I have just lived a month of my life that I’ll remember forever. My experience backpacking in Thailand was absolutely fantastic – though drastically different than I expected.
I left beautiful Queenstown, New Zealand, hoping to ‘get away from it all;’ I wanted a place to clear my head, focus on Backpackingmatt.com, and determine what was next. Shortly after arriving in Bangkok, I began meeting fellow travel bloggers who helped to make my experience in Thailand what it was.
About one week ago, I boarded my first of four flights and 45 hours of travel that would land me back in the US of A. Despite two long-haul flights of 14 and 8 hours, it was a surprisingly painless experience (these tips on surviving a long haul flight surely helped). Since arriving back in US, I’ve been catching up with friends & family and readjusting to life in America.
In the coming weeks I’ll be trying to stay warm in Iowa while figuring out the details for the next step in my journey.
Mentions Throughout the Travel Blog Community
This past month saw Backpackingmatt.com mentioned in a couple places throughout the travel blog community:
- Christine Gilbert of AlmostFearless.com included Backpackingmatt.com in The Best of 2010: 100 Inspired Travel Blogs. It’s a great honor as Christine runs one of the best-read travel blogs online. If you’re not following her and her fascinating story, you’re missing out.
- Amanda of Dangerous-Business.com included my recent travel video Exploring Bali in her ‘Best Blogs of the Week‘ post.
- The Never Ending Voyage recently hosted the Gen Y Travel Blog Carnival and selected my First Impressions: Southeast Asia post in the best of the month’s “Travel Stories” category.
Thank You & Your Chance to Win $250
It’s been quite the inaugural year for Backpackingmatt.com; I’ve been truly overwhelmed with the support I’ve recieved from the travel blog community & friends who have followed my journey. Be it a tweet, a comment, a shared beer, or a supportive email, I’ve enjoyed getting to know all of you.
In an effort to thank you for your support in the past 12 months, I’m giving away $250.
This $250 gift comes in two forms.
- First, I’ve teamed up with HotelClub.com, and we’re giving away a $200 voucher that can be used at any of their almost 70,000 accommodation options worldwide.
- Second, I’m going to send you $50 that you can use however you like. I considered an Amazon.com or equivalent voucher, but as many of you are on the road I know cold hard cash is hard to beat.
How to Enter:
- First, simply leave a comment on this post telling us where you’d use your $200 voucher from HotelClub.com.
- Second, tweet this: “Find out how to win $250 at Backpackingmatt.com http://su.pr/3GWLuy (cc: @backpackingmatt)”
- If you’re not on Twitter, simply share the link to this post on your Facebook wall.
You can only enter once, and you have until 11:59pm (Central Standard Time, US) on December 21st, 2010 to do it. The winner will be chosen using Random.org, and then announced on December 22nd.
Thanks again for your support, happy holidays, and good luck!
About HotelClub:
HotelClub is a world leading global accommodation website offering hotel and accommodation bookings for up to 12 months in advance, listing hotels in cities big and small, from grand hotels in NYC to boutique accommodation in Madrid. Established in 1996, HotelClub provides consumers with over 69,000 accommodation choices in over 7,300 cities worldwide throughout 138 countries. HotelClub is a truly global offering with its services available in fourteen languages. The company operates three websites – HotelClub.com, RatesToGo.com and AsiaHotels.com.
Backpacking Matt 
Congrats on making the Almost Fearless list of 100 Inspired Travel Blog!
If I won the $200 voucher from HotelClub I probably use it in Seoul, to live it up in the big city after I finish teaching in Jeju.
Welcome back! The experiences are never as we expect them to be … part of the fun, yes?
I would use the $200 voucher in good old Brooklyn, NYC having a good visit with very cool people ….
I’m glad you made it back to Iowa safely, Matt! Have you been greeted by the same freezing weather we’ve been having over here in Ohio? Ugh, I’m sick of it already!
If I won the HotelClub voucher, I’d plan a weekend trip somewhere cool with my boyfriend. We haven’t been able to travel at all because we’re both so poor, but $200 would definitely help! Maybe we’d put the $50 toward zip lining in Hocking Hills this coming spring.
I would use the hotel voucher in Dallas, TX when I go to the Kenny Chesney/Zac Brown Band concert with my 3 BFF’s (Rob, H and Bran!) The $50 would go toward our bar tab! : ) Love you more than Ranch Dressing!
Look forward to reading through your blogs on Thailand and SE Asia.
I would use my voucher in Bangkok – my friend and I are planning to stay in a nice hotel there this Christmas since we can’t be with our families on the other side of the world…and we’re treating ourselves to a place with hot water!
It’s been a pleasure to follow your blog the last few months, there’s something for everybody to take away from here.
If I won the illustrious $200 dollar voucher I would use it to offset the cost of accomodation in Chiang Mai. That’s an extra week of English tuition for the hilltribes and a bit of pampering for the elephants!
I would use this voucher at a hotel in Bangkok. My friend and I are teachers in Thailand and are really itching for some hot water, a soft mattress and a bug free night of sleep on Christmas night.
I’m glad you are in a happy place in life Matt! That is where eveyerone needs to be 🙂 But where are you headed next? Are you going to be in the US for a few months now? What are your plans!?
In February I am planning a trip to Australia and visiting Asia (for the first time ever woooo!) I would definitely use the HotelClub.com voucher while on that trip.
Hope you are having fun back home! Lets see some more videos 🙂
I would use it in BsAs when I’m there in Feb!
Great contest Matt! If we won we’d love to use it in Colorado this winter for some epic snowboarding. Cheers amigo!
Wow I like your anniversaries. I would use it in Vancouver for TBEX11!
Please pick me! 😉 I would totally use this voucher on my epic USA trip in June! I’m looking forward to some America love… 6 more months!!!
Congrats on such epic experiences. If I win $200, I would definitely use this voucher for my next adventure, which I hope will be my first to Europe to Spain!
I would use the voucher to go to Costa Rica to surf over my spring break!
You are killing it mate!
I want that voucher to enjoy a romantic night with my wifey poo!
So what is next for you Matt? I am gearing up for a month long journey to Argentina. Check out my site if you get a chance and tell me what you think!
I would use a $200 hotel voucher to spoil myself in Sydney after long flight from L.A. A nice hotel will be perfect to get me rested and ready to see the sites!
If I won the $200 voucher I would use it for a city break trip in Europe.
The $50?
Well I would give it back to Matt and make him give everyone a lap dance or something equally as distasteful and amusing.
Glad you’ve enjoyed Thailand… I really want to head over there next year and your posts have been very motivating (and amusing!!!)
If I won the $200 HotelClub.com voucher I would use it in Noumea, New Caledonia. Hey! You gotta sleep somewhere nice in tropical paradise!
The $50 would proooobably go to learning to snorkel or scuba dive. =D
I would use the HotelClub.com voucher on my second honeymoon next year in Hawaii! Great giveaway, Matt!
Sounds like you had quite the adventure!
If I were to get the voucher, I think I would use it to kick off our Central/South American (+Thailand) trip in Guadalajara, Mexico! <3
I would use it to take my mom on a beach getaway in the Caribbean. Fantastic site Matt and happy to follow along on your journey 🙂
Honestly if I won I’d probably take you somewhere since we haven’t seen each other in over a year. If not use it for a vacation to Orlando this summer ;-).
All the best mate!
I would use my $200 voucher to visit New York City. As a girl who grew up listening to Broadway records, it has been my dream to see a production on the “Great White Way.” Not only will that dream come true, but I’ll also be able to take my first plane ride ever!
I would sure use the 200$ voucher to kick start our first adventure in Thailand next May 🙂 And the 50$ would go on anything in the same trip. Scuba diving maybe?
Barcelona. Hands-down. It’s the destination that’s been on my list for waayyy too long. Architecture by day. Tapas, sangria and dancing by night.
Super 8 Motel Atlantic, Iowa, USA!!!
“If you don’t love it, leave it. U.S.A. number one!”
-Ricky Stanzi, Orange Bowl 2010
I would either use the voucher for a trip to Chicago in January or for my next big adventure. When I know where that is, I will let you know. I’m thinking Ireland. Congratulations on all of your accomplishments this month!
Congrats on a successful first year! I’d use the voucher and cash to visit blogger @RunawayJuno in Seoul and to swing by Malaysia to meet up with @agentcikay. It will be an international tweetup 🙂
I did this for Brooke’s giveaway, but it still is true. If I win, I will get a swanky hotel to take an escort there to try and impress her. THEN, she will think that I am rich AND I am super nice. So she will decide (after making passionate love for hours) that she wants out of the turnin’ tricks game and wants to settle down with me. After she decides that, we will get married and she will decide she wants to go to culinary school. She will become a famous chef, but then quit to have our children. We will have 3 beautiful children who grow up to be a doctor, a scientist and a Subway sandwich artists (hey, they all cant be winners). All of this would have happened because Brooke did this awesome give-a-way! Thank you Matt!
LOVE the pictures in this entry. WOW.
I would use such voucher to finally kick off my overseas travels in Italy this Spring! I will be living in Rome as an au pair first (along with starting my Masters program in Teaching English As a Foreign Language)… and would enjoy getting to see another part of Italy for a couple days! I have been planning this trip for 12 years, it’s about time to GO!
I would use the voucher for a stay in NYC to live up life in the big city.
I’d use it in NYC.
Here is the link to my tweet: http://twitter.com/forsurveysonly/status/13762797481500672
Hi Matt,
Thanks for the opportunity. I would use the hotelclub.com $200 in a place where it is normally very expensive to stay and yet where I would also love to see: New York
Thanks,
-Kent
I would use it on my upcoming trip to India depending on the weather 🙂
What a great way to celebrate the New Year! I would use the $200 Hotelclub.com voucher next month in Belgium 🙂 Crossing my fingers! Woo!
Nice-one Matt. Backpacking Matt has been one of my most followed Blogs over the past six months. I’m gearing up for my big trip when I graduate in 6 months time. First stop is Beijing but I wouldn’t use it here because I want to dive straight into the hostels! I’d probably use it when I get to Singapore or Sydney. Somewhere that is a wee bit more expensive to say all the pennies I can! Keep up the great work.
i wish i could say i would use it for something exotic, but we would just go as far away as our money would take us!
tattgiff at centurytel dot net
i have been married for 2 1/2 years and my husband and i have yet to have a honeymoon. i would use the hotel card to enjoy a kid-free weekend with my husband :>
First, thank you for hosting such a great contest!
Second, I would love to win $200 to spent one more night in London because I’m at a point where I need to know if I really want to move there permanently or not, and since I haven’t been there in over a year, that would help me make up my mind.
I would use it for NYC! I go every year for the Fourth of July and it’s so expensive!
I think I would give the hotel voucher to my mom for the holidays. I think she could use a vacation! The fifty I think I would grab a new hoodie or something.. getting quite cold here in the Big Apple!
If I one the $200 I would probably have heart attack before being able to use it ;p! But if I were lucky enough to survive the shock, I would spend it with my two friends in Brazil at the start of our rtw trip!
I would use the voucher to stay somewhere remote/quite in Maine during the winter. Would like to catch up on some writing, maybe do some snow shoeing.
for some reason, I thought you were FROM New Zealand… guess I didn’t read that part well enough! lol
Anyway, I’d use the $200 voucher to spend a weekend in New Orleans for Mardi Gras! (and the $50 on booze on Bourbon St. ;D …honestly, it’d probably pay for the gas down there, I’m about a 6-7 hr drive from NOLA)
Well, i’m off on my first long term backpacking trip in 30 days (Incidentally my first stop is Thailand) and $200 worth of hotel vouchers would come in massively useful! So… here’s hoping 🙂
I would use the $200 to get a break from hostel life on my upcoming trip to Australia!
I would use the voucher somewhere in Mexico where I’m planning to go next year as it’s the country of my dreams 🙂
I would use the hotel voucher to escape suburbia. I landed home after a year RTW last week and as much as I love my family… I need out for a few nights. HELP ME!
I would drive to Montreal or Boston and have a fun roadtrip to scratch that travel itch since I need to spend a few months settled making money 🙁
I’d throw down a serious hotel party in Thailand and invite all the bloggers. The kind of party that could be blogged about if anyone actually remembered what they did at the party after a few buckets. It will be the most random night no one will remember. It will be that kind of serious and everyone will be invited. Party on!