Vayama-Etihad Airways "Abu Dhabi Trip Winner"

I want to thank everyone that took the time to vote and comment on my photo for the Abu Dhabi trip. I don't know how many votes I got, it never showed, but I had 108 comments. The closest competitor had 18.

Thank you very much!

Below is the winning photo! It was taken during a sunset near Tongariro National Park, New Zealand. It is on the North Island in the central portion about an hour and a half south of Taupo.

I learned about the contest through Facebook and I strongly recommend others that like winning free things sign up for them. People do actually win!

I have to use the two free airline tickets by October 31, 2013. I am going to be flying to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in November of 2012. My hope is to be able to by a ticket for a two week trip. During that time I will be visiting Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Dubai.

The plane tickets are about $400 in order to include the other 3 countries, however, to fly there myself would be about $2,500. I think it will be worth the small investment.

The trip I won only includes the two free tickets, so all other expenses I will have to cover. Based on my knowledge of cheap travel I'm planning to spend about $1,000 total. The accommodations are somewhat expensive in this part of the world.

I would like to go in November due to weather. I went to Dubai in June of 2010 and that was a mistake. It was 110 degrees everyday with 99% humidity. It was unbearable.

I will be posting information about my trip plans and information about each country in the near future.

I wish I had known about these contests sooner. I am now going to be a professional contest winner!