TravelShark’s Trip in a Tweet Contest: Tell Your Travel Stories with Punch

By | Tuesday May 29, 2012

You just got back from a big trip. You’re jet-lagged, exhausted, and ready for 12 hours of uninterrupted, black-out-curtain sleep.

And yet, you’re also full of astounding travel stories that you can’t keep to yourself.

Whom can you tell? Family? Co-workers? TripAdvisor? That guy sitting next to you at the bar? These are fine places to start, but everyone is so busy, armed with travel plans and stories of their own. How do you pique and preserve their interest?

Let’s face it, we’ve all sat down at Thanksgiving and been forced to suffer through a cousin’s epic-poem-length tale that comes with 674 photos and mind-numbing anecdotes about how to get from the airport to a hotel in every country in Europe.

Long travel stories are boring. Eyes glaze over. Attention wanes. Yawns ensue.

TravelShark users have told us that they are crying out for punch, for the scintillating kernel of a travel moment, the essence of what made your 14-day trek in Peru really shine.

That’s why we launched Trip in a Tweet. We and our users want to hear all your stories— funny, sad, embarrassing, invigorating, and everything in between. The catch: we want your travel highlights in stories of 140 characters or less.

Fear not, you can enter more than once, your cousin can enter 674 times, and you both have a shot at winning amazing prizes like a new iPad, a Canon SLR camera, and more.

You might be thinking, “That’s impossible,” or “I don’t have any good stories,” or “I’ll sound stupid.”

We’re going to prove you wrong.

Each week, we’ll be announcing a new Trip in a Tweet theme and asking for you to share your stories, and every week we’ll be awarding a special prize to the #1 winner who engages our judges the best with a tightly worded tale. All you have to do is tweet your story using the hashtag #triptweet, or go to TravelShark's contest page. 

Our kick-off theme: A Travel Disaster Turned Triumph

To get the ball rolling, everyone at TravelShark took a stab at this one. Take a look at a few below, get inspired, and then share you own!

Plane arrived too late to make connection in Munich, was put up in a 5* hotel & given tickets to a national soccer game. #triptweet
-Kay Bradford, @KayBradford

Family trip to the mountains. Forgot to put my bag in the car. Simply had to buy a whole new weekend wardrobe (thanks grandma). #triptweet
-Phoebe Miner, @p_miner

My little brother tried to go through security on the x-ray belt. TSA still recognizes us every time we fly out of BWI. #triptweet
-Rachel Greene, @georgiegsays

Forgot to bring my suitcase and drove up into the mountains. Summited the mountain in pajamas! #triptweet
-Philip London, @sharkphilip


Lost track of friends in downtown Dublin. No money, no bus pass. Found a ukulele in an alley—performed for bus fare. #triptweet
-Brian Naslund, @BrianNasl

Burned out engine on moto journey across Vietnam. Sun baking. Stranger helped me drag bike up a mtn to mechanic. Pure kindness. #triptweet
-Bernie Baskin, @berniebaskin

Luggage didn’t make Ibiza for a company meeting on a nice boat. Spent the entire time there in the snappy crew uniform. #triptweet
-Sue Heilbronner, @PinHighSue

Missed the last bus from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Turned out it was the White Night, the biggest all-night party in Israel. #triptweet
-Becca Schwartz, @BeccaStories

Got on the wrong boat when leaving Mykonos for Athens. Who knew Naxos had such beautiful beaches? #triptweet
-Sam Lee, @Slee713

Discovered my passport expired at check-in for Bangkok trip with friends. Got local flight to see my mum for the weekend instead. #triptweet
-Paula Easton

No change time between flights coming back from Spain, spent 2 hours @ desk finding new flights. Wound up in 1st class for free. #triptweet
-Katie O’Block, @Katie_Oblock

Flight lost all my luggage, had to go shopping for new things, found great hole in the wall places I wouldn't have otherwise. #triptweet 
-Nick Leffers, @NickLeffers
 

Posted under: Travel • Sharky • Team TravelShark