Photo: Creative Learning

Here’s an organization that’s working to promote peace by supporting American volunteerism in mostly-Muslim parts of the world. That’s a cause worth supporting!

And they have  announced an essay contest and a video contest. If I had done anything that qualified, I’d definitely enter this contest. The prizes are real ($2,000 for the 1st place video; $1,000 for the first place essay) and my guess is that there won’t be a huge number of competing entries. Deadline is July 15, 2010.

“America’s Unofficial Ambassadors

Did you teach English to villagers in Morocco, deliver disaster relief in Indonesia, or train women candidates to run for election in Kuwait?

Were you a medical volunteer in Uzbekistan, an art teacher in Afghanistan, or a mediation trainer in Niger?

Did you coach a basketball camp in Mali or run a photography workshop in Jordan?

If you are an American who worked or volunteered in the fields of education, unmet human needs, justice and rights, or creative expression in a Muslim majority country in Africa, the Middle East, or Asia please take a few minutes to join our Community of America’s Unofficial Ambassadors. Read more

We are excited to announce our first annual video and essay contests, with prizes that include cash awards and publication! The contests run along the themes of the impact of service, representing America, and remarkable local partners. The deadline for entry is July 15. Please click here for full details.”

More about AUA:

“AUA is based upon the premise that traditional diplomatic efforts and official development assistance are not sufficient to combat the root causes of the major challenges that face the United States and the Muslim World, ranging from failing states and the spread of extremist ideologies to the harmful stereotypes of the “other” that exist on a popular level.

“In addition to top down governmental approaches, a key to building and sustaining peace between America and the Muslim World are efforts that foster people-to-people relationships and help to alleviate human development challenges at the grassroots level where they receive the least dedicated resources. There is untapped potential among American citizens to support the initiatives of local leaders throughout the Muslim World with their volunteer service, technical expertise, and resources. At the same time, such high impact service dissipates negative stereotypes between Americans and Muslims and improves relations between the United States and the Muslim World.”

AUA is a program of the Washington, DC-based non-profit Creative Learning, which is another organization that looks like it’s worth checking out.

REMINDER: Are your entries ready for the 26th Annual SATW Foundation Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition? The deadline is approaching (April 1), and details are posted on the SATW website.

The Mikel Essery Travel Writing Contest has an interesting story; check out their website. And here’s an open invitation for the travel writing contest. Get your submission in before May 1st.

“We are sending you this sincere invitation to take a look and contribute to the difussion of the Second Mikel Essery Travel Writing Contest 2010 that we want to turn into a cozy, hospitable and truthful place for writers and travelers.

“So far we have successfully completed the first, 2009 edition, and we have received words of encouragement from most of the participants. The winner in this first edition has been the Santa Fe based writer JANN HUIZENGA with the piece KEEPER OF THE KEYS, who has won a 16 day Trip to Costa Rica. Other prizes, including weekends at hotels, sports equipment, subscriptions and books were also given. We have been present in some of the best newspapers or radios in the Basque Country and in other parts of Spain, especially in Barcelone or Madrid. Moreover, we have published a book, MAMBO POA Mikel Essery Travel Writing Compilation with a selection of the best 24 stories in different languages – Basque, Spanish, Catalá and English which included delightful and strong pieces written by authors from all over the world.

“We are based in Donostia – San Sebastián, in the Basque Country, Northern Spain. If you want to know the guidelines for next edition, starting on Jan 1st 2010 till May 1st , please be welcomed to visit our web page. Pieces shouldn’t be longer than 6,000 words.

“We look for stories that starting from the life experience of each storyteller could bring us closer to other social, cultural, natural and human world issues; stories that could surprise us with their depth and promote empathy with the other; stories from which we could learn something, being, therefore, an invitation to travel, understood as a searching path or meeting ground.”

More info (in English) about the travel writing competition is here. Send entries before May 1, 2010, to: concurso@mikelmunduan.net

Good news! Smithsonian magazine has extended the deadline for their photo contest to Wednesday December 16, 2009 at 2pm Eastern Time.  Contestants may enter photographs in five categories — The Natural World, Americana, Altered Images, Travel and People — that represent subjects of special interest to the magazine.

Littleton, CO, November 9, 2009 – Write your way around Tokyo, all-expenses paid, and get published to boot. The travel writing scholarship 2010 from WorldNomads.com offers chance to explore and cover Tokyo for Rough Guides.

WorldNomads.com in conjunction with Rough Guides, Intrepid Travel and Hotels.com announces a contest for aspiring travel writers ages 18 and up. Candidates can be students, emerging and non-professional writers and lovers of travel looking for a career change. The prize is the chance to travel for a week, all-expenses paid, to Tokyo and learn tricks of the trade from Rough Guides travel writer, Simon Richmond.

Contest entries begin on Nov 9, 2009 with the deadline for applications Dec. 21, 2009. For details and online entry please visit the WorldNomads.com travel writing scholarship page.

The assignment will be to research, review and update essential travel info for the Tokyo section of The Rough Guide Japan, including accommodation, bars and restaurants, entertainment, shopping, tours, activities and transport, as well as searching out those local secrets that travelers want to read about.

The contest winner will fly to Tokyo from his/her country of residence and then, after touching base with travel writing mentor Simon Richmond, hit the road for 7 days reviewing and writing for “The Rough Guide to Japan” travel guide. Afterwards there will be a chance to relax and enjoy a 4-day “Flavors of Tokyo” independent tour with Intrepid Travel offering a cuisine-focused insight into the Japanese Culture.

Applicants need to be available between Feb. 15 – 26, 2010 to participate in “The Rough Guide to Japan” writing assignment and “Flavors of Tokyo” independent tour with Intrepid Travel. Entrants must have a high degree of proficiency in written English, be comfortable doing some travel on their own, be at least 18 years old, have a current passport and be an excellent writer with a lust for adventure travel and a burning desire to be a travel writer.

To apply entrants will be asked to write a maximum 500 word travel-focused essay based on a personal experience around one of the following themes:

-A Journey that Changed Lives

-Responsible Travel

-Adventure in an Unknown Culture

-A Memorable Experience Involving Food in a Foreign Country

The winner of the scholarship contest, along with the best entries received will be published on the WorldNomads.com website on January 8th, 2010.

WorldNomads.com provides global travel safety products and services to travelers from over 150 countries around the world. From great value travel insurance, travel safety advice, language guides and free online travel journals, WorldNomads.com provides the tools to keep our clients travelling safely. All clients can donate to a community development project when purchasing travel insurance through the Footprints Charity program.

PARSIPPANY, NJ — (Marketwire) — 11/16/09 — Women on Their Way by Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN), the hospitality industry’s longest-running branded program dedicated entirely to female travelers, is kicking off The Local Nation travel writing contest to find ten adventurous individuals who feel that they could represent their fellow travelers on the newly formed Sounding Board and to shape the future of WomenOnTheirWay.com.

Starting on November 11, 2009, the Local Nation contest by Wyndham Worldwide invites participants to enter their essays of 350 words or less, plus a photo or video on why they should be selected. All entries will be posted on www.WomenOnTheirWay.com with a voting process starting on January 4, 2010. Entrants may share their entry with their social networks in hopes of securing “thumbs up” votes. The top ten entries, as decided by a combination of WOTW Judges’ scores and the results of online voting, will then be named to the Sounding Board. All winners will be announced by February 15, 2010 and posted on the Women on Their Way website.

“The Sounding Board is a win-win both for Women on Their Way and Wyndham Worldwide,” states Alyson Johnson, director of marketing communications and writer of the WOTW blog, Adventures with Alyson. “The Local Nation will feature blog entries, pictures and fun videos of the contest winners and their vacations at various hotels, rentals and/or timeshare properties within the Wyndham Worldwide family of brands, while the contest winners will provide Wyndham Worldwide feedback on programs and properties. That ‘local knowledge’ will also help to shape the future of the Women on Their Way website, www.WomenOnTheirWay.com.”

The ten Sounding Board members will receive 200,000 Wyndham Rewards points to be used to take a minimum of two vacations, a Flip(TM) Ultra(TM) video camera to memorialize their trips, the opportunity to be a guest blogger on WomenOnTheirWay.com and two American Express Gift Cards with a card value of $400USD each, to be used for food and fun on their vacations. Each of the ten prize packages is valued at a total of $1,750 USD. The experience is priceless!

The Wyndham Rewards loyalty program is the largest in the lodging industry based on the number of participating hotels. Points can be redeemed at www.wyndhamrewards.com for hotel night stays at participating Wyndham Hotel Group properties in North America, Europe, China, Latin America and the Caribbean. Points can also be redeemed for other rewards including airline tickets, resort vacations, name-brand merchandise, rental cars, rail points or services at many popular restaurants and stores.

About Women on Their Way

Women on Their Way is the hospitality industry’s longest-running branded program entirely dedicated to female travelers. Since the program’s launch in 1995, Wyndham has supported women travelers as they’ve emerged from a niche market to a formidable force, listening and responding to women’s feedback, which has resulted in a better hotel experience for all travelers; including the addition of various amenities to hotel rooms such as coffee makers, full length mirrors and healthier room service menus.

The Women on Their Way program was re-launched in May 2008. While once a single hotel chain program, Wyndham Worldwide expanded the program across all brands and businesses offering more than 70,000 hotels, vacation rentals and resorts in 100 countries.

About Wyndham Worldwide

As one of the world’s largest hospitality companies, Wyndham Worldwide offers individual consumers and business-to-business customers a broad suite of hospitality products and services across various accommodation alternatives and price ranges through its premier portfolio of world-renowned brands.

Wyndham Hotel Group encompasses over 7,040 franchised hotels and approximately 590,900 hotel rooms worldwide. Group RCI offers its 3.8 million members access to more than 73,000 vacation properties located in approximately 100 countries. Wyndham Vacation Ownership develops, markets and sells vacation ownership interests and provides consumer financing to owners through its network of over 150 vacation ownership resorts serving over 830,000 owners throughout North America, the Caribbean and the South Pacific. Wyndham Worldwide, headquartered in Parsippany, N.J., employs approximately 25,500 employees globally.

CONTACT:
Alyson R. Johnson
Director, Communications
Wyndham Worldwide Corporation
973.753.6759
alyson.johnson@wyndhamworldwide.com

Every year, National Geographic’s International Photography Contest draws thousands of spectacular photos from users around the world. This year could be your year—send in your photos for a chance to win a digital camera kit and have your image published in the magazine. Winners will be entered into the Worldwide International Photography Contest.

You can submit up to six photos in three categories—People, Places, and Nature—between now and October 31, 2009. Winners will be announced in early December. There is an entry fee of U.S. $12 for each photo.

Contest Website: for complete rules; link for submitting.

Past Winners: See editors’ picks from previous year’s International Photography Contests.

Galleries: See NG editors’ selections in each category—and keep an eye on the competition.

Tips and Tricks: Expert advice on how to capture the best shot in each category.

Round up your best travel photos! National Geographic Traveler has extended the entry deadline for their “World in Focus” photo contest to September 8th. Categories are travel portraits, outdoor scenes, sense of place, spontaneous moments, and photo essay. Grand prize is a 10-day safari in Tanzania.

Who says travel writing doesn’t pay? Michael won a four-night stay at the Radisson Fort McDowell Resort & Casino, golf at We-Ko-Pa Golf Club, dinner for two at Ahnala Mesquite Room, and a horseback ride or a Jeep tour at Fort McDowell Adventures, plus a guaranteed spot at 2009 Travel Classics West 2009 (conference fee included).

The current Travel Classics contest for the best travel story about Ireland is open to attendees of the Travel Classics Europe 2009 conference; deadline for submissions is December 1, 2009.

The website Wanderlust and Lipstick – “Your destination for women’s travel” announced a travel writing contest with a Grand Prize of a 12-day Health and Harmony land tour of Vietnam—valued at $1995—with Buffalo Tours. There will also be five Best in Category prizes of Bayliss bags from Overland Equipment and CoolMax Blankets and Travel Pillows from Cocoon. The contest is open to women only. Deadline for submitting your entries is November 30, 2009. Categories are:

• Adventure
• Family Fun
• Food & Drink
• Off the Beaten Path
• Spiritual

Complete contest details here.

While you’re on the site, you can check out their trips to India, Bhutan, and Vietnam/Cambodia, buy books about traveling with kids or as a solo woman, or sign up for their free monthly newsletter of “hip travel tips.”