The Launch of the Ultimate Train Challenge
The Ultimate Train Challenge is a 30 day adventure of a lifetime. Saigon to Lisbon (or the other way around) all in 30 days and all on trains. Great prizes to be won, aside from the glory of being able to say you are the greatest train traveler.
Online, August 18, 2012 (Newswire.com) - The Ultimate Train Challenge has returned for 2012 and this time the public is welcome to join in this fun adventure. The Challenge was born out of the question: "What is the world record for longest, continuous train journey?" Being a fan of train travel, Michael Hodson wondered this as he traveled through South America in 2010. The next year, he set off with two of his travel blogging friends to answer that question and succeeded -- 30 days, all travel by trains, from Lisbon, Portugal to Saigon, Vietnam.
This year's Ultimate Train Challenge (UTC12) is going to be held in November and is open to the general public. The official website is www.YourWorldNoRules.com and all of the details of the event are there.
Some details of note include the new possibility of traveling from Lisbon to Saigon or vice versa (whereas it was only from Lisbon to Saigon last year). All travel must start on November 1st and be completed by midnight on November 30th, done exclusively on trains. The fee for participating is $275 for the first ten people that sign up, $350 for the next ten people and $425 for everyone thereafter. All travel logistics, including securing the necessary visas and travel expenses, including train tickets and lodging along the way are up to the participant to arrange and pay for on their own. Participants will be able to blog about their travels on the www.YourWorldNoRules.com website and also be able to utilize the real-time mapping feature to keep family and friends up-to-date on their progress. The organizers of the UTC12 will host a kick-off and wrap-up party in both Lisbon and Saigon for the participants.
In addition to those benefits, the UTC12 has secured some fantastic prizes available to those that sign up. Intrepid The first person to cross the finish line in both directions will receive a 15-day tour from Intrepid Travel valued in excess of $1,600 each. Moreover, the two participants chosen as having submitted the Best Train Photo and Best Journey Video on will each receive a 10-day Global Eurail pass valued at approximately $700 each. Additionally, UTC12 will be raffling off another 10-day Global Eurail pass among those participants that have signed up by the end of the month. Participants will also receive a discount of 10% on any day tour they book with Urban Adventures and also a buy-five-get-one-free offer from them also, all of which are valid through the end of the year. Additional prizes, giveaways and sponsor discounts will be announced in the coming weeks.
UTC12 also has agreed to support the Vietnamese charity Blue Dragon Children's Foundation for the challenge. CHARITY DETAILS. They are asking each participant to raise $500 for that charity as part of their participation and Intrepid Travel has agreed to match each contribution dollar for dollar, up to a total of $10,000.
In addition to the website, www.YourWorldNoRules.com, people can keep up news and updates via the UTC12 Twitter feed, @trainchallenge, and their Facebook Fan page, www.facebook.com/yourworldnorules.
For any questions about this or any follow up questions regarding UTC12, please feel free to email Michael Hodson at michaelshodson@yahoo.com