Summer travel giveaway: Share your adventures and travel tips to win

Summer travel - fun, relaxing, and rewarding

Summer is a special time for people who love to travel.  Vacations, getaways, beaches, mountains, tours, camping, hiking – there are a number of things people like to do when the weather gets warm.  The kids are out of school and something about this time of year makes people want to travel.

Lately, I have been doing a lot of research on travel this summer.  As much as I love traveling, I have come to one conclusion – getting to your destination is becoming expensive, difficult, and frustrating.  This isn’t to say that the airlines, hotels, tour companies, and others aren’t struggling as well.  However, cutbacks in the economy have made me wonder if some aren’t using this to take advantage of travelers.

With the World Cup this summer, many people will be traveling to South Africa or taking part, in some way, through travel.  Because of increased demand and fewer flights, airfares are up.  Last year, airlines decided to charge fees for flying on busy days.  Now almost every day this summer is a peak travel day. For those hitting the road, highways will be busy and fuel prices will be higher.  However, people still want to travel.

Rather than focus too much on the negative side of traveling, I want to get people excited about it.  Many people have a passion to travel and have made it a living.  Some people have dropped everything to go and travel.  Others save up to take that big vacation once a year or once every few years to relax and get away.  Many families look forward to that annual family vacation at the beach, in the mountains, or huddled together in a tent (although you kids may dread these trips now, you will appreciate them later).  All of these trips create great memories and learning experiences.

As we start our summer adventures, I am looking for your travel stories, destinations, and tips to excite people about traveling.  As a way to encourage people about travel, I will be holding a summer travel giveaway in June, July, and August.

For the first prize, I will be giving away a $25 gift card to Amazon.com.  Here are the steps to enter the contest:

1. Check out the budget travel articles on Sacramento Budget Travel Examiner.  Read the various budget travel articles and find one you like.
2. Subscribe to the Sacramento Budget Travel Examiner page and/or leave a comment on your favorite article.
3. Leave your comment below and share:

• You favorite travel story OR where you are going on your next trip and why
• Your favorite travel tip

That’s all you need to do!  The contest will run through June 5, 2010 at 11:59 pm PST.

Traveling is an exciting thing and something that people must share with one another.  Whether it is a great destination, story, or tip, we can learn so much about ourselves and the world around us through travel.

With the summer travel season upon us, share your excitement and inspire people to travel.  And you could be rewarded for doing so!  Stay tuned to more giveaways this summer!