Tweet to Win Travel Giveaway with #ExpediaFindYours

Travel bliss. What’s that mean to you? For me, it’s falling in love with the man I now call my husband while camping on the side of the Colorado River in Moab, Utah. (Any dude who surprises me with early morning pancakes on his camp stove is a winner in my book.) It’s watching my kids master snorkeling in Mexico. It’s drinking way too many mai tais with a girlfriend in Hawaii. It’s sunsets and surfing, ziplines and helicopter rides. Skiing, snowbiling, tubing. Lots of laughs. Staying up way too late… and sleeping in. Chocolate for breakfast.

Oh, how travel makes me happy, enhances my life and enriches my relationships — whether it’s travel halfway around the world or vacationing in my own backyard. I’ve found such bliss — peaceful joy — in recent years, exploring with family and friends.

And I’m delighted to partner with Expedia, an innovative travel brand that is talking about these personal, experiential, intangible aspects of travel. With its “Find Yours” messaging, Expedia invites its online users to find their bliss, calm,  wonder…  fill in the blank.

If you haven’t seen Expedia’s poignant and moving television commercial yet, check it out here. And via this link, you’ll see other videos related to the Find Yours promotion. (I’m particularly thrilled to see the Passports with Purpose travelblogger fundraiser featured in this Find Yours campaign; it’s a worthy organization The Vacation Gals have been involved with since its inception.)

In celebration of the launch of this Find Yours campaign, Expedia has teamed up with The Vacation Gals and some other blogs to give away some really cool prizes. Here are the details:

• The campaign is called the Expedia Find Yours Twitter Photo Contest. It kicks off today and runs through Tuesday, July 31.
• Ten bloggers are each giving away a $250 Expedia travel voucher (for use for a hotel stay or flight + hotel). Participating bloggers are listed here.
• To enter to win the Expedia travel voucher, all you have to do is Tweet a photo, #ExpediaFindYours and one of our hashtagged key words. Mine is #bliss. For example, you could Tweet: “I found my #bliss on a deserted beach on Kauai. #ExpediaFindYours” with a photo of that beach, and you’d be entered to win the $250 Expedia credit I’m giving away. Tweet another blogger’s key word, and you’ll be entered to win his/her/their Expedia credit. (So, in effect, if you Tweet with each of the hashtags, you’ll be entered to win a $250 credit from each of us — enter 10 times!)
  
• EVERYONE who Tweets a photo, a key word hashtag and the #ExpediaFindYours hashtag between today and July 31 (11:59 p.m. PT) is entered to win a four-night stay in Aruba at Bucuti & Tara Beach Resorts.

Make sense? (If not, ask me questions in the comments below, and I’ll amend this post!) You can also read all of the Terms & Conditions here.

In the meantime, I cannot wait to see your Tweeted photos with the hashtags #bliss and #ExpediaFindYours! (Add @karasw or @thevacationgals, and I promise I’ll retweet you.)

For example, this candid photo, which hangs in my living room, epitomizes, for me, pure bliss. I’m cuddling with my youngest on a chilly June morning in Rocky Mountain National Park a few years ago. I look at the image, and I can feel his little, warm body in my lap. In true form, he’s squirming away when I try to plant a kiss on his head. But he’s grinning, and so am I. And I’d like to think that when he looks at this photo when he’s a grown man (and way too big to fit my lap), he’ll remember his Mama who took him camping, and his Dad who taught him to fish, and he’ll know he’s loved.

Don’t forget to follow @Expedia on Twitter. Read the rules. And start Tweeting! Have fun!

Disclaimer: The Vacation Gals will be compensated for participating in this #ExpediaFindYours campaign, as will the other nine participating blogs. Of the participating blogs, the blogger whose hashtagged key word receives the most Tweets and re-Tweets will also win a 4-night stay at the Bucati & Tara Beach Resorts. (So feel free to Tweet #bliss and #ExpediaFindYours a lot!)