Mei-Ling McNamara

Back in August, we launched the Discover Dominica contest, inviting Matador readers to submit a photo related to the exploration of Mother Nature for a chance to win a trip for two to the Caribbean island of Dominica.

After reviewing hundreds of entries, moderating dozens of comments, and learning a lot about how we can run contests better, the Matador team has selected a winner: Mei-Ling McNamara.

Mei-Ling is a is a writer, advocacy journalist, and international development worker who is currently authoring a new travel guidebook to Senegal with Bradt Travel Guides. She’s also an extraordinary photographer who has documented plenty of outdoor adventure on her travels.

Thanks to everyone who entered, and congratulations to Mei-Ling!

Community Connection:

Are you looking for a chance to win? Matador sponsors regular contests for gear, photographs, trips, and books. Find out about current contests here.

[Editor's Update 10/29/09] -

Ross Borden
Co-Founder, Matador

A big thank you to everyone who submitted their photos! Be sure to be on the lookout for our future photo contests!

1. Anthony Lewis – “Exploring Torres Del Paine, Chile.”

2. Annie Nelson – “At the Devil’s Golf Course in Death Valley National Park. The ground is made up of crystals of pure salt from lakes that dried years ago. I tasted the ground, and sure enough, it tasted just like table salt.”

3. Julie Han – “Jumping over white sand dunes in Mui Ne, Vietnam.”

4. Karen Keeney – “St. Paul’s on Pitcairn Island.”

5. Matt Bigelow – “America’s greatest outdoor past time: roasting marshmallows over a river of molten lava.”

6. KWilliam Beasley – “A little silliness after hiking up from the valley floor in Yosemite.”

7. David Tai – “Preparing to enter the cold pool, Buckskin Gulch.”

8. Emmy Lenevald – “Preikestolen, Norway. 604 meters down. Vertigo.

9. Lara Silver – “Crawling through an ice tunnel while hiking the magnificent Franz Josef Glacier in New Zealand.”

10. Chelsea Raubenheimer – “Exploring the ends of the Earth!!!”

11. Vamsi Vasireddy – “What happens when your shower head is an elephant trunk? The look on our faces – priceless!!”

12. Alex Montalvo – “A joking attempt at backwards dowsing unexpectedly yields a Komodo dragon.”

13. Fabio Barbon – “That’s me walking over the waters of Barra Velha, BA , Brazil.”

14. “With storms coming in, a manatee herd heads for open water, allowing us to swim alongside them before heading down to Paul’s Reef, Florida.”

15. Alex Budak – “Exploring the sand dunes of Rajasthan, India, isolated from the rest of the world, as we watched the sunset as the golden sand in the horizon gradually faded to black.”

16. Jennifer Eden – “My boyfriend showering in the waterfall.”

17. Dacey Zelman-Fahm – “My father and I hiking across a natural land bridge in Sycamore Canyon Wilderness, Arizona.”

18. Laurin Ensslin – “Laurin conquering the Boquette Tree Trek, the real canopy tour of Panama…hope there is cold beer at the bottom!”

19. Katie Peterman – “Sandy Spit in the British Virgin Islands.”

20. Chris Tse – “Stopping to pose while hiking in Plitvice Lakes National Parks in Croatia.”

21. Kurtis Hastie – “Here’s a picture I took while myself and a few friends explore mother nature in the form of ice climing! Picture was taken at Restoule Park in Northern Ontario. Climb pictured is “The Snake”. How much more can you get in touch with mother nature than in the form of seasonal ice climbing? She creates it, we climb it.”

22. Aisha Springer – “Hiking in Great Falls, Maryland.”

23. Curtis McLeod – “We took the phrase “When in Rome…” to heart. So, when in Wales, act like mountain sheep.”

24. Krishana Clark – “The sun setting over the beach in Montego Bay Jamaica! Me on the left hand side enjoying the moment…how I miss this place!!!”

25. Mei-Ling McNamara – “A baptism of solitude in the Desert du Lampoul in Northeastern Senegal.”

Susan Marjanovic, winner of Matador’s Twitter tuition contest.

The winner was Susan Marjanovic, an artist, photographer, writer, audiophile and healer. We interviewed Susan to learn more about her…not surprisingly, she’s totally living the Matador vision.

Matador: Tell us a bit about you: where you’re from.

I kind of feel like I’m from all over. I consider San Francisco ‘home’ these days, but before that I lived in NYC for about a decade. I was born and raised at the Jersey shore, and my parents are from the old Yugoslavia (Serbia and Croatia), so I grew up in a European/Socialist sort of household surrounded by beach culture environment, stuck between two major cities.

When I was younger, I kind of felt like an outcast because of all those crazy juxtapositions but when I got older I was able to realize how lucky I was to have been exposed to so many different cultures all at once and it really shaped me in ways I am eternally grateful for.

Matador:… why you travel…

There just isn’t any other experience that comes close to it. I can’t really imagine life without traveling. I took my first overseas flight to the Adriatic coast & Serbia when I was 4 and was instantly hooked.

Photo: snowcrash

My parents had one of those huge fancy world atlases and I used to spend hours poring over it, planning all the places I would go when I got older and could afford it.

We used to get National Geographic too, which fueled even more daydreams (I loved the free maps that came with it) of exploring cultures all over the world. I was especially interested in tribal cultures, where people seemed to live more in harmony with each other and the earth, and where ritual, dance, and body decoration played a huge role.

Matador: …what you do…

I’m in pursuit of ultimate freedom always.

I’m also an artist, photographer, writer, audiophile, and healer.

I am interested in so many things, so I’ve never had one official career. The idea of doing the same thing over and over for days on end makes me cringe.

I studied photography at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, did some commercial work for record labels and magazines, had art shows, helped run an indie hip-hop label in NYC, worked at Current TV watching documentaries about the world for a brief stint, and then temped for a year because it gave me freedom, not just physically but mentally and emotionally, which were even more important to me at the time.

I tried going back to work at a landscape architect’s office for a bit. Temping doesn’t really provide financial stability, and I really love plants, so I thought I could learn something new and sort out my finances at the same time. But I found the environment to be really stifling and knew my freedom and happiness were worth way more than a steady paycheck so I began trying to sort out ‘How do I get paid to travel around the world doing what I love – creating art, making beautiful images, spending time in nature, meeting amazing people, and helping others?’

I had a health crisis. As I began to learn how to heal through a steady diet of raw/living foods, herbs, spiritual work, and hours spent in the wilderness hiking, I ended up stepping into my power as a healer, which really clicked everything together for me….

All the synchronicities in my life began to increase. I knew I was on the right path and didn’t need to focus only on one thing – what I needed was to find a way to make them all work together.

I signed up for a raw foods nutrition class and was praying for everything to get taken to the next level when I got fired from my job. It was a huge blessing. I began blogging about raw foods, health, life transformation and began consulting with clients one-on-one to help sort out their health issues. I finally had the time to spend my energy doing things I loved, so I began volunteering more than ever and immersing myself in [my passions]: food, permaculture, food foraging, the environment, and healthy living.

I knew travel was an integral part of the puzzle, so I applied for a paid WWOOF sponsorship to study permaculture in Bulgaria for six months and got it. Everything was coming together perfectly.

Matador: What are you up to these days?

I planned to spend some time with my family back east for a month or two before heading to Bulgaria and decided to take a cross country road trip to get there. Just as I was finalizing my trip, the WWOOF Bulgaria program told me that because I wasn’t an EU citizen, they weren’t going to be able to get my paperwork processed in time to make the funding deadline.

I trust that everything happens for a reason, so decided to just roll with it. I turned my cross country adventure into a bigger trip with no real end date. I left San Francisco in February and embarked on an experiment to trust that if we’re being of service, we are always being provided for. In my case this meant educating people about raw food and inspiring them to take their health back into their own hands, volunteering on organic farms and gardens, and exploring the power of community everywhere I went.

Photo: Ian Muttoo

It’s been amazing so far. I’ve met some of the most positive, inspiring, beautiful people who are changing the world. I’ve also been taking part in a lot of intense North American Indian ceremonies and sweat lodges and deepening on my spiritual path. It’s been beautiful and empowering experiencing how everything in your life shifts when you begin to trust the universe, listen to your intuition, and live in alignment with your soul.

My life feels so magical. I don’t really want this trip to end, but I think it’s time to head back to SF to work on a few projects and work my magic on a few other areas.

About a year ago I decided to start a raw, organic, medicinal chocolate company because I wanted to build an eco-conscious business of my own that would allow me to do good things in the world and allow me to travel and fund my art. On this trip I’ve had so many chocolate and herb syncs, so I’m itching to get work on that and start working with an incubator program to get that off the ground.

I’m also applying to school to become an herbalist and continue to work with plant medicines all over the world, especially South America and the Himalayas.

I also have a few big art projects I want to work on, especially one I am excited about that harnesses the power of community and human connection. It’s a roving art gallery in a truck that travels to cities all over the country. I’m really into alternative economies, so instead of purchasing the art, people will barter their own art for what’s already on the walls. The new art show will travel to the next city, and the barter process will continue.

I really like things that are constantly changing and evolving and want to be able to connect art communities all over the world and have everyone be a part of something bigger. I want to try to also capture the whole process digitally in an online museum of sorts so that people can know where their art ended up & keep in contact with whoever has it. I’d really love it if it spurred a few collaborations as well.

Matador: How did you learn about Matador?

I can’t remember exactly, but I know I found it while researching how to be a location independent digital nomad. I think it might have been through a link from Soultravelers3 on twitter.

Matador: You won Matador’s Twitter contest for free tuition… have you ever won anything before?

A few things. I won a small photography scholarship fund in high school. My freshman year of college, SVA had a photo show that was judged by one of the curators of MoMA and I placed…I think my prize was a gift certificate for photo supplies. Oh, and last year I won a Japan guidebook from Lonely Planet.

Matador: What are you hoping to get out of the Matador U program?

I want to connect with other people who are living a nomadic lifestyle and get high off the journey. I feel like I need to learn the economy of words. Several people who read my blog have been writing me to suggest I turn this current adventure into a book, so it would be fantastic to learn how to do that and get published.

I’m also in the process of revamping my photography site, elasticfate.com, so I’d like to learn how to morph it into a monetized travel site that will help me bring in another stream of income from doing what I love and inspire others to do the same.

Matador: What’s your favorite kind of travel writing or travel writer?

The kind that has the power to transport you fully to a place and moment in time without having to rely on crazy partying and outlandish tales to keep you riveted, though those can be entertaining in their own way. I really like travel writing that gets inside the local culture and teaches me something new and inspires me grow in some way.

Community Connection:

Want to learn more about Matador U? You can do that here. To read more about raw food and spiritual healing, check out senior editor David Miller’s review of Sofia Brandon’s book, The Adventure Cookbook, published on Matador Goods earlier this week.

Matador Trips co-editor Carlo Alcos.

Wend invites Matador members to submit photos on the theme of hiking or trekking in order to be entered into its September Friday Photo Contest.

September’s weekly prizes include Kaze stainless steel vacuum bottles. The grand prize is an Eco Ether sleeping pad from Pacific Outdoor.

Click on over to Wend for all the details.

Feature photo: dms_303

Photo: Ed Yourdon

Sorry, it’s too late for you to get into the game, but four Matador members have made it into the semi-final round of Trazzler’s NYCGO Writing Contest.

At stake is a $10,000 prize and a most-expenses paid two-week stint to visit New York City, where the winner will spend his or her mini-residency writing about the city.

To get to this round, entrants had to make an initial editorial cut after submitting a short trip guide on the theme “Oasis.”

The initial pool of entrants has been culled to 200 semi-finalists. Visitors to the Trazzler site will vote for their favorite trips and the 10 entries garnering the most votes will move on to the finals. A jury will choose the grand prize winner. Even if you’re not a Trazzler member, you can vote for your favorite semi-finalists by logging in through your Facebook account.

Here are the Matador members who are in the running for the next round:

Katie Hammel:

Katie is a regular contributor to Matador Trips, writing frequently about her hometown of Detroit. She’s also written about Chicago, Denver, and Iceland.

Katie’s Trazzler entry is “Brunching at a Hidden Urban Oasis in Detroit, Michigan.”

Sabina Lohr:

Sabina is Matador’s expert on Martha’s Vineyard, an area she writes about frequently for Matador Trips. Her most recent Matador article is All Over the Map: A U.S. Festival for Each Month of the Year.

Sabina’s Trazzler entry is “Jumping Off the Jaws Bridge on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.”

Michelle Schusterman:

Michelle, a musician, Matador intern, and regular contributor to Matador Goods, currently calls South Korea her home base.

Michelle’s Trazzler entry is “Stumbling Onto a Bahiano Making Dende Oil in Santo Amaro, Brazil.”

Ryan Van Lenning:

Ryan is a writer, educator, activist, and regular contributor to Matador Change, where he writes about environmental and social justice issues.

Ryan’s Trazzler entry is “Lounging in the Turquoise Pools in Semuc Champey, Guatemala.”

Click on over to Trazzler to vote for these Matador members!

Community Connection:

We’ll forgive Katie, Sabina, Michelle, and Ryan for using the word “oasis,” but don’t be caught using it when you send a submission to Matador. “Oasis” is one of the 10 Words and Phrases We Never Want to See in Travel Writing Again.

Photos by Lola Akinmade

Winning a National Geographic contest is a covetous title and once again, the Society has given budding travel photographers another opportunity to earn one. Its International Photography Contest 2009 aims to showcase the best pictures depicting people, places, and nature from around the globe.

Peruse its online galleries to view some stunning entries from past winners of the competition.

From National Geographic:

The international grand-prize winner in each category will receive a trip to National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C., for himself or herself for five (5) days and four (4) nights, in early 2010, including round-trip coach-class air transportation to and from the major airport closest to winner’s home, hotel accommodations for four (4) nights, an awards ceremony, a U.S. $50 gift certificate to the National Geographic store, and U.S. $460 in spending money, and will have his or her photo published in all participating editions of National Geographic magazine.

In addition to competing for the grand prize, each first place winner in the three categories will receive a digital camera kit valued at $1,000.

Some more fine print:

* Entries should be submitted electronically to www.ngphotocontest.com.

* The contest began Wednesday, August 5, 2009 and ends Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009, 11:59 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time (ET).

* Photos can be black-and-white or color, shot with a digital camera or with conventional film, and must be submitted digitally.

* Each entry consists of an entry form, a single image and an entry fee.

* The entry fee is U.S. $12 per photo for entries received before 11:59 p.m. ET Oct. 15, 2009 and, $22 per photo for entries received between Oct. 16 and Oct. 31.

Head over to www.ngphotocontest.com for more details as well as official contest rules.

Good luck!

Photo: kretyen

Who doesn’t like a free trip?

Matador is giving away a paid trip for TWO people to Dominica and all YOU have to do is send us an amazing photo of you exploring the outdoors.

The contest, open to residents of the United States and Canada, kicks off today. Winners will be chosen at the end of October.

The two lucky winners will receive round trip airfare from the United States or Canada and lodging for four nights at one of Dominica’s premier hotels.

Full contest details are here.

Questions? E-mail ross@matadornetwork.com.

Community Connection:

Read up on Dominica by checking out this article from our archives: Caribbean Romance in the Shadow of Volcanoes, written by one of Matador’s Caribbean experts, Anna Brones.

Photo: ThisParticularGreg

This month, Wend’s Friday Photo Contest is all about cycling. Whatever you’re doing or wherever you’re going on two wheels, Wend wants to see your photos!

Check out the full contest details here.

This month’s prize? KEEN Cycling Shoes and the month’s grand prize: A KEEN Commuter Bag.

Community Connection:

Need some photographic inspiration? Check out Hal Amen’s photo essay about the 20 of the Freakiest Custom Bikes on the Road.

And along the same lines, Megan Hill rounds up 8 Quirky Bike Rides Across the US.

Photo: aloha73

As if we didn’t already think they were cool enough– you HAVE applied for their Antarctica photography contest, right?–our travel buddies at World Nomad have us swooning with another dream contest.

They seem to have a certain affection for “As”– this one will find the winners in Australia.

It’s a country so big, so wild, and so beautiful it’s its own continent.

And even if you live there, you haven’t possibly seen it all.

That’s why World Nomads wants to hand you the keys to their van.

Here’s the deal:

World Nomads Van-Tastic contest will award seven pairs of travelers–one for each state–a round trip flight to/from Australia, keys to a camper van, $1,000 in “petrol” (that’s gas to those of you in the US), and six weeks with a digital video camera and laptop.

You’ll be charged with the task of documenting your trip– and if voters like your documentary the best, then you could win again, this time $10,000 and two Virgin Blue domestic flights. Not too shabby.

So get on over to World Nomads and get your application ready!

Community Connection:

Bummed you didn’t win the contest? Matador Trips co-editor Carlo Alcos shows you some of the coolest campervans on the road.

It could be you on that boat…. Photo: 23am.com

Antarctica is on many travelers’ dream destination list, but the logistics–not to mention the expense–of getting there are a bit daunting.

And then there’s the issue of the weather.

While World Nomads can’t help you with that last part, it’ll handle all the other details.

You just have to win their latest photography scholarship!

World Nomads, along with National Geographic Channel and Gap Adventures, will be awarding one exceptional photographer the opportunity to travel to Antarctica–all expenses paid–with award-winning photographer Jason Edwards.

In addition to winning the trip, the sponsors will set you up with a couple thousand dollars’ worth of gear from Pentax so you can fulfill the scholarship assignment: spending 11 days photographing the world’s most remote wilderness aboard Gap Adventure’s Antarctica Classic M/S Expedition, exploring the Shetland Islands and Antarctic Peninsula.

Sound cool?

It is–and there’s lots more, too (like having your images published by National Geographic).

For full details, click on over to World Nomad’s announcement, which can be found here.

Community Connection:

Want to talk with an Antarctica expert before the trip (’cause YOU are going to win that scholarship!)? Be sure to get in touch with Matador’s man in Antarctica.

One of my favorite waterways: New York’s Hudson River; Photo: Francisco Collazo

From our friends at Wend:

“For July’s Friday Photo theme we want the kind of pictures that are going to inspire activism, and since it’s summer, what better way than photos from your favorite water hangouts that are probably being severely affected by pollution? But we don’t want to be total downers (remember we’re all about inspiring change) so we’re looking for all kinds of photos that represent our waterways, both positive and negative. That means anything from plastic polluted beaches to river cleanups.”

For submission instructions, click here. Prizes include Klean Kanteen reusable water bottles.

Community Connection:

While water’s on your mind, check out these 40 shocking facts about water.

Photo: Amir Farshad Ebrahimi

The future of incumbent candidate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is at stake in tomorrow’s election. Ahmadinejad, often described as a hard-line traditionalist, is being challenged for the country’s top political seat by former prime minister, Mir Hossein Mousavi.

The two candidates couldn’t be more different, but that’s not the main issue galvanizing many Iranian voters and outside observers.

Instead, it’s Mousavi’s wife, Zahra Rahnavard, a former university chancellor, who has captivated the country’s attention as the final hours of campaigning approach.

In an article in Der Spiegel, journalist Ulrike Putz explained Rahnavard’s appeal and influence:

“Since the revolution in 1979 no other political spouse has been so much in the public eye. Rahnavard is even featured in her husband’s election posters: she stands next to him, holding his hand. In Iran’s strict Muslim society this alone is nothing short of spectacular. She wears her black chador loosely and instead of a plain scarf, hers is printed with a colorful floral pattern….

For weeks Rahnavard has been travelling around Iran — with and without her husband — trying to drum up support for the conservative reformer. She talks about providing women with more rights before family courts, better education opportunities and more jobs. That is not only appealing to the female half of the estimated 46 million eligible voters — many of their fathers, brothers and husbands also think this the right way forward.

While Rahnavard is certainly the most visible example of women increasingly defining and claiming a space for themselves in Iranian politics and social life, she’s not the only one. Throughout Iran and neighboring countries, women are openly addressing larger audiences, talking about traditionally taboo topics and asserting their right to define their own roles in society.

For another example of the ways women are articulating and exercising their rights, check out this excerpt from the PBS Wide Angle documentary, “Dishing Democracy,” which features popular TV hosts Fawzia Salama, Rania Barghout, Muna AbuSulayman, and Farah Besiso talking about their Cairo-based program, “Kalam Nawaem.”

If you’re interested in seeing the full documentary, you can access the video segments here.

Community Connection:

Interested in politics outside the West? Be sure to read Sarah Stuteville’s dispatch from Pakistan, “Pakistani Politics: Why Women’s Voices Matter.”

Photo: sun dazed

If you’re not afraid to get a little water on your camera, then Wend’s got a proposition for you.

Send in your favorite waterfall shots for their June Friday Photo contest for your chance to win a pair of Teva’s new water shoes.

You can find all the details here.

Community Connection:

Is Matador’s Goods blog among your RSS subscriptions? If not, it should be! We’re giving away lots of gear, books, and generally good stuff all summer! In fact, you’ve got until this Friday to submit your entry for the Sansa slotRadio Player!

Photo: snappybex

The Roads Scholarship is the pet project of Matador member Pat the Digital Vagabond, a long-time traveler who wants to make travel possible for other people. Pat dreamed up the idea of sending one person–a “Roads Scholar”– around North America during the summer of 2009 on an unfixed route of their own choosing, fully funded, ending up at the popular Burning Man Festival in September.

The only catch? That the winner document his or her journey on Matador and other multimedia platforms.

More than 100 aspiring Roads Scholars submitted applications.

Pat found many of the applications so compelling that he couldn’t choose a single winner. Instead, he chose one primary Roads Scholar and three honorary scholars. They are:

Primary Roads Scholar: Kyle Smith

Honorary Roads Scholars: Joanna Haugen, Marina, and Alanna

Visit Digital Vagabonding to learn more about the winners. And be sure to sign up for Matador’s RSS feed so you can keep up with all the digital dispatches we’ll be featuring from this year’s winners.

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to Pat for his generosity and vision!

Photo: The Sierra Club

Honest Tea and the Sierra Club have teamed up to raise consumers’ consciousness about environmental issues by giving away free trips.

Though you don’t have to purchase any of Honest Tea’s products to enter the contest, a portion of proceeds from the sale of Honest Tea stamped with the Sierra Club logo goes toward funding youth environmental education programs and ecosystem conservation efforts lead by the Sierra Club.

Four separate drawings will be held between the end of June 2009 and March 2010. Prizes include: a trip for two from Sierra Club Outings, a one year supply of tea, and Jamis bikes.

The fine print? You have to be a legal resident of the United States over the age of 18. For full contest information, visit Honest Tea’s website.

Community Connection:

And speaking of free travel… have you applied for the Matador-sponsored Roads Scholarship yet? If not, get moving! There are only 10 days left to submit your application. Full details are available here.

Photo: Fabiano (LicoSp)

It’s almost May, and that means our friends at Wend Magazine are rolling out a new theme for their Photo Friday contest.

This month, Wend’s looking for shots of extreme weather. Whether you’re a storm chaser or a sun worshiper, Wend wants to see your best weather-related photos.

You can read full submission instructions here.

For now, I’ll leave you tempted with the Photo Friday prizes: Mountain Hardwear shirts (men’s and women’s) and, for the Grand Prize winner, a Mountain Hardwear Stimulus Jacket.

Photo: garryknight

Whether you’re an amateur or professional photographer lugging your gear around on your travels, you’re probably interested in sharing your photos and getting recognized for memorable images.

If that’s the case, then this news is for you.

The 2009 international travel photographer of the year competition (TPOTY) is now open.

From the press release:

TPOTY 2009 winners will go to some highly photogenic locations, traveling to China, Costa Rica and Morocco with Intrepid Travel and to Slovakia’s Tatra Mountains with Mountain Paradise.

[E]quipment prizes… include a 26” NEC Spectra View monitor, an Apple MacBook Pro with Aperture 2 software, Wacom Cintiq 12WX interactive pen display and new Intuos4 pen tablets, Adobe CS4 Web Premium, Photoshop CS4 and Lightroom software, a total of £1,000 to spend with Jacobs Digital Photo & Video, Plastic Sandwich leather portfolio books, HARMAN PHOTO and ILFORD PHOTO paper, prints and darkroom products, LEE filters, Lexar CF cards and card readers, Photo Iconic photo courses, and £300 to spend with Linhof Studio.

This year, there are three entry categories: Homeland, Natural Wonders and People of the World, and “One Shot.” Submissions in this last category must be related to the theme Festival, Fiesta and Celebration.

You’ve got plenty of time to get your submission in; the deadline isn’t until September 22, 2009.

Complete entry details can be found on www.tpoty.com.

For information about last year’s winners, check out this article.

Photo: swimparallel

The UK-based Bradt Travel Guides has announced a travel writing competition open to all writers over the age of 18.

Applicants can submit a well-written 800 word essay responding to the contest theme, “Destination Unknown,” in one of two categories: unpublished travel writer or published travel writer.

A first-place winner will be awarded a trip for two to Colombia. In addition, his or her winning essay will be published in The Independent on Sunday, a newspaper that will also grant the winning writer a commission.

A second winner will be awarded a travel writing course in Spain, courtesy of contest partner, Travellers’ Tales.

Full details can be found here.

Some of the strangest entries involve food consumption.

Photo: quami77

There’s Ken Edwards, a London man who holds the record (eight years and running) for eating the most cockroaches–36–in one minute, and Jim Lyngvild, a resident of Copenhagen who set the bar for eating the most Ferrrero Rocher chocolates in one minute–seven (seems pretty weak to me).

Photo: mountainamoeba

This week, a new food record was entered into the Guinness register.

Anandita Dutta Tamuly, a woman from Jorhat, India, put competitors to shame by eating 51 ghost chilis–considered the world’s hottest–in a minute. Famously foul-mouthed celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay looked on as Tamuly set her record, and was left speechless.

Tamuly, for her part, was reportedly pleased to have set a Guinness record, but was disappointed in her performance– she’s eaten as many as 60 of the chilis in a single sitting, so she failed to break her own personal record.

Community Connection:

What’s the strangest food you’ve ever eaten? Matador contributor Nellie Huang introduces readers to 10 of Asia’s most exotic delicacies in this article.

Pat, who fell in love with travel at the age of 21 after reading Ed Buryn’s book, Vagabonding in the USA, was inspired to quit school, fix up an old VW van, and start exploring North America. About his first year on the road, he writes:

“I found the ocean, myself and a whole lot more before I came back almost one year later. It was a year of sweet solitude, serendipitous encounters and inspiration.”

And after that first year, he was hooked, a confirmed convert to vagabonding.

Photo: notsogoodphotography

Now, more than 20 years later, Pat wants to pay forward the experience of travel that has been so meaningful to him by offering what he’s calling the Roads Scholarship.

If you’re 18 or older and have a valid driver’s license, you’re eligible to apply for the Roads Scholarship. If you win, you’ll be given a $1,200 USD stipend each month from June-September, 2009, and you’ll be able to use share your articles and photos on Pat’s website, Digital Vagabonding. The winner will also be given a ticket to Burning Man, as will two runners-up.

Winners will be chosen in May, so hurry up and check the guidelines here.

Photo: Mario Tziortzis

UPDATE:

Several weeks after this article was written and published, the “Next Best Job in the World” sponsors announced the contest had been suspended due to “unforeseen events.” As of May 5, 2009, no further information is available.- The Editors

Queensland, Australia’s best job in the world campaign was so wildly successful, it was only a matter of time before some enterprising tourism CEO rolled out Best Job in the World 2.0.

And that CEO is Dean Horvath, founder and president of Mason Horvath Elite Travel Experiences.

Like the Queensland job, the “NEXT Best Job in the World” offers one lucky winner six months of incredible memory-making. From the press release:

We are looking for an elite travel correspondent to travel the globe for six months, staying at the most exclusive and out of this world hotels and resorts, searching out and reporting on truly unique and mind-blowing experiences normally reserved for the rich and famous.

Imagine this: Enjoying a private candlelight dinner on the Great Wall of China; racing Ferraris through the twisting back roads of Tuscany; spending the afternoon picnicking in the middle of the Moroccan desert and then telling the world about it. It’s a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it!

And if you’re that somebody, you’ll not only receive a salary of $50,000 USD, you’ll also get to bring a companion along for the ride.

Unlike the Queensland gig, you don’t have to go through a lengthy application process. Just fill out a simple entry form here; a random drawing will pull finalists who will be flown to a secret location for interviews.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION:

Regular Matador contributor Craig Martin provided full coverage of the Best Job in the World campaign. You can read his articles here.

Photo: Laurel Fan

Question: What’s better than winning a contest?

Answer: Winning a contest during an economic crunch.

Our friends over at Wend Magazine are giving away some great gear all month for photographers who win their Friday Photo Contest.

Up for grabs? An Eagles Nest Outfitters double nest hammock (how romantic!), a slap strap pro, and a gift certificate to U.S. Outdoor. A grand prize winner, drawn at the end of the month, will win a Patagonia lightweight travel duffel.

What do you have to do? Just submit your best photo of a trail scene by uploading it to Wend’s Flickr pool. Then, send an email to fphoto[at]wendmag[dot]com with a description of where the photo was taken.

Simple!

Click on over to Wend for the full details…and good luck!

The winners of the third annual Solas Awards, honoring the best travel stories of the year, have been announced — and a few Matador members are in the mix!

Congrats to all the winners, but special shout-outs go to Matador Goods editor Lola Akinmade, who took the bronze in the “Travel and Shopping” category (and also landed a couple of honorable mentions), Matador member Darrin DuFord, who received second place in the “Travel and Food” category, and Matador member Dana Hill, who also received an honorable mention.

The Solas Awards are put on every year by Travelers’ Tales, a San Francisco-based publishing house dedicated to literary travel writing and travel storytelling at its best. If you’re an aspiring travel writer, consider sending in your best stories for next year’s Solas Awards, and check out the submissions page for the latest Travelers’ Tales anthologies, too.

To learn more about what Travelers’ Tales is looking for (and to read some great writing — one of the best ways to keep learning!) give The Best Travel Writing 2009 or The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2009 a read.

Congratulations again to Lola, Darrin, Dana, and everyone else! And if we missed your name on the winners’ list, because we only know you by a Matador nickname, please let us know!

Keep writing, everybody.

Photo by tnarik (Creative Commons)

Photo: Pot Noodle

We don’t want to toot our own horn–well, not too much– but thanks to our supportive community of readers and contributors, Matador is a finalist in two categories of Lonely Planet’s Travel Blogger Awards!

Matador Goods is a finalist in the Best Consumer Travel Blog category, and Matador Network is up for an award in the Best Group Authored Blog category.

We’re also proud to announce that regular contributors Audrey Scott and Craig Martin have also been nominated in the categories of Best Travelogue and Best Podcast, respectively.

Voting opened today and will run through March 20, 2009 at 12 AM Pacific Time. You can vote once in each of the 14 categories.

Thanks for being a part of the world’s most exciting online travel community!

[Satbir]

Enter Sosauce.

Sosauce is an internet start up company offering “travel geeks” a place to “create, view, and share their travel experiences.” The company is offering an eight week marketing internship this summer for college students or recent grads who are interested in using web and multimedia applications to draw attention to and inspire action about social issues.

Upon completing the internship, interns will be eligible for a two week travel abroad experience, with expenses paid by Sosauce.

Hopefully, meals will consist of more than ramen.

For full details, visit Sosauce’s Will Work for Travel site here.

Travelers — are you looking for businesses to support on your travels that do tourism right?

Or do you know a worthy individual who has put his or her heart into a sustainable endeavor?

Well, you’re in luck. National Geographic and Ashoka’s Changemakers are just getting the second annual Geotourism Challenge started, seeking out and honoring individuals devoted to “tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place — its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage and the well-being of its residents.”

Sounds about right, doesn’t it?

Head to the competition website to nominate worthy innovators, check out the other nominees, and engage in a constructive discussion about sustainable travel. The nomination phase closes May 20, 2009.

After that date, the competition’s panel of judges will create a shortlist of finalists — and after that, it’s back to us to vote!

Photo by m o d e (Creative Commons)

If you’re a traveling film-maker, or just a big fan of travel videos, and you haven’t yet discovered Tripfilms, the travel-focused video sharing website, then now’s the time to venture over!

Tripfilms is currently putting on the first annual Trippy Awards, to honour the best videos from its community members. The categories are fun and thoughtful: take the Hop On A Plane Award, for instance, which will go to the most inspiring or wanderlust-inducing video.

The nominees have already been selected, but you can still check them all out and vote for your favorites — the ballot closes on March 1st.

Meanwhile, if you’re still learning, and looking for the skills to compete for a Trippy Award in future, be sure to check out this excellent, helpful article: 8 Useful Online Tools for Traveling Filmmakers.

Photo by MK Media Productions (Creative Commons)

If you believe the copy, the best job in the world is lying on a beach, scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef and blogging about it for a cool AUD $150,000 (US $96,300) over six months.

Sound like your cup of tea? It sounds like hard work to me!

The Queensland Tourism Department has advertised this job as part of a a multi-million dollar campaign to raise awareness of Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef as a tourism destination. Twelve months in the making, it’s the first and largest project of its kind. While future campaigns are sure to come, I doubt any will catch the world’s attention like the Island Reef Job.

The successful applicant will be the face and voice of the islands for six months: there will be constant social media work to be done, blog posts to write, photos to upload, and videos to shoot, edit, and promote.

That said, it’s a highly sought position: with 15 days still to go, over 10,500 video applications have already been made.

Anny Chih from Vancouver, Canada has spent over 50 hours on her application – including creating a website and building a reputation on twitter and other social media tools.

I asked Anny what her perfect day would look like:

I’d probably wake up at six in the morning just being absurdly happy … walk around the island, collect the mail, have a chat with the waitress at a local diner, perhaps do some kayaking (one of my favourite summer activities), practice my rolls in the water, feed the fish, do a little scuba diving, maybe try a new hiking trail, take lots of pictures, blog and twitter like mad to try and keep up with everyone, borrow an Australian cookbook and try to make something with the fire extinguisher handy for dinner (I did once almost burn down my kitchen – luckily the oven kept most of the fire contained), take another stroll along the beach to look for crabs and chat with some locals over a beer, take a hot bath, blog some more and snuggle up to my stuffed animal Sharky at bedtime.

I’m not too sure the Whitsunday’s have diners, but Nicole McNaughton, PR Project Manager for the “Best Job in the World,” thinks the job will live up to Anny’s dream:

“A key part of the role will be exploring the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef to gain a full understanding of what’s on offer – and that includes getting to know the locals and the community. We want the successful applicant to not only report on the great experiences on offer, but also what it is that makes Queensland and its people so quintessentially unique. In short, we want them to get ‘under the skin’ of the destination from more than just a travelogue’s point of view. We want them to meet those who live and work in the region, to make friends with them, to look at issues such as the effects of climate change on the Great Barrier Reef. We want them to be much more than just a travel reporter.”

The best job in the world is an amazing opportunity to spend time amongst some of the 600 islands of the Reef and, unlike most visitors, get paid a hefty sum to do it. It’s also an excellent chance to launch a career in travel writing and gain a social media following for future projects.

Community Connection:

Subscribe to the Matador RSS feed now to stay up to date with more features on the Best Job in the World and the Great Barrier Reef.

If you’re interested in applying, tune in to the Indie Travel Podcast and listen to our podcast interview with Nicole, detailing how you can maximize your chances of success!

‘Tis the season for lots of snow-filled photos. Oh, and for winter jackets, too.

Conveniently enough, our friends over at Wend have decided to combine the two!

All this month, anyone who submits a “snow day” photo to the Friday Photo Contest has a shot at winning either a Burton Green Mountain Project Women’s Traction Jacket or an Outdoor Research Men’s Elusive Jacket.

Slick!

The photo parameters are broad.

Says Wend: “Skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, hell, we’ll even take snow angel photos!”

So go ahead, get outside and snap away.

Then submit your finest shots to win a pretty new jacket. Full details here.

Photo by Marco Adams (Creative Commons)

Yup, you read that right. The Digital Photography School has teamed up with Lenovo to offer a $50,000 prize in the Name Your Dream Assignment competition.

Here’s how it works: submit an idea for your dream, never-done-before photo shoot; there’ll be a voting phase to narow things down, and then a panel of judges will select the eventual winners.

In addition to the $50,000 grand prize, there’s a slew of addition stuff up for grabs: camera goodies, a Lenovo Thinkpad (optimized for photographers), and more.

The contest opens March 3rd — which leaves lots of time to think up your dream assignment. Go ahead, get brainstorming!

Photo by Pear Biter (Creative Commons)

Maybe you’ve heard about the four hour work week.

But how about the 12 hour work month?

That’s what the Australian Tourism Board is promising– along with a three bedroom villa (that comes with your own pool) and a $150,000 salary–to the applicant who is selected to fill the position of chief explorer and blogger.

Job duties include “having lots of fun” exploring Australia’s islands, bringing back stories, and finding an effective way to share them with the rest of the world. Only 12 hours of actual work are estimated per month for the position. And the job’s temporary– the new hire will be done with the gig in just six months.

Applicants proficient in SCUBA, snorkeling, and sailing will be given preference, as will those with skill in photography, blogging, and communications in general.

Sound like the dream job? Get all the application information here.

And if you win, let all your friends here at Matador know, won’t you?

Photo: idrewuk (Flickr creative commons)

There’s no shortage of amazing travel photos–amateur and professional–being shot around the world, especially with the increasing number of travelers globe-trotting with digital cameras rather than expensive film cameras.

But someone’s got to claim the title of the best travel photographer of the year, and this year, that person is Darwin Wiggett of Canada. Wiggett, a professional landscape and nature photographer, impressed a panel of judges–comprised of photo editors from Conde Nast Traveller and Marie Claire– with his hauntingly beautiful but lonely photographs.

Wiggett won best overall travel photographer, but our own Lola Akinmade, travel writer, photographer, and editor of Matador Goods, was shortlisted in the TPOTY’s Life category.

If you haven’t already seen Lola’s incredible gallery of photos–shot in locales as diverse as Sweden, Nigeria, Peru, and Cambodia– you can visit it by clicking here.

Photo: Lola Akinmade

Our friends over at Wend Magazine are putting on a fun new writing competition: the Traveling by Alternative Transportation Essay Contest.

Got a story about an unusual mode of transport?

Almost anything goes — Wend notes that they’ll accept stories about “anything that doesn’t require fossil fuels to run” — so think back over your travels, dig up your best stories, and get writing!

Maximum length is 1000 words. The prize is a customized TimBuk2 bag, along with some other cool goodies. Essays are due to contest[at]wendmag[dot]com by January 23.

C’mon, Matador community! I know we’ve got a lot of great stories between us: send ‘em in and let’s take home the prize!

And hey, without giving too much away, why not drop us a comment about your wackiest form of transport ever?

Mine’s a toss-up between a camel safari in India, and my two summers as a part-time rickshaw runner here in Ottawa.

Photo by travlinman43 (Creative Commons)

Our friends over at World Nomads just announced the opening of their 2009 contest for aspiring travel writers.

If you include yourself among the legions of globe-trotting, pen-wielding writers looking for a free trip and a big break, then keep reading.

According to Chris Noble, World Nomad’s General Manager:

The scholarship recipient will go on assignment to Kerala, India in early 2009 with travel writing mentor David Stott, spending 10 days on tour with The Blue Yonder exploring the River Nila civilization and 10 days writing and reviewing for the upcoming Footprint India Handbook.

And if the destination itself doesn’t sound fantastic enough, there’s more:

The Blue Yonder Tour, specifically tailored for the scholarship recipient, will be based on the age-old tradition of story telling that reveals the uniqueness of the region and the importance of rivers for a sustainable life. It will include interactions with musicians, folk artists, bell metal workers, potters, sand miners, fire worshippers and ritualistic healers, and planting saplings at the Traveller’s Forest, a community driven eco-restoration project.

Sounds like a trip tailor-made for a Matador member!

Here’s what you need to know:

1. The trip is scheduled to take place between February 16-March 7, 2009, so you’ll need to be available these dates to be eligible to win.

2. You’ll need to write a 500 word essay on one of the following topics: a journey that changed lives; responsible travel; or adventure in an unknown culture.

3. Applications must be received by January 9, 2009.

For full contest submission details, visit World Nomad’s site.

Photo: Robbie73 (Flickr creative commons)

I’ll admit that I’ve never quite understood people whose greatest burning desire is to get listed in the Guinness Book of World Records, though I sure did enjoy reading about them–the man with the world’s longest fingernails, the woman with the world’s longest hair– when I was a kid.

You don’t hear as much about Guinness these days, but just in case you were worried that the book has faded into obscurity, fear not:

Peru just won the title for the World’s Largest Ceviche, earning it a place amidst the pages of the next Guinness Book of World Records.

The ceviche, a raw fish appetizer that is “cooked” in citrus juice, weighed in at 6.8 tons, besting Mexico’s 2005 record for a 4.5 ton ceviche.

It took 450 students hours of work in an open-air stadium to squeeze limes, shake salt, and chop onions and aji peppers.

And once they were done?

The line of folks wrapped around the stadium each got a plateful of the ceviche that might just put the Peruvian town of Callao on the map.

What’s your favorite Guinness world record? Share your thoughts below.

Photo: gomattolson (Flickr creative commons)

If you’re at all connected in the travel blogging community, it’s likely that you already know about Passports with Purpose.

Just in case you don’t, you can get the quick low-down by reading Matador writer Robyn Johnson’s interview with Pam Mandel.

The Matador editors are so stoked about Pam & Co.’s project that we’ve put together a prize pack stuffed with goodies any traveler or travel writer will love, including:

-10 CDs and DVDs (worth more than $120.00)
-Lonely Planet’s Guide to Travel Writing ($19.99 value)
-Moleskine journals ($12.00 value)
-Broke Ass Student’s Guide to Living in New York City ($14.99 value)
-Matador t-shirts (worth $20.00 each)
-a one year subscription to National Geographic Traveler ($17.95 value)
-The Reluctant Fundamentalist ($18.00 value)
-Nintendo DS Game: Brain Age 2 ($30.00 value)

So how do you get the goods?

Visit Passports with Purpose for full details (including a list of the 50+ OTHER prize packages!) about how you can buy a $10 raffle ticket for a chance to win. The Passports with Purpose project ends on December 29, so get on over there!

Photo: jaaron (Flickr creative commons)

Beth Whitman over at the always interesting travel blog Wanderlust and Lipstick has a few cool projects in the works that we’ll be featuring on Pulse over the next couple of weeks.

But this one, in particular, is likely to grab your interest.

How’d you like to go on a 15 day all-expenses paid trip to Peru?

Did I hear you say, “Hell yeah!”?

Yep. That’s what I thought.

So… all you have to do is write a travel story before January 31, 2009.

Simple as that.

Then, you submit it.

Then, you sit around and wait with tense anxiety until the winner is announced.

For full contest details, check out this link.

Community Connection: Matador Gear editor Lola Akinmade recently returned from a Peruvian trekking trip. View her gallery of photos here.

Photo: tom_allan (Flickr creative commons)

Though it’s widely rumored that Barack Obama will be named TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year regardless of election outcomes, the decision about who will grace this year’s PoY cover still hasn’t been made.

TIME’s managing editor, Rick Stengel, is currently soliciting your votes for the Person of the Year.

So have at it!

Who, in your opinion, has had the greatest impact (”for better OR for worse,” Stengel says) on the US and the world this year?

Check out Stengel’s YouTube appeal and then cast your vote!

Photo: angermann (Flickr creative commons)

I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: Matador members are incredible people.

They travel not just to see the world, but to take in what they see and then act as agents of positive change.

Maybe you’ve already met Misty Tosh.

She’s a regular contributor to the Matador Network… her most recent article, “The Ultimate Baja Escape,” left me ready to step away from the computer, get behind the wheel, and get on the road.

She’s a TV and film producer… currently, she’s on location in Kentucky, where she’s also found time to munch her way around Louisville (she’s a food critic in all her spare time. About Louisville’s eats, she says, “I’ve had some of the best food in my belly’s career here.”)

She also produces Pilates retreats in Isla de Mujeres each year–I’d give you the link for the next one, but it’s already sold out–, drives her solar powered travel trailer around the Americas, and sails her boat on the world’s seas.

And oh, she’s just launched phase 1 of her NGO– Fourth World Love. There’s a million things to say about 4WL, and you should definitely check out its website, which channels the Misty vibe just like any other project she pioneers. But the big announcement she’s asked me to make is this:

DONATE $100 and you can not only provide funding for the next phase of her project–which helps kids in Indonesia–you can also win an expenses-paid trip to Indonesia to see 4WL in action, snorkel in the ocean, trek a volcano, and, I’ve got no doubt, eat some seriously good local food.

That’s her up above in the photo, by the way–and I’m pretty sure that jaw-dropping, eye-popping scene in the background is where you’ll find yourself next spring if you win her contest.

Learn all about it here.

A week ago, Pulse announced a contest: write an entertaining blog about an NYC experience and win a Not For Tourists NYC Guide.

You can find the winning entry, “Betsy from Columbus, Run Down by a Bus,” here. Written by Matador member, Tom Gates (that’s him above- clearly NOT in New York), the blog is a funny meditation about the author’s growing frustration with his city.

In fact, we liked it so much, that we’ve named Tom the editor of a soon-to-launch Matador blog: MatadorLife. The MatadorLife blog will feature articles about life between trips, and Tom proved he was up to the task in less than a New York minute.

We’ve still got two more NFT guides to give away– if YOU have an entertaining NYC story, be sure to blog about it on Matador today!

And check out the NYC related articles published across the Matador Network today:

Budget Guide to New York City

10 Indispensable NYC Guidebooks

How to Take the Bus in NYC

Do you love New York City?

Do you love free stuff?

Well, keep reading…

Next week, the Matador team will be publishing a guide to visiting NYC on the cheap on the Trips blog and a review of the top 10 NYC guidebooks on the Gear blog.

Consistent with the NYC theme, we’ll also be giving away three copies of my favorite NYC guidebook: Not for Tourists Guide to New York City.

Here’s the deal:

1. Log in to your Matador account between today and September 30. (If you don’t have one yet, sign up for free!)

2. Blog about your most memorable NYC experience. (500-800 word limit)

3. On October 1, the Matador team will review all NYC-themed blogs written between today and September 30. We’ll choose our three favorite blogs and announce the winners here on Pulse. The very best entry will be published on the Matador Nights blog, and all three winners will receive a copy of the NFT Guide to NYC.

Photo: sodapop (Flickr creative commons)

I happen to detest American Airlines.

So I was pretty intrigued when I checked Christine Gilbert’s website, AlmostFearless, and read her latest post: American Airlines Can Bite Me!

Christine is pissed.

American recently announced that it’s upping the number of miles required to cash in for a frequent flyer-earned trip, and she’s left with miles she can’t use for those dream trips she’d been planning.

So she’s giving them away.

Sure, there’s a catch, and you’ll have to log on to her website and read what it is.

But if you play along with the American Airlines Can Bite Me Contest, you might win:

1) one free airline ticket that costs 25,000 miles or less;
2) $100 toward a hostel stay;
3) space on her blog to talk about your trip or other projects you have going on.

Check it out!

Photo: caribb (Flickr creative commons)

It’s a guidebook.

It’s a history book.

It’s a language guide.

And it has two language CDs that can help whip your Sicilian into shape.

Hippocrene Books’s Language and Travel Guide to Sicily (yep, that’s Sicily above), written by Sicilian born Giovanna Bellia La Marca, may be titled simply, but what its title promises is exactly what it delivers. And remarkably, the book remains small enough to be able to carry along on your trip.

The book’s chapters are organized around all the important themes–geography, food, art, architecture, annual events, and customs–and ends with a generous section loaded with restaurant and hotel recommendations.

I’d keep this book myself, but I’ve got no plans to go to Sicily anytime soon. Instead, I’m giving it away (and it’s brand new!) to the first Matador member who posts the URL for his or her profile and tells us about any past experience in Sicily or any future plans to travel there.

Community Connection: If you’re planning an Italy trip, be sure to check out Marla Seidell’s helpful guide, Slow Food, Slow Travel: Italy, over at MatadorTrips.

Photos: Macorig Polo (Flickr creative commons)

There’s a holiday for every interest, I suppose, but did you know that September 27 is World Tourism Day?

Organized by the United Nations’ World Tourism Organization in 2007, World Tourism Day is intended to “raise awareness on the constructive social role of tourism.” Each year, the World Tourism Day is hosted by a particular country– this year, it’s Peru–and each year is focused on a particular theme–the 2008 theme is tourism and climate change.

While you may not be planning a trip to Peru to celebrate, you can still participate in the day’s events. The WTO is hosting a photography competition; guidelines can be found here. Consistent with this year’s theme, winning photos will “showcase climate solutions in tourism.”

Did I hear you say “prizes”?

Well, those haven’t been announced just yet, but stay tuned to the World Tourism Day website, where the prizes will be posted soon.

Feature Photo & Photo: John LeGear (creative commons)

Love those images on the cover of Lonely Planet guides?

Fancy yourself a great photographer?

Then check out the details of this contest:

Lonely Planet, and Pikeo
(http://www.pikeo.com), a new photo-sharing website, are inviting travellers to submit their most unique and inspiring pictures of London, Paris, Barcelona and Istanbul.

The four winners–one for each city– will have their picture preserved for posterity on the cover of a Lonely Planet city guide. They’ll also get some great exposure at a London gallery exhibit.

And, oh, by the way: they’ll win a free trip to one of four destinations: India, Russia, Morocco or Kenya.

The competition is open to photographers from the UK, France, Spain, the USA and Canada, and the deadline is September 8.

Feature Photo: Blacknell (creative commons)
Photo: Jaboney (creative commons)

Photo by Sarah Giesecke

Remember those essays you used to write in the first week back at grade school, “What I Did On My Summer Vacation”?

Well now, the Guardian is giving you another shot at those early travel writing efforts of yours, with their Summer Holiday Travel Writing Competition.

Essays should be 500 words, and fit within one of the five categories. Each category includes a different free trip as a prize, with destinations as diverse as Syria, New Zealand and New York.

Winning essays – along with some runner-ups – will also appear in the Guardian’s travel section, in the August 30 issue.

Hurry! The deadline is Friday, August 22.

You must be a UK resident to enter. Details on categories and more here, the fine print on eligibility, etc, is here.

There are seven more days left in the 2008 Olympics, but if you’re already anticipating the pains of Olympics withdrawal, don’t worry… Nike has a plan for you.

The Human Race, a 10K sponsored by Nike, is scheduled to take place on August 31 in more than 25 cities around the world.

Riding high on the international spirit of the Olympic Games, the Human Race is already being billed as the world’s largest running event.

Open to any runner, amateur or professional, the goal of the Human Race is to celebrate runners and their sport while uniting athletes world-wide.

Five dollars of each runner’s $35 registration fee will be donated to the World Wildlife Fund, the Lance Armstrong Foundation, and ninemillion.org.

In addition to being treated to “the best geographical locations to showcase some of the most famous landmarks and unique race courses in the world,” runners will get to enjoy live concerts played especially for them at the end of the run.

For more information, check out the official website.

Photo: Sport Communities (creative commons)

Pull out your camera, review Lola Akinmade’s photography tips, and getting shooting… it’s contest time and the prizes are worth the effort!

National Geographic Traveler has teamed up with Photo District News to sponsor the World in Focus photography contest.

Open to amateurs and pros alike, the World in Focus contest is soliciting submissions for the following categories: travel portraits, outdoor scenes, sense of place, spontaneous moment, and photo essay.

The deadline is August 21, 2008, though photogs who don’t work well on a deadline can pay $10 to extend the deadline to September 8.

What’s in it for the winners? Check out the prize list:

Pro Prizes:

GRAND PRIZE: Free tuition for a 6-day professional photography workshop for one in Santa Fe, New Mexico; one Nikon D-80 Digital SLR (body only) or equivalent; Expedition Carbon Fiber Tripod NGET2; Expedition Hydrostatic Head NGEH1; Large Backpack NG5737; and a PDN PhotoServe portfolio.

EACH CATEGORY WINNER: One D-60 Kit (including 18-55mm VR lens); Tundra Photo/Video Tripod NGTT2; Med Shoulder Bag NG2475; PDN PhotoPlus Expo Gold Pass.

BONUS AWARD: Winning images will be featured in a special winners’ gallery in PDN’s February 2009 issue, as well as published online at www.pdnonline.com. Select winners will also be displayed at the World In Focus Gallery at PDN PhotoPlus Expo.

Amateur Prizes:

GRAND PRIZE: 15-day trip for two to Antarctica aboard the National Geographic Endeavour.

FIRST PRIZE: 5-day trip for two to The Cliffs Preserve in Patagonia, Chile.

SECOND PRIZE: 6-day cruise for two on a Maine Windjammer Schooner. Contributed by The Schooners American Eagle and Heritage.

THIRD PRIZE: 7-day Photography Workshop for one in Oaxaca, Mexico.

SEVEN MERIT PRIZES: Nikon Coolpix P60 Camera and a Bogen Prize Package, including a National Geographic Tundra Monopod, a National Geographic Tundra Tripod with 3-way head, and an Earth Explorer Medium Shoulder Bag.

BONUS AWARDS: Winning images will be featured in the January/February 2009 edition of National Geographic Traveler, and displayed at the World in Focus Gallery Exhibit at PhotoPlus Expo, to be held October 23-25, 2008 in New York. All winning images will also be featured on the World in Focus Contest website, and the National Geographic Traveler website. In addition, winners will receive a one-year subscription to Photo District News.

For more info and to enter online, visit: http://www.worldinfocuscontest.com/

Feature Photo: Leah (creative commons)
Photo: HckySo (creative commons)