Suppose you could go anywhere in the world for a week to experience the backpacker lifestyle. Where would you go?
You can experience my traveling life for a week by entering the Live The Backpacker Life Contest with your best travel video guide before October 5th, 2010. I want to give you the chance to travel as I do – flexible, with a variety of choices, and on a budget – so I’ve set aside money for airfare and 6 nights of hostel accommodations for a taste of the backpacker life, where you want to.
How To Enter
Put yourself in the position of travel blogger, Anthony Bourdain, or anthropologist and create a 3-5 minute video guide about a specific aspect of a given city that I haven’t yet written about. (You can check this list of the places I’ve covered or email me if you have any questions.)
- In addition to your video, you’ll need to submit a 400-600 word summary to be posted with it.
- Email your video and summary to anil(@)foxnomad.com with the subject line “Video Contest”.
Make sure the video is specific – it can be about a particular aspect of the local culture, a restaurant, or a guide of the best free attractions. Be creative but also specific.
What You’ll Win
Ultimately, I want to get you to the destination you’ve been dying to see.
- Airfare to most any destination up to $1,000. I’ll let you choose 3 cities based on your region and will send you there with the available budget.
- Hostel accommodations for 6 nights.
You might be taking multi-city flights and will be staying in hostel dorms not because I’m cheap – but because it’s the way I travel and to give you a chance to experience it as well.
Requirements And Important Dates
- The deadline to enter is 0100 GMT October 5th, 2010 (that’s 5am US EST).
- Finalist videos will be posted the week of October 12, 2010 and the public vote taken October 19-23, 2010.
- The winner will be announced on foXnoMad Tuesday October 26, 2010.
- You must be in the video, at least long enough to be recognizable.
- By entering you’re giving me permission to post your video on foXnoMad, my YouTube page, and potentially my other travel blogs.
- Incomplete entries (i.e. without summaries) or those not meeting the requirements won’t be accepted.
How The Winner Will Be Chosen
I’ll narrow down the entries to my 6 favorite and start posting finalists on Tuesday October 12, 2010.
- The winner will be determined by 5 total votes – one by me, 3 other travel bloggers, and a public vote.
- The public vote will be open from October 19-23, 2010.
The judges will remain anonymous until after the winner is announced on Tuesday October 26, 2010.
Contest Details
Some more about the contest specifics.
- Trip reservations must be made by Wednesday December 1, 2010 and are final. Winners must take their trip before April 15, 2011.
- The winner can choose 3 destinations, in order of preference. One must be in-continent and I’ll do my best to get your first choice; flights will be booked on Star Alliance or oneworld airlines only.
- Airfare is up to $1,000 and hostel accommodations up to $200 for 6 nights. You’ll get 3 hostels to choose from depending on the destination. All other costs (e.g. food) are your responsibility.
- Travel costs are airfare only – any bus, taxi, or local transportation is the responsibility of the winner. Also, winners do not keep any money left over from the airfare or hostel budget.
- You must be 18, have a valid passport, and take care of any visa requirements yourself.
- Finally, you must have travel insurance for the duration of your trip.
Citizens of any nation may enter – good luck!
Why The Backpacker Life?
You’ve got a wide range of places to go to and visit as a budget traveler – whether you’ve done it before or want to try something new. Perhaps you’ve always wanted to explore the heights of Quito, see Istanbul’s Hippodrome, or just find out what a hostel is really like – now here’s your chance. I’m very fortunate to be able to travel full-time by blogging; so let’s reverse roles. Come up with your best travel video guide and earn yourself a backpacker trip with much of the world at your fingertips.
[photos by: ToddMorris (backpacker life contest), Aaron | Dan (travel video), Rainer Ebert (plane taking off), Deannster (string on finger reminder)]
Let the filming begin! Anil – what a great contest and treat that you are giving someone the chance to live like a backpacker. Can’t wait to see the contestant videos!
Thanks Sherry – I can’t wait to see what people come up with as well 🙂
Great Contest! It’s awful nice of you that you are giving away a trip like this! I can’t wait to see the entries!
Thanks Vinny! I’ve been saving up to send a reader somewhere, my way of giving a little gift back for everyone’s support 🙂
cool!!!
Anil, just wanted to confirm before I really dive into my script – If it gets an Oscar nomination for best short, who gets the tickets?
I’ll split them with you but you can give the speech 😛
OK, just finished a rough draft of the speech. Looks pretty good. Now to work on that video.
Great idea Anil! I am really curious to see all the submissions.
Thanks John, I’ve been wanting to do a video contest for some time and am looking forward for the entries to begin rolling in.
Good stuff Anil. I think this is such a great idea and cheers to you for offering such a prize. Someone is really going to benefit from this and I’m looking forward to seeing the videos!
Thanks Earl – of course open to enter for you as well 🙂
Wow Anil, what a fantastic prize and competition you have going here! The entry requirements are really neat and I can’t wait to see the fun videos that come out of this!
I’ve never tried a video competition before, I too wonder how it will turn out! 🙂
Wow. What an awesome contest you have going on. An amazing treat for someone wanting to try out the backpacker life. I’d enter, but I’m already a backpacker so I don’t think it’d be right for me to. Curious to see the submissions.
Hi Jenny, the contest is totally open to anyone – don’t be discouraged from entering!
Anil: Based on what you told Jenny – I’m going to do my level best to send you an entry before the deadline. I’m already a backpacker/digital nomad, but this would let me stay on the road even longer!
I wonder if the name of the contest inadvertently scarred off a few people – most certainly open to anyone, traveling or not. Good luck!
Now this is a very exciting compeition. I can’t wait to see the finalists!
Entries are slooowly starting to roll in, there’s still time to try it for yourselves! 😉
Hi Anil,
I want to say that I think this is really cool. You are one awesome guy. I am going to catch up on the videos now. 🙂 – Beth
Hi Bethany, thank you very much, I’m blushing. I like that I can give some gifts and prizes away from time to time to all the people who read and support me and this site – if I had the means I’d love to give everyone a trip!