Take A Trip To COSTA RICA… With Me!

This past week I was selected as a finalist in an online contest for a two-week tour of Costa Rica. The trip is being sponsored by Nomadic Matt and Gap Adventures… and in just two short days, voting on the contest will end and the sponsors will make their decision as to which finalist gets the trip.

First of all, I want to personally, from the bottom of my heart, thank everyone who voted for me in the contest thus far and thank especially those of you who have emailed me and written such kind and inspiring remarks about the ways that I have impacted you with my work here at Bicycle Touring Pro. I am deeply grateful for the lives I have touched and reading your comments is both humbling and inspiring. Now, with just a few hours left in this competition, I hope that I can pull out a win so that I can not only go to Costa Rica, but that I can take you with me through the blog posts, photos and videos I plan to produce while I am there.

One of the sponsors of this contest is Nomadic Matt, who runs one of the best independent travel websites out there (especially for people who want to learn how to make money while traveling and turn their travels into more than just a trip (potentially a lifestyle). His purpose very much aligns with one of my major purposes at BicycleTouringPro.com - to teach people that travel can be more than just a short term stint, but something that changes your life and the very way in which you live. Luckily for Matt, I have spent the past two-and-a-half years connecting with people from around the world who are interested in many of the same things he discusses so regularly on his website. World travel, money, and lifestyle design. It’s all there for the taking! And with a site as great as Matt’s, I am more than happy to send you (my readers) in his direction. I’ve been reading Matt’s blog for months now and interact with him regularly on Twitter. He’s constantly creating new, educational, and inspiring content, and there isn’t a better person for me to praise and promote. Why wouldn’t I want to help him out by taking this trip and promoting his website?

Gap Adventures is the other sponsor of this contest. They are unique in that they provide guided tours, but they also give you the time and freedom to do what you please. I think this is not only an interesting way to lead a group tour, but it also seems like it could be the perfect way for certain individuals to travel the world – individuals who want to have the group experience, but also want the time, space, and freedom to go off on their own if they so choose. Since I have never personally been on any type of group tour before, I think that experiencing such a thing for the first time with a company like Gap could be a great way for me to learn about and share with others what this particular type of travel experience is really like.

Unfortunately, due to contest rules, the time of my initial application video was limited to just one minute and thirty seconds. In that short amount of time, I was unable to fully elaborate on the true reasons I want this trip. Sure, I want to go to Costa Rica and have a great time. I want to discover the culture, the people, the landscape, and learn about myself along the way. Everything the other finalists said, I want that too! But I also understand that there is more to this trip than just a free flight and a two-week tour through the jungles of Costa Rica.

Since starting BicycleTouringPro.com, my main goal has been to teach people (young people especially) that travel can change the way you live and the way you view the world. For me, it was bicycle touring that first turned me on to the outdoors and transformed me from a shy and socially inept high school student into the independent, open-minded, and outgoing world traveler that I am today. If I had not had the courage to take off on my own at the age of 17 and try something new for myself, there is a good chance that I would be the same person today as I was when I was back in high school. Travel has taught me however, that you can change… and that just because things are one way now, that doesn’t mean they have to be like that forever. My goal since the beginning has been to show people that they really can transform they way they live if they just open themselves up to the possibility… and this is just part of the reason I so desperately want this trip to Costa Rica – so I can show others another way of life and introduce them to the possibility of change, both in themselves and the world around them.

The other main reason I am so interested in being chosen for this trip is the eco-tourism side of Costa Rica. What I currently do with bike travel, is for many, considered to be a great way to travel the world and make little impact on the environment. And with what I already know about the cycling world and its conservation efforts, I want to take the lessons I learn in Costa Rica and go one step further – by teaching others how eco-friendly living, bike travel, and everyday life can all go hand in hand. I feel like I am already a part of the eco-movement in some small way, but I know I can do more… and I think a trip to Costa Rica might be just what I need to make a small difference in the world.

Additionally, the winner of this contest is required to blog about their trip while they are there and share with others what they have learned. We are being asked to blog for the two weeks we are on the trip as well as when we return home, discussing what we learned, how it made a difference in our life, and to discuss the environmental and sustainable tourism side of things. In many ways, the sponsors of this trip are not just giving one person the trip of a lifetime, but they want to give thousands of people a similar experience by having the winner share in their adventures.

Based on what’s written above, I am quite possibly the best person for this trip. I have the laptop, the cameras, and the know-how to put together not only two or more fantastic blog posts per week, but I have the understanding of exactly what that takes to produce such content when you are traveling and on the road. Just last year I spent 9-months traveling through Europe on my own, with a bicycle, under my own human power, in countries where I could not speak the language… and even then I was able to produce an astounding 181 articles/videos for my website while on that trip. On top of all that, the number of readers I have been able to attract to my website here at BicycleTouringPro.com has more than doubled in the past year and my goal of positively influencing more and more young people is quickly coming to fruition. I know that if I were hosting a contest of this kind and counting on the winner to produce some excellent content about the trip, those are the kind of results I would want to see in person I selected!

If I am not selected for this trip, I would not only be disappointed, but I would feel like I’d let down everyone who has supported me over the last several weeks, months and years. If you can’t already tell… I REALLY WANT THIS TRIP! I want it for myself and I want it for my readers. I want it for Nomadic Matt and Gap Adventures. And I want it for everyone I have yet to meet and hope to inspire in the future!

That said, there are still two more days of voting left, so if you haven’t yet taken the time to cast your vote, I could really use your support. The contest ends this Monday – March 1st.

To help me out and ensure that I am selected as the winner of this amazing trip to Costa Rica, just click here, scroll down to the voting section until you see my name (#10 Darren Alff), select the button to the left of my name and then cast your vote. If you are so inclined, leave a comment at the bottom of the page about why you think I should be the one sent to Costa Rica.

Once again, thank you to everyone who has helped me thus far with this endeavor… and I’ll be writing to you soon to let you know whether or not I have been selected as the ultimate victor in this contest for a grand adventure in Costa Rica.

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