The Global Scavenger Hunt
A travel competition takes travelers around the world for charity.
Imagine taking three weeks to travel across the globe with a partner. The Global Scavenger Hunt provides air fare and interesting events in destinations across the world.
What is the Global Scavenger Hunt?
The GreatEscape2007: The Global Scavenger Hunt is the 4th annual travel competition that takes players around the world on a global scavenger hunt. It sounds like TV's The Amazing Race, but it's quite different in important ways. In a conversation with William Chalmers, the Event Director for GreatEscape2007, he told me that - unlike The Amazing Race - The Global Scavenger Hunt involves genuine cultural immersion, with tasks like entering a camel race in India and learning to belly dance in Turkey. It is also different than The Amazing Race in that good karma comes from raising a million dollars for UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders, and other worthy charities. The winning team gets crowned "The World's Greatest Travelers."
When is The Global Scavenger Hunt?
It's in the Spring every year. In 2007, it runs for three weeks from April 13 to May 5th. This is a pleasant time of year for most countries around the world, in terms of weather.
This is a luxury travel column. The Global Scavenger Hunt sounds pretty rough. What gives?
Well, if luxury travel was confined to pool side drinks at luxury resort hotels, life would be pretty boring. It's a luxury, too, to take the time to really interact with friendly people in other cultures. But, for the less-than Lonely Planet crowd, please be assured that The Global Scavenger Hunt is a luxury event in many ways. Great luxury hotels, stays in castles, palaces and small family-run boutique hotels and B&Bs are all places to which the GreatEscape2007 organizers have led their teams in the past. Not to mention the delicious cuisine that hasn't been watered down for the supposedly wimpy Western palates.
How many people can participate in The GreatEscape2007: The Global Scavenger Hunt?
The Global Scavenger Hunt accepts only 25 groups of two for this exclusive contest. In other words, fifty adventure travelers interested in genuine cultural immersion in friendly, accessible places in the world, will have a round-the-world trip of a lifetime.
What's the prize?
This is a non-profit event, raising money for international humanitarian charities. As such, there is no prize money per se, simply the glory of being titled "The World's Greatest Travelers," a crown, and the chance for the winners to defend their title - for free - the following year. For true travel buffs, the chance to see even more different countries and meet more interesting people next year, is worth its weight in gold.
Where will the teams go?
GreatEscape2007: The Global Scavenger Hunt organizers are very hush-hush about the exact locations - that would give away the game. However, it starts in Los Angeles, heading west, and ends in NYC. William Chalmers was able to tell me that the circumnavigation of the globe includes stops in 10 countries on 4 continents that may include Japan, China, India, Greece, Italy, Morocco and Portugal. The contest is billed as "A Blind Date with the World."
Besides camel racing and belly dancing, what other kinds of things are the contestants expected to do?
No one knows what tasks the scavenger - travelers will do from year to year; it's a surprise. The teams amass points at each location, and whoever collects the most points, wins. Examples given include, for 25 points, a visit to the "Temple of Love" and finding a soothsayer who uses an unusual assistant. Winning teams went to the Taj Mahal, and found fortune-teller Toothy Malya, who uses a 60-year old monkey as his helper. Great stuff!
The above is just one example of the cultural immersion, the genuine connection between cultures, that happens during The Global Scavenger Hunt. No PDAs, no handheld GPS devices, just pure, open human interaction. It sounds like the trip of a lifetime, to me.
Copyright Jennifer Miner and Suite 101. All rights reserved.
