Travel #BloggerRelay Competition with Lowcostholidays.com

The Competition (simplified) - organized and conducted by www.lowcostholidays.com. From July 30th, team Captains of the participating blogger groups will start their leg of the Blogger Relay race by sharing the top three memories of their favorite travel destinations and ranking them 1st, 2nd and 3rd, before passing the Travel Baton on to a fellow blogger, who will then also list their top 3 travel memories. They too will then pass the baton. The Team in the longest chain by the end of the competition all win the Blogger Relay! (And, more importantly, a prize!) Call it coincidence or maybe a sign of good things to come, but news of this travel competition came about just when I made my return to the gym. So, I have been running for the past few weeks, training for this very moment... the moment of truth... the moment when all eyes will be on me, as I take hold of the #TeamPurple #BloggerRelay Baton.
...and I fumble (just to add a bit of drama) as I collect the baton from Simon of www.manversusworld.com, but regain my steps just in time. Finally sprinting my way to support #TeamPurple achieve superstardom, I present to you my top three travel destination memories ranked as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd;

Taking the third spot with the Bronze Medal is a family trip taken to Hong Kong Disneyland to celebrate my daughter's first birthday. After almost two years of not having travelled, our family vacation was slightly unconventional since in India, normally the very first birthday of a child is celebrated at home by inviting friends and family. Not to get bogged down by societal norms, our group of seven headed to Disneyland with my daughter having just started walking a few weeks ago. Hong Kong Disneyland turned out to be perfect for a one-year-old as my daughter was able to enjoy almost all the rides and the relatively compact size of the theme-park made it easier to navigate with a baby. Having decided to stay at the onsite hotel was probably the best decision made by us for it allowed movement between the park and the room a lot easier. The entire trip was an experiment having never traveled with a baby before, but one that I cherish. The smile on my daughter's face as she discovered Disney’s characters is engraved in my memory and for that reason alone my trip to Disneyland Hong Kong is amongst my top three travel memories.   Coming in a close second to take on the Silver Medal is the very first time I snorkeled, which coincidently was during my first and only cruise in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Bonaire. The fun fact about this trip and experience was that I almost didn't make it in the water as I initially was unable to breathe with the snorkeling gear on. As my nausea subsided I did finally dive in only to discover an amazingly colorful world I had only seen on television. The 45 minutes I spent riding the current and feeling the waves now seem like a blur, but at that very moment it was all very surreal and yet mildly fascinating. I did later discover that my initial nausea was caused due to the soap water that the snorkeling gear was washed in right before it was handed over to me. The time spent on the cruise and especially discovering the bewitching world that exists below the waters was an experience I shall never forget.  


Victorious by a mile and the rightful recipient of the Gold Medal has to be my two week vacation in Greece. It was the first time I was attending a college friends wedding. It was also the first and only time I was to be the best man. I got to ride a scooter (although an automatic one) for the first time as well. And, I also discovered, rather unfortunately, that I suffer from heat exposure resulting in a rash, all throughout this trip. Not that it stopped me from going out in the sun to the beach. Visiting Athens and then the islands of Naxos and Amorgos, where the movie The Big Blue was filmed (big deal for a cinephile like me) I can never tire of recommending the beauty of Greece. The people, the food, the ferry rides, the bright blue water, and history seeping through every stone, makes Greece one of the most beautiful places on Earth. My vacation in Greece was about experiencing life, about solidifying old friendships and starting new ones. It was a time for discovering and pushing myself to try new experiences. It was a high I am yet to feel since...  
And while I day dream about trips from the past and the ones I shall take in the future I now pass on the #TeamPurple baton on to Laura from www.southeastasiabackpacker.com who I am sure will make us all proud and fly like the wind...
If you like the idea of the blogger relay and would like to join our team, there is still time and all you have to do is email (neil@backpacksandbunkbeds(dot)co.uk)our team leader Neil who will send you all the details including the goodies you can win if the team wins.