FTF Teen Travel Writing Scholarship

Have you ever taken an unexpectedly wonderful --- or terrible but funny --- trip with your family? Or have you journeyed somewhere with a school group or sports team and have some advice on how to make the most of your experience or destination? Have you gone somewhere -- near or far -- that opened up new ways of looking at the world? Family Travel Forum (FTF), the web's leading trip-planning resource for family travelers, and the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW), a non-profit organization that promotes responsible journalism and encourages the conservation and preservation of travel resources worldwide, are offering a scholarship to encourage teens to share their travel experiences in words and images.

The rules of the annual FTF Teen Travel Writing Scholarship are simple: Submit your essay telling us and your peers about where you went and what it meant to you, what worked and what didn't work, what you learned from the trip, or how it changed you. Bring other travelers into the world you visited. It can be funny, serious, contemplative, whatever... as well as informative.

The top three winners will receive cash awards and hotel stays. Twenty-five finalists will win honorable mention awards and travel gifts. All finalists will be published on Family Travel Forum's travelBIGO.com, the site for the Before I Get Old crowd.

Please read the Rules below carefully to ensure eligibility. Good Luck!

Awards

First Place: $1,000
Second Place: $500
Third Place: $200

First, Second and Third Place winners will also receive two "Be Our Guest" certificates good for a one-night family stay at any of the more than 300 Homewood Suites Hotels in the US, Canada and Mexico!

25 Honorable Mentions: 2 Tickets to any of the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museums worldwide and other travel prizes.
1 Honorary Award for Best Photography
1 Honorary Award for Best Video

All winners will receive a Family Travel Forum Certificate of Commendation and all stories that make it to final rounds will be published on the travelBIGO.com website.

Rules

Eligibility for FTF Teen Travel Writing Scholarship

All applicants must sign up for the travelBIGO.com community prior to submitting an essay.
Applications will be accepted between May 1, 2010 and August 1, 2010
Applicants must be ages 13-18 and attending grades 8-12 as of May 15, 2010.
The travel experience you write about must have occurred between the ages of 12-18, and within the last three years.
Applicants must be attending junior high or high school in the United States or Canada, or an American school abroad, or be enrolled in a U.S. homeschool program.

Submission Requirements for FTF Teen Travel Writing Scholarship

Essays must be no more than 600 words in length.
Entries must include text and be illustrated by at least one photo, digital artwork or video.
Essays must include practical details about your travels so that others can choose to follow in your footsteps. Details may include names of resorts, hotels or cruise ships, the local beach, organized volunteer and teen tour programs, URLs for places you went, etc.
Essays must be submitted online using the Scholarship Essay Submission Form. Please use the editing tools provided to make paragraph breaks or add punctuation, and to upload your photos and/or video.
All applications must be received no later than 7:59pm ET on August 1, 2010. Late entries will not be considered.
Your essay must be your original creation and must not have been previously published.
Multiple submissions are not allowed and we accept only one essay per entrant.

If you are notified that you are a Finalist, you will be contacted after October 24, 2010 and asked to send a copy of your transcript from your school, as well as a permission letter from your parents if you are under 18. More information about the Parent Permission Letter is available on the Scholarship FAQ page. These documents must be received by email, fax or snail mail by November 1, 2010.

Judging the FTF Teen Travel Writing Scholarship

Essays will be judged on originality, quality of expression, and a sense of place, as well as in accordance with standard rules of English grammar, mechanics and spelling. A panel of esteemed professional writers and editors from the Society of American Travel Writers will make the final selection of winners. You may read more about past Scholarship Judges online.

All applicants will be contacted by email when the Judges have completed selecting the Quarter-Final round of essays and posted them online. All posted essays remain eligible for other prizes, such as the Punzabo, given to most popular travel tale selected by the BIGO community. Please update your online Account Info if your email address changes during the scholarship period.
Only Finalists will be contacted for follow up documents.

The FTF Teen Travel Writing Scholarship Winners

If you are not contacted and wish to view the winning entries, please visit travelBIGO.com and FamilyTravelForum.com after November 15, 2010, when the 2010 1st, 2nd, 3rd place and honorable mention essays will be announced.

The work of 2007, 2008 and 2009 Scholarship Winners is currently posted online at travelBIGO.com.

FTF Teen Travel Scholarship Essay Submission Form

FTF Teen Travel Writing Scholarship FAQ

**Thanks to our 2010 Scholarship Sponsors!**