It is wonderful to welcome another newcomer to our travel writing competitions.

​A warm welcome to Deb Bott with her travel highlight entry titled. Karimunjawa.

Karimunjawa

Matilda’s sojourn in SE Asia…………..

Matilda’s anchor drops in to 20 meters of magnificent blue water. Coral fringing reef is visible around the main island as well as its scattered local islands.

Snorkeling here is a must do. We see colorful fish, rays, turtles, sharks and beautiful coral every day.

Ashore we are welcomed by the locals. Their smiling faces and shouts of hello are typical of the people in Asia. The children love posing for a photo.

The nightly seafood market for the locals is a treat for all those who visit the island.
Life is so relaxed here.

Matilda is at Karimunjawa, Indonesia.

Deb Bott
 
If someone said to me 30 years ago I would be a sailor exploring the oceans of South East Asia in my 50’s, I would have laughed in their face!
 
Until the year 2000 my entire boating experience at the tender age of 12 was an overnight trip on a ferry from Melbourne to Launceston in Tasmania.
 
During 2000 to 2008 we pottered about Moreton Bay, Queensland in three different sailing boats.
 
In 2010 we bought Matilda. Sold our home and moved on board.
 
During 2014 we retired. Sailing Matilda south to Eden, New South Wales and north to the very top of Australia to Cape York.
 
2016 was the year we left Australia bound for South East Asia.
 
These experiences are what I base my entries on.
 

Deb at Magnetic Island

A warm welcome back to Mike Cavanagh, who is a regular contributor to our travel writing contests. He came joint third in this year's Travel Story Competition with his fabulous entry When I'm Eighty Three.  If you haven't read it yet, then catch up with it now by following the highlighted link. Then you can enjoy his latest travel highlight entitled No, but I had a bath.

No, but I had a bath 

The Lake District in northern England. The owner of the BnB we stayed at had said

“People come here and complain about the rain. Well why do they think it’s called The Lakes?” Katie and I laughed with her.

We stayed a lovely week there and on the morning we were leaving she popped around to say goodbye.

“I see you had a shower overnight?” she said to Katie.

Katie’s frown and tilted head perfectly reflected my confusion. How could she tell?

“No, but I had a bath.” Said Katie.

Three confused people… then much laughter. The Lakes… rain… yep.

​Mike Cavanagh is now in his sixties and has no idea how he got here. He lives with his wife, Julie, and two black cats in Bateman’s Bay, NSW. The house he and Julie live in is quirky and in need of regular maintenance, as are its owners. Mike's passions are writing, playing guitar, composing music, and, as Julie will only too readily tell you, playing too many role-playing games on PC.

Find out more about Mike's book One of its Legs are Both the Same on his site: http://oneofitslegs.org/
​

It is a great pleasure to welcome back Susan Joyce with this terrific entry for the 2017 Travel Highlights Competition. Here is her intro to a very special highlight:

As a young American female, I never hitchhiked and never dreamed I might one day need to do just that. While living in the Negev Desert of Israel one scorching hot summer day, I watched the last bus to my village disappear into the distance. I had missed my ride home. Uncertain what to do, I stood at the bus stop on the main highway on the outskirts of Beer-Sheva, Israel and hoped a vehicle, any vehicle, would stop and give me a ride.

When I heard traffic approach, I held up my thumb and begged God to hear my plea.

A Wild Tank Ride Across the Negev Desert!
Beersheba to Arad. Israel, Summer 1971

Missed last bus home.
It's Sabbath!
No taxis or passing cars.
Scorching heat.
29 miles, 47 kilometers.
 
Tank barrels toward me, rattles to a stop.
“Arad?”
Driver motions. “Climb aboard!
 
Car stops, offers ride. “Tanks take forever.”
Confused, I wave them on.
 
An hour later, I hear a raucous scream overhead
“Bomber,” driver yells.
“God!” I gasp.
“Friend!” Driver waves skyward, pats tank. “Soviet from Six Day War.”
 
Minutes later, second bomber buzzes tank.
Driver again waves.
Friendly fire? Feel faint.
 
After three hours, we arrive.
Wilted vegetables, melted ice cream.
Shaken, I thank him.
Wild ride! Shabbat Shalom!

Susan Joyce

Born in Los Angeles, California, Susan Joyce is an author and editor of award-winning books for children and adults. She spent most of her childhood in Tucson, Arizona dreaming of seeing the world.. A globetrotter, she spent more than half of her adult life living abroad.

She live in a sleepy, little beach town in Uruguay with her husband, two dogs and a cat. Oscar, the cat, is the boss.

If you want to know more about Susan's Journeys and when her next book will be released, please visit her website at http://susanjoycejourneys.com
Sign up to receive an email for her blogs and book releases.
​

Susan at Puma Punku, Bolivia 2016

It is fantastic to be able to welcome a newcomer to our our travel writing competitions, Bruce Nicholson, with his evocative highlight entitled Wonderful Indonesia Borobudur Temple. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Wonderful Indonesia Borobudur Temple by Bruce Nicholson

Even in the pre-dawn light it’s dark, a small torch helps navigate the path. The first view of the temple is silhouettes. Climbing its steep steps, Buddha images appear. Higher up small stupas encase the Buddha statues. Ultimately, the large central stupa appears vertically in front of me. The mist that hangs in the still air make the structures around me appear cloaked in secrecy. The sky now turning a brilliant blue, rays of orange light burst from the far horizon bathing Borobudur temple in a soft light, spilling the carvings stories as it has for the last 1200 years.

Bruce Nicholson

Bruce and partner Deb have lived aboard Matilda a Hans Christian Christina yacht for the past 7 years. We are full time cruisers who have travelled the east coast of Australia and are now exploring SE Asia waters.  

A warm welcome back to Mark Boyter, who is another loyal supporter of our travel writing competitions. He is also the author of one of my favourite travel memoirs, Crescent Moon Over Laos. Enjoy Mark's first travel highlight in this year's competition entitled Kenji's Place.

Kenji's Place by Mark Boyter
​
“My Fanny” was Kenji’s place. West end of Hirokoji, bank of the Horikawa. Foot of the Naya-bashi Bridge. Nagoya station-side. On the corner, tucked away. Financial district. The English pink neon sign looked better the later the night and best in August humidity. Through a heavy wooden door and follow the stale must of cigarettes down the stairs. Five tables. Six stools. Black Naugahyde corner nook. Wood paneling. A wall of Suntory whisky and Jack Daniels’. A bottle joint. Turquoise Strat hanging behind an upright piano. “Fanny?” I finally asked. “Chet Baker,” he said. “My favourite song. ‘My Fanny Valentine’.”  

 Naya bashi nagoya

The second entry in this year's Travel Highlights competition is from Syd Blackwell. He is one of our most regular supporters and took part in every month of our Travel Stories competition this year. If you missed his entries, you should catch up with them via the 2017 Travel Stories page. Then enjoy his latest entry IGUAZU - A BEGINNING.​

IGUAZU – A BEGINNING by Syd Blackwell

A small train took visitors through the jungle to a trail to the Devil´s Throat.  This section of Iguazu Falls is comparable to Niagara Falls in Canada, but is just a part of the world´s largest waterfall system.  The trail soon became a series of metal walkways spanning river waters and leading ever closer to the towering mists and tremendous roar at the very mouth of the Devil´s Throat.  At the end, we found ourselves on a metal platform precariously close to this incredible spectacle, buffeted by winds and water from the maelstrom below.  What a beginning!

The 2017 Travel Highlights Competition is now open for entries. For details on how to enter, please follow the link to our Competitions page. 

It is a great pleasure to be able to feature this year's opening entry from a regular contributor to our competitions, Nancy McBride. Enjoy her highlight ROADHOUSE.

​ROADHOUSE by Nancy McBride
 
Guilly lived in a broken down, overgrown mansion, shaded by trees heavy with sorghum moss. After checking on his 101 year-old “Daddy”, we drove north to Mississippi (Meh-sippy) to visit his buddy who ran a roadhouse located just over the line from a dry county. Very dry.
We danced some, and had a beer or two.
A friendly lady at the bar asked me where I was from—my accent puzzling her.
I waited. She thought. Hard. Then she shouted, ”College! This woman, here, is from COLLEGE!” Both relieved, we laughed and hugged, celebrating. Then she and I danced.

NANCY MCBRIDE’S HAPPENING BIO
 
Perception. Perspective. Twists. Humor. These, to me, are essences to storytelling. As Tim O’Brien revealed to me in The Things They Carried, stories are not what happened, they are what happened to you!
 
Things happen to me. Examples?  A man fell from the ceiling onto my head in a restaurant. A kangaroo in a pink shirt bounced across the road in front of me in the outback of Australia. I scored a bull’s eye rifle-shooting in The Urals.  I was struck by lightning. The Queen Mum was tattooed on my bum. I learned how to “be seen”, was “pregnant” with pop-corn, and put a sign on my car, “MASSACHUSETTS OR BUST”. Those sub-titles are just scraping the surface of the kind of ordinary-for-me experiences I inhabit. Doors suddenly open and I trip into the next dimension, illustrating to me that there are obviously an infinite number of dimensions. They don’t scare me. I’ve had a near death experience. I’m a walking happening. Perception. Perspective.
 
Being present to interpret my life and to allow it to “happen” is my shtick.
I’ve travelled. I’ve fallen. I’m a disaster. I’m a survivor. I’ve ruminated. I’ve worked. I’ve loved. I’ve raised kids. I blurt art. Life’s a story happening.

The 2017 Travel Highlights Competition will start on September 15th and we will be accepting entries for two months until November 14th (midnight UK).

Your travel highlight should be between 50 and 100 words (excluding title).

Please send your entry to fd81@assl.co.uk with a short bio and optional photo. The number of entries per author/writer will be limited to a maximum of five.

There will be prizes awarded for the Top 3 ($75/$50/$25 or equivalent) and these will be chosen by a public vote that will run for two weeks from November 15th - 30th (midnight UK).
​

The last of our eight independent judge’s choices have just come in for the 2017 Travel Story Competition. Until then the first two places were in the balance but now I can confirm that the winner is …..

Sue Clamp with The Reluctant Cyclist - Sue wins the first prize of $150

Second place goes to …..

Jackie Parry with A View for Every Occasion - Jackie wins the second prize of $100

And third place. Well, that’s the real remarkable part of the result. We have five travel stories that have tied for the third prize of $50. They are …..

Peggy Wolf with Solo Flight - Peggy wins $10

Mike Cavanagh with In Control and When I’m Eighty Three - Mike wins $20

Jill Stoking with A British Seaside Holiday in 1958 - Jill wins $10

Patricia Steele with Flamenco Guitars and much, much more - Patricia wins £10

MANY CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR WINNERS

MANY THANKS TO OUR JUDGES

And thank you to everyone who has contributed and supported this year’s outstanding contest.
 
Watch out for the 2017 Travel Highlights Competition (50-100 words) which will start in two weeks’ time.