Woe is Me!

OK, I know that's a bit dramatic but that's exactly how I felt reading the final winning submission in Intrepid Travel's 30 day contest. I clung to the hope of winning for an entire month and now that the month is over and I haven't won, I do feel let down. Worse that that, I feel ignored. As the last days ticked away, my own submissions lessened. I sent them notes directing them to my blog and then as the last day came and I found I didn't win, I canceled my subscription to their newsletter. Let's face it...I'll never book a trip with them. I know the contest was meant to drum up interest in their company but they just managed to lose me as a customer. Here's the final winner:


saturday 31 March - Hlib Hayuk
Entry - Flamenco dances. Sangria trances. Stolen glances. Remote Spanish villages. Chance of romances.

Hlib Hayuk has won a spot on Intrepid's Inside Andalucia


If he was going for anything that rhymes with "ances" he sort of missed the mark with "Villages." That don't rhyme, Frankenstein.


It's not nice for me to take out my frustrations on the winners, I know. But I don't feel too sorry for someone who just won a trip to Spain. So what will I devote my blog to now? I haven't a clue but I'm sure something will occur to me. Maybe I'll get back to that book I'm supposed to be revising!!


Here are the last submissions I sent to Intrepid's contest:


A spot of luck is what I need, Traveling to Italy does the deal, indeed!

(Trying again to speak their lingo. With this submission, they should feel the sincere hand of friendship reaching out.)



Shout it from the rooftops! Climb the tallest tree! Singing an aria, I Love Italy!!

(Again, not inspired, but it demonstrates what I'd do to visit Italy.)


I've been to Switzerland...but only the airport.
Ah, to go again, but not so short.

(My steam is really running low here. While it's true that I've only visited the airport, I fell short with my rhyme of airport.)


Traveling, my passion, I cannot afford.
Italy, an obsession, get me on board!!

(I express enthusiasm with punctuation. The first line shows sadness and it quickly changes to wild passion. Of course they didn't get that.)

If it was Christmas on Santa I'd sit, ask for Italy without having a fit.

(When I was a child my parents took me to see Santa and I don't believe they ever got a decent picture without me screaming my head off. Asking Santa for a trip to Italy without the hysterics would be a major accomplishment. I wish they knew how much.)

Calcium Alert! I need some cheese! Some chocolate would help and a cool mountain breeze.

(This is one of my later submissions that I actually like. The others show that I have been beaten down by rejection. This shows something original..that I need a trip to Switzerland for nutritional reasons. Now how could they turn that down?)

Where do you find dogs on the Dalmatian Coast? Find them in PUPNAT, of course!!

(Right. So one of the stops on the Dalmatian Coast was a village called, Pupnat. Sorry to say, I have no other association. Hardy har har.)

Raclette, Raclette, sounds like heels, clicking their way to get some Swiss cheese.

(Again, Raclette is a village I've never heard of...but maybe my ignorance is due to never winning a contest to visit the region. This was my last entry and I went out with a putter, not a Raclette.)

With March gone and April starting, I need to look at this time as a time renewal. Spring is here and it's the time of new beginnings. I don't think that Intrepid Travel ever looked at my many submissions or my blog, for that matter. So before I move on, I'll make a point to send them a booklet of all of my entries and demand to be heard. Maybe as a gesture, I'll keep a copy for myself, practice a little voodoo magic and send it up in smoke to release myself from the Madness of March.