GREAT ESCAPE - TRAVEL ADVENTURE AROUND THE WORLD
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In GreatEscape2009: The Global Scavenger Hunt,™ fifty travelers will compete in a 23-day around-the-world trip beginning in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver or Miami and ending in New York, Washington DC, Boston, Montreal or Toronto. The combined travel adventure competition and international charity event will run from April 17 to May 9, 2009.
“GreatEscape is all about allowing real travelers to compete in a real travel adventure competition, for all the right reasons — the love of travel, trusting strangers in strange lands and giving something back to the planet,” says event director William Chalmers.
Adventure travel
The 25 teams of two have no idea where they're going until they're onboard their flights to at least 10 countries, on four continents.
Teams earn points by completing cultural-oriented scavenges in exotic countries. The Global Scavenger Hunt website includes examples like: For 10 points, competitors find the early morning market in Japan and buy "blue gold," to taste it. (Tsukiji Fish Market, in Tokyo, sells bluefin sushi tuna at dawn.)
For 25 points, in Egypt, a participant rides a camel around one of the Seven Wonders of the World (the Pyramids), wearing a traditional Arab galabyia and a headdress purchased in Khan al-Khalili, Cairo's Grand Bazaar.
Cultural communication
Called A Blind Date with the World, the event is a cultural immersion rally rather than a race. Teams test their ability to combat jetlag, language difficulties, cultural differences, unusual foods and logistical problems.
“It is like Survivor, The Amazing Race and the Eco-Challenge all rolled into one, except with much more cultural interaction," says a former contestant. But, unlike TV reality shows, there are no losers or competitor eliminations.
The first-place team earns “The World's Greatest Travelers” title. The team raising the most pledges for charity, above the $40,000 team quota, wins the opportunity to compete in GreatEscape2010 for free.
Fees aid in fundraising for charities including the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, KIVA, Planeterra Foundation and International Special Olympics.
The competition is filmed. Footage is supplied to media outlets like The Travel Channel, The Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, CTV and the BBC.
Asian Scavenger Hunt
A new two-week travel adventure competition, beginning and ending in Australia, runs from November 8 to 22, 2008. Twenty two-person teams will visit at least six countries in Asia.
Participants are booked on a first-come, first-served basis. Single travelers can ask Global Scavenger Hunt organizers to try to match them with another single traveler to form a team.
GreatEscape2009: GlobalScavengerHunt.com
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