Buckle Up and Cuddle Up

Traveling alone can be a liberating and thrilling experience, giving one time to relax, reflect and escape. For the most part, I travel by myself--though I'm usually spending my vacation time with family or friends, so I'm technically not alone. But the journey to my destination is generally spend alone, a few hours plugged into my music or nose-deep in a good book. And while I relish in these moments, I will admit there is something to traveling with a companion. It gives you someone to talk to during the flight; or someone with which to split food, expenses, hotel rooms, etc.; or someone to cuddle up to on a long journey. But what if you don't have anyone to travel with?

Well, if you happen to live in London and are interested in taking an impromptu, blind date trip to Los Angeles, then you're in luck. Air New Zealand--the zany airline behind those hilarious in-flight safety videos I talked about in a previous post--came ip with an idea to promote its London to Los Angeles route. The airline is sending couples on blind dates to the West Coast, giving them the opportunity to try out Air New Zealand's "sky couch"--a set of three seats that can fold into a bed for two in economy class.

Skycouch or Cuddle Class. Source: Guardian.co.uk

Here's how it works. On Valentine's Day, contestants at Heathrow Airport at a specially built TV studio to take part in the contest, called Blind Gate. Each contestant, equipped with their passport and a packed suitcase, will fill out a compatability quiz to figure out who they will fly with if they win. Two lucky couples, one gay and one straight, will be chosen to board the Air New Zealand flight as soon as the winners are announced, and settle in on the sky couch, also called "cuddle class."

To top it all off, cameras will follow the couples throughout the flight and their weekends in Los Angeles to see how they get along. An itinerary has been put together for the couples that takes them to a number of unusual destinations, too.

Interested parties must fill out a form on The Guardian's website by February 1, and ten contestants will be selected to come to Heathrow.

Obviously, one would have to be pretty open minded to take part in this, and be willing to spend an entire flight and weekend with a complete stranger. If nothing else, it would definitely be an adventure. And hopefully, one would get a friend--or maybe more--out of it. If I lived in London and had the available time off, I'd definitely enter. (Just don't tell my boyfriend.)

Air New Zealand

Road Trippin Contest

In my flurry of newsgathering stories, I stumbled upon this one about a great contest from Rand McNally. (You know, the guys that make those spiral bound books with all the maps in them, what are those old-fashioned things called again? Oh yeah, atlases.) Anyway, they are putting on an event called the Best of the Road contest, and you can go to their website and nominate your favorite small towns across the country. They can fit into any of five categories--most beautiful, most patriotic, friendliest, most fun and best for food. Along with that, you can submit your favorite raodside attractions, like the best mountain scene or best pizza joint.

If your nominated city or attraction is selected as a top entrant, it gets a permanent spot on Rand McNally's new travel site and a place in its 2013 Road Atlas. You will also see it appear on USA Today's Travel website, since they are collaborating with the company on the contest.

Now, I know what you are thinking, how can I possibly pick my favorite town? There are so many great ones to choose from, I honestly cannot decide. Obviously, I would love to pick my hometown of Denver, but I don't think you can really classify that as a small town. My college town of Milwaukee would be another great pick, but, again, not so tiny. I certainly can't nominate Chicago. So which town to pick? This could take some time. Luckily, I have until May 23 to submit my vote. And even if I can't possibly decide on a destination before then, I can always enter the other portion of the contest. (That's right, there's more.)

Rand McNally and USA Today will select five teams to go on a three-week cross country road trip to hit the top 20 towns nominated in each category, as well as all the attractions along the way. The trip starts on June 23 and goes until July 15. Each team will visit the four towns in their assigned category, and fans can follow their progress online through Facebook and Twitter. All teams will end their trip in Los Angeles, where the winners will receive $10,000. (Now there's a trip, and a prize, that is totally up my alley.)

So, who wants to be part of my team?

VOTE FOR ME!!

Hey everyone!! I'm a finalist in the HomeAway BlogAway Contest!! So please vote for me today!! Head on over to Facebook, go to the HomeAway page and "like" it. The link below is for the votoing thread, so just comment and put in my name!! There is no limit as the amount of times you can vote, so keep voting!

Thread for voting

Thanks for your support!!!

If You Want to Win a Free Trip...

...try one of these travel-related contests!

Giving away free trips has always been a popular marketing idea, but it seems to be the go-to option these days. Just check out some of these giveaways listed on USAToday.com:

• If you are a student between the ages of 8 and 18, you can enter the National Parks Traveler Take Your Family to the National Parks essay contest. Students need to submit a park-related essay by March 1, and they could win a 3-night stay for 4 at one of 13 national parks across the country.
• LAN Airlines wants to hear your story of love. If you think you have a winning tale, then write about it on their Facebook page and be entered to win two round-trip business class tickets to Buenos Aires.
• For avid baseball fans, you can submit a short film stating your ideal day at Spring Training to Arizona's Office of Tourism Facebook page by February 15, and you could possibly win a $1,600 Spring Training vacation. (If you don't want to go through the hassle of shooting a video, just enter for a 4-day spring training trip on Tempe's website by February 15.)
• If you have an American Express card, use it at Dunkin' Donuts all through the month of February, and be entered to receive a number of prices. The top prizes are tickets on JetBlue flights.

There are a few other contests available for entry, so check out this link to learn more.

So if you are interested in a free vacation, look into these options and keep your eyes open for any other possibilities...you'll be surprised how many are actually out there.

Vote For Me!!

Vote for my On The Road story on Trazzler.com and I could win a trip to any Fairmont Hotel. Why vote? Because you all love me so much!

http://www.trazzler.com/trips/idaho-springs-in-co

The steps are simple. Go to the link above anytime between now and Sept. 30, click the save button, create a username and password--its free--and your vote will be counted. If my story is among the top ten, I'll be sent on an amazing two week trip. Here are the details of the contest: http://www.trazzler.com/contests/ontheroad.

So vote away my friends and loyal readers, I appreciate all the help!!

What Have You Got to Lose?

Honestly...nothing.

In the past few weeks, one of my good friends has entered and won numerous contests. Usually they are just on the radio, and the prizes are concert tickets. But still. He gets free tickets, plus other benefits like backstage passes. So I'm jumping on the contest bandwagon and registering for random contests just for the hell of it. I mean, why not. If I don't win, so what? It's not like I spent money on it or anything. I'm not losing anything by entering my name. But if my name is called, I am rewarded with something sweet.

So, you will notice the American Eagle sweepstakes link on my page now. Everyday I can play for a $50 gift certificate, and my name is automatically entered each time for a trip to St. Thomas. And who wouldn't want to go to the Caribbean? I mean, I would love to go there on a vacation. Concert tickets are all well and good, but I would much rather win a trip somewhere. Especially if it's to a place I've never been. Now, the gift certificate is nice, too, because I love buying clothes. But obviously I'm crossing my fingers for the big win.

I also am participating in Daily Candy's contest through Comcast. It runs through the summer, and each day they give away a different prize. There aren't any trips offered, but there are quality beauty products, bags, jewelry. Any girl's fantasy.

So if there are any other contests out there I can enter, let me know. Preferably, I would like ones that offer a trip somewhere...