Hey travel bloggers!
Yes, you with the laptop and the half-packed suitcase. We’ve just launched a
new campaign to feature you, our travel writing community… and your local
knowledge.
We invite you to take part in our Blog your Backyard program and share your expertise on your country or a country that you had spent a lot of time in and know well. Many times we are so focused on travel
and writing about new destinations and adventures that we don’t step back and
share our local knowledge for travelers planning to visit our home (or adopted) cities and countries.
For the next few weeks we will be posing a
new prompt every week for you to write a blog post about. All you have to
do is sign up to become a World Nomads member and start your free
travel blog with us and submit your posts for each weekly deadline. Or, if
you are already an avid World Nomads travel blogger, simply submit your story
each week in your existing Journal.
This campaign is open to anyone with a passion for travel who wants to share their expertise. While we do take your writing seriously, this is not a serious writing competition. We don't care if you've written every guidebook on the shelf or if you've only ever recorded your travels on a series of well preserved napkins. We just encourage you, as world nomads, to share your knowledge with other travellers. Entertain us, tell us your insider tips and make us want to hop a plane to your home country.
Prompts
Each week we will be calling for your submission to a new topic. Here are the topics and the dates:
Week of August 8: Do’s and Don’t’s in my Country
(e.g. Do's and Don'ts in Italy)
Week of August 15: The Best and Worst of my Country
(e.g. Best and Worst of Australia, Best and Worst of the USA)
Week of August 22: In my Backyard – 5 Must Do Things
in my City
(e.g. 5 Things you Must Do in Auckland, New Zealand, 5 Things you Must do in Toronto, Canada)
Week of August 29: What it means to be ________ (Nationality)
Week of September 5: Best Ways to Work, Stay and Play
in my Country
(e.g. Best Ways to Work, Stay and Play in France)
September 9: Entries close
September 14: Winners announced
How to ensure your article is considered for judging
Each post you want to submit to the
competition needs to include the following:
- a relevant photo (can be your
own or from Flickr Creative Commons)
- a title that follows the format
above with the country included (for example: Do’s and Don’ts in Norway).
Note: You can complete the prompts anytime during the campaign, you are not limited to a specific week to complete each prompt. However, all of your entries must be completed by the campaign end date.
What’s
in it for you?
Well besides some good travel karma, a little notoriety and some
warm and fuzzy social love, wait...you wanted more? Well, of course. The top 20 submissions, as chosen by our internal
panel of judges at WorldNomads.com, will receive a AUD$50 voucher from Urban Adventures towards an adventure
of your choice, whether it is in your backyard or on the road.
You only need to submit one post to enter, but
the more posts you submit, the better chance you have at winning an adventure
and being published in our Connect Locally eBook. For the winners of the Urban
Adventures experiences, all that we ask is one final blog post sharing your excursion with Urban
Adventures with our community!
We are looking for quality, engaging and
informative content that we can publish and share with our community through a
downloadable ‘Connect Locally’ eBook on our site. We want this to become a
local guide for travelers with real insight and tips from locals and other
travelers.
Are you a professional travel blogger with your own site?
Great! We do allow that you post your Blog your Backyard articles on your own site, but you must also post them to a Journal on WorldNomads.com (as outlined here) in order to enter to win. You must also attach the following promotional boilerplate to the bottom of the post:
The ‘Blog your Backyard’ Project
Share your
local expertise and join the Blog your Backyard project! Become an ambassador
for your country (home or adopted) by sharing your experiences and tips with
other travelers. Submit your entries starting August 8th on WorldNomads.com
for a chance to win one of 20 awesome excursions with Urban
Adventures. Plus, if you want to share more of your local expertise
or get answers to all of your travel questions, download the FREE ‘Ask A Nomad’ iPad app.
Judging Criteria
We're going back to basics with these ones:
1.) You made us want to visit your home country, and if we did you would definitely be our local guide.
2.) Your tips were useful and informative (who needs a guidebook now?!).
3.) We were able to gain a sense of your personality through your writing.
All decisions made by the judging panel at WorldNomads.com are final.
Our Winners
In random order, the winners of the Urban Adventures vouchers are:
sam_louiseb - 5 Things to Do in My City: Canberra, Australia
cobsilicious - Best and Worst of the Philippines
annamargaretta - Best and Worst of New Zealand
bkramer88 - Do's and Don't's in Australia
princess2808 - Do's and Don't's in the United Arab Emirates
ehalvey - 5 Things you Must Do in Nashville
sparklenshines - Do's and Don't's in India
ouroysterjade - The Best Ways to Work, Stay and Play in Canada
charleymarley - Do's and Don't's in the United Kingdom
nodnsmile - 5 Things you Must Do in NYC
traveltym - Do's and Don't's in the Philippines
thetravelchica - 5 Must Do Things in Columbus
ouroysterjames - 5 Things you Must Do in Bristol
libby-k8 - Do's and Don't's in New Zealand
thea - 5 Must Do Things in Cape Town
redheaded_spaniard - Best and Worst of Spain
wildchildhannah - 5 Must Do Things in Melbourne
aussieontheroad - Best and Worst of South Korea
lauren_watson - 5 Must Do Things in Queenstown
travelerahoy - Do's and Don't's in Canada
Get Writing!
Already a World Nomads member? Log in to your account.
New to World Nomads? Sign up for your free travel blog.
Want to check out the articles that have already been submitted? Click here!
Keen to share more of your knowledge with our travel
community?
Check out World Nomads
Answers, our travel Q&A service, or
download the new FREE Ask a Nomad iPad app and get answers to your travel questions at your
fingertips...and share your travel knowledge!
WorldNomads.com keeps
you travelling safely. Whether you’re off for a long weekend, looking for
the ultimate adventure or living the nomadic dream, you’ll stay safe with Travel Insurance you
can buy online, anytime, and the latest travel safety advice. Learn how
to flirt in over 25 languages with our free language guides and have
an experience of a lifetime on a travel scholarship.
We'll also help you share your journey with a free travel blog, get answers from
other nomads to all of your travel questions (try the new 'Ask
A Nomad' iPad app) and donate to a local community development project through
our Footprints program.
WorldNomads.com -
an essential part of every adventurous traveller's journey.
