If you've ever wanted to be in The Amazing Race, here's your chance: Steve Belkin's tour company called Competitours will make a "game" out of your European vacation by arranging a daily series of offbeat tasks:
Picture Amazing Race without the frenzy. Challenges are set up for maximum exposure to the culture, not as a test of speed or prowess. One challenge might be to make a 45-second commercial at a Viking museum in Oslo. Another might be to try a dead man's finger in Copenhagen (which turns out to be a hotdog). Points are accrued by completing tasks and videos are judged for creativity, not cinematography. "This isn't about using an expensive camcorder, but being creative and original," notes Belkin.
Participants won't know what city they're starting from until a couple of days before departure, and will only know a half-day in advance the next stop on their adventure, but they can count on visiting five or six countries in Western and Central Europe during the two-week trip. "The game is more of an arc, not a leash; it's meant to complement, not overwhelm your trip," says Belkin. Teams don't necessarily travel together, though they may encounter each other as they complete their challenges.
Link | Competitours website [Flash] - Thanks Marilyn!
So Merry Christmas from Melb/Oz.
ps: Santa has been picked up by the Fed's under 48hour mandatory lockup terror laws. Christmas is cancelled for everybody else. Pity it was the best ever.
Jimmy- The map is a screen shot from our flash website. We left UK off as it affected our animation sequence...please no offense!!
liphttam- There is NO rushing with Competitours. The game session only lasts 9a-5p per day, and there is maximum number of challenges that can be done by each team, precisely to insure your trip i a blast, NOT a blur. I think you'll find the website reinforces that assurances. Feel free to email if you need mre info.
Indeed, there will be 9-12 challenges at each destination, a mixture of geography (intow, ouskirts, excursions), touring sites (mainstream, offbeat), touring themes (culture, food, history, outdoors, myths/legends, contemporary trends, rural village life, etc.), point earning (guaranteed vs. risk/reward) and plenty of special abilities to accomplish tasks (creative, resourceful, inventive, original, daring, a bit zany, and of course spontaneous, as destinations and challenges only revealed with half-day's notice.
Look forward to the challenge of earning your confidence and business!
Please sty in touch.
Cheers
Steve
I can vouch that the company is run by a very travel savvy and customr-centric management team.
I enjoyed my experience so much that I pondered about how to make such a team ravel competiion experience more accessible to a broader swath of travelers. Competitours is that inspiration, a more modest endeavor for those with less time and money, but the same zeal for competitive travel.
GSH is indeed the mothership of trips, and any prospective traveler would be making a winning choice with either trip.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/communitybuzz/910256-recruiting-team-flyertalk-amazing-race-style-travel-competition-3.html