better photographs, which this book does an amazing job of doing. The information in this book is some of the most concise, clear, and easy to understand I’ve read on the subject. The book discusses how to use light and composition, photograph people, action, and much more. No subject seems left untouched.

There’s a lot of good information in there about framing your photographs. Framing is often overlooked by people. They point the camera, take a picture, and that’s it. Yet how you frame a shot can go a long way in making it an amazing picture. But what I really liked best and was most helpful for me was the section on light. Using lighting is one of my weakest skills so it was great to understand that aspect of photography better. I definitely learned how to use light, especially using my shutter at night to get a more lit shot. I also found great value in the section on perspective and negative space (which i didn’t even know about until I read the book). Lastly, the section on taking action shots helped me understand how to take an action shot so I don’t end up with the blurry mess that I typically get. It’s always so disappointing to think “that would make a great photo” and then just see blur on your camera.

Since I am not a photography expert, I don’t know if you will learn new stuff if you already are one. But from the beginner’s stand point, this book is perfect. I found that there was so much information there, it was almost information overload. It’s going to require a few reads to process it all and fully understand what the author talks about.

The book also contains exercise suggestions to put the tips in the book to use. After all, practice makes perfect. The only thing I wish he had included was a glossary of terms. There is a lot of lingo in this book and though it is explained in the text, it would be nice to have a page for reference.

Transcending Travels is only $19.97 USD but if you enter the code “nomadicmatt25″ you’ll get a 25% discount if you buy before Tuesday, November 23rd. After that, it goes back to the normal price. (Just add the code to the shopping cart and hit update!)

You can click here to purchase.

Meggie Weirich.

She was Contestant #2 and made this amazing video as her entry:

How We Picked Meggie
Myself along with Bruce, the CEO of Gap Adventures, Greg Hayes, the marketing manager, Carrie from My Several Worlds, and Craig from Indie Travel Podcast were the voting team. We each picked our top three candidates using the top public voting as a guide.

I figured we would go through several rounds of debating as we would all pick different people and we would have to square our choices with the top voted entries. And we did. We all had different lists. Except for one name- Meggie. Not only was she on every list, she was usually number one or two. Combine that with the fact that she was #2 in the public voting, she had enough points to win. We all agreed that Meggie should go.

Meggie’s application had a lot of what we were looking for: creativity, passion, and humor. We liked how she referenced Gap Adventures environmental policy and sustainability.

Meggie will be going on March 28th and will be blogging her way through her trip. Her website will be up shortly and when it is, I’ll give everyone the URL. We’re letting Meggie pick her own site name!

So Pura Vida Meggie! Have an Imperial beer for us!

Contestant #1- Meggie Weirich

Contestant #2- Gina Morra
Gina wrote an interesting blog as to why she should go to Costa Rica.

Contestant #3- Chris Richardson
Chris wants to go to Costa Rica and push the limits.

Contestant #4- Pamela MacNaughtan
Pam wants to go to Costa Rica and become a better photographer.

Contestant #5- Catherine Best
Catherine hopes to not get naked this time in Central America.

Contestant #6- Joshua Johnson

Contestant #7- Shawna O’Flaherty
Shawna wrote a pretty funny post involving a monkey as to why she should go to Costa Rica.

Contestant #8- Wes Nations
Wes explains why he is the wrong candidate for this trip, which he claims makes him the perfect candidate.

Contestant #9- Rob Blasko
Rob’s feet explain why they need exercise in Costa Rica.

Contestant #10- Darren Alff

Contestant #11- Chris Christensen
Chris made an interesting video about why he needs to go to Costa Rica.

Contestant #12- Keith Savage
Keith is looking for a new path.

Contestant #13- Anthony
Anthony the Travel Tart wrote a poem as to why he needs to see Costa Rica.

Contestant #14- Allison Carlton
Allison wants to go to Costa Rica to get a better understand of the world and the people who live south of the border.

Contestant #15- Kate Bowen
Kate wants to go to Costa Rica to get a tan, experience culture, and because she hates resort travel.

[poll id="7"]

Voting will go until March 1st. A winner will be picked sometime before March 10th. We’ll be factoring in the number of votes you get here was well as creativity, style, personality, and story. Important note: If you are suspected of voting fraud (I’ll be checking for bots), you will be disqualified from this contest.

THIS CONTEST IS NOW OVER! THANK YOU FOR ENTERING! PUBLIC VOTING WILL BEGIN SHORTLY!

My solo first trip was to Costa Rica in 2003. I had never been out of the country before, and I went with a company called Gap Adventures. I don’t even remember how I found them, but I liked what they stood for. They are an eco-friendly, sustainable tourism company. (Check out my recent interview with their founder Bruce Poon Tip). That trip put me on the path that brought me here. I left Costa Rica with an insatiable appetite for travel. This year, I want to start someone else on the path towards becoming a travel junkie. With that said, I’m happy to announce that, in conjunction with Gap Adventures, I am giving away a FREE TWO WEEK TRIP TO COSTA RICA (WITH AIRFARE)! Pretty amazing, huh? Here are the details on how to enter and win:

What do you win? Gap Adventures Costa Rica Explorer plus airfare. Yes, that’s right, not only do you get a two week vacation, but you also get the plane ticket there too. This trip is only for one person.

How do you win? To win this great prize, you need to write a 550 word blog post (to put on your blog) or create a 1 ½ minute video (to put on a video hosting site like YouTube or Vimeo) answering the following question: “Why do you want this trip, and what do you hope to get out of it?” Pretty easy! Just tell us why deserve this lovely prize.

Your blog entry must include a link back to this announcement page as well as mention that Nomadic Matt and Gap Adventures are giving this trip away and that it is our contest you are entering.

Then submit your entry by doing the following:

• Become a fan of Gap Adventures and Nomadic Matt on Facebook.
• Submit the url of your blog post or video to this email address: thenomadicmatt @ gmail dot com with the title “Costa Rica Giveaway”
• Optional tweet if you are on Twitter: “I just entered to win a free trip to Costa Rica from @nomadicmatt and @gapadventures (insert the shortened url of your entry so people can read it)
• Tell all your friends to vote in the public voting.  The public will help select the best entries so tell the world and get them involved.

Winner Responsibilities: The winner will be required to blog about their trip and what they learned. You will have to blog for the two weeks you are on the trip as well as when you return home, discussing what you learned, how the trip made a difference to you, and about environmental and sustainable tourism. A blog url, site, and quick tutorial on websites will be provided for you. You’ll need a camera or video camera of your own and will have to post two blogs per week.

Important dates: The contest begins today (January 4th) and goes until February 14th. Finalists will be voted on and selected through March 1st. The final winner will be revealed on March 7th. The winner will be required to go on the March 28th, 2010 departure. anytime before June 30th, 2010. We’ve decided to add more options so you can get to Costa Rica when it’s convenient for you!

How winners are selected: The best entries will be compiled into a list of 50 to be voted on by the public. The top 10 entries will then be voted on by myself, Bruce Poon Tip (Gap’s CEO), and 3 other travel bloggers.

What are we looking for? Something creative and unique. Entries that are original, creative, funny, thoughtful, and with a compelling story are the ones that will make it to the finals. Be daring, be different.

Other Important Disclosures:

1. All food, drink, extra activities, shopping, and anything not included in the flight or tour will not be paid for by Nomadic Matt or Gap Adventures.
2. You must have a valid passport.
3. You must be 18 years or older.
4. Applicants can be from any country in the world.
5. Any visa fees or processes required by Costa Rica must be taken care of by the winner.
6. You must have your own computer. We won’t be providing one for you.
7. Travel insurance is required and is the responsibility of the winner.

Good Luck!