The madness is over.
When SAS EuroBonus launched a promotion to earn one million miles by flying 15 different SkyTeam airlines by the end of 2024, it felt like it was calling out our name. Given Frequent Miler’s history of past challenges like 40K to Far Away, 3 Cards 3 Continents, and Flying by the Seat of our Points (among others), this SAS promotion is not just in our wheelhouse, it might as well be our wheelhouse. We knew it. Readers knew it.
Similar to our last challenge, Flying by the Seat of our Points, we had three team members travelling and competing for the glory that only a championship can bring (Greg, Nick and Stephen), while two of us stayed behind to hold the fort together and judge the contestant’s every move (Carrie and Tim).
Now that Greg, Nick and Stephen are all back at home, it’s time to take a breath and look back at what happened…and more importantly, decide who won!
How we’re scoring the challenge
Each of the contestants will be placed 1-3 in each of the four categories below and awarded the following points based on where they placed:
- 1st Place – 25
- 2nd Place – 20
- 3rd Place – 15
- Speed: Who completed the challenge the fastest from the moment their first flight departs to the moment it lands.
- Affordability: Who spent the least on flights, accommodation, visas, transfers, etc. Food and activities are not a part of the affordability score for this challenge.
- Style: Fast and cheap is good. Fast, cheap, and in style is better. Carrie and Tim will be judging each contestants trip for the level of “style” that they show us: comfort, creativity, fun, local experiences, enjoying airport lounges, etc.
- Audience Winner: See the poll at the end of this post to weigh in on who did the best job combining all three elements of Million Mile Madness. The result will hold the exact same weight as Carrie and Tim’s.
In addition, there are some additional ways that each contestant can wrack up some points:
- Extra Credit: There were five activities that are worth 2 points, required video evidence and could be earned by each contestant for a maximum of 10 bonus points per person.
- “Best Of” awards: On top of all of those extra credit opportunities, we’ll be passing out 10 “Best of” awards during the final livestream next Tuesday. Each one is worth 2 points.
- Personal missions: During our last, pre-challenge Ask Us Anything, we invited each of the contestants to tell us about one aspect of their trip that they were confident would leave the other two trailing in their wake – some might call it “trash talk.” We then turned that confidence into personal missions specific to each person. Each “mission” is worth 3 points.
- Tell us your story: The only way readers, listeners and judges can stay up-to-date on their adventures is if they tell us…or show us! This time around, we expected that each contestant would give us video AND journal updates daily. This is no small feat, and if they could manage it during the whole trip, there would be riches in store. If they fell asleep at the keyboard, the results could be disastrous:
- Perfect (don’t miss a single update) – +5 points.
- Only miss one update – We forgive you.
- Miss 2 updates – 5% reduction in total score.
- Miss 3 updates – 7% reduction in total score.
- Miss 4 updates – 10% reduction in total score.
- Miss 5 or more updates – Automatic 3rd place finish.
Side by Side Stats
| Greg | Nick | Stephen | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Time | 9:02 | 12:19:45 | 10:05:28 |
| SAS Challenge Time | 6:22:50 | 12:19:45 | 10:05:28 |
| Distance (Miles) | 31,090 | 33,317 | 34,620 |
| Number flights | 23 | 22 | 24 |
| Number premium flights | 7 | 3 | 4 |
| Premium % | 30% | 14% | 17% |
| Total Cost (including point RRVs) | $8,265 | $6,199 | $5,106 |
| Total Cash Cost | $4,230 | $4,592 | $3,720 |
| Cost for SAS Qualifying Flights | $3,147 | $2,763 | $3,201 |
| Hotel Nights | 6 | 10 | 5 |
| Hotel Nights as % of Trip | 70% | 78% | 49% |
| Total Hotel Cost (including point RRVs) | $1,304 | $1,070 | $587 |
| Out of pocket hotel costs | $12 | $1,070 | $377 |
Million Mile Madness Results
Without further ado, here’s the final results of the Million Madness Challenge:
- Speed: 1st – Greg (25 pts), 2nd – Stephen (20 pts), 3rd – Nick (15 pts)
- Affordability: 1st – Stephen (25 pts), 2nd – Nick (20 pts), 3rd – Greg (15 pts)
- Style: 1st – Greg (25 pts), 2nd – Nick (20 pts), 3rd – Stephen (15 pts)
- Audience Winner: 1st – Greg (25 pts), 2nd – Nick (20 pts), 3rd – Stephen (15 pts)
- Extra Credit: Greg -10 pts, Nick – 8 pts (missed the extra credit for petting a furry friend), Stephen – 8 pts (missed extra credit for learning something from a local)
- “Best Of” awards: Stephen – 8 pts, Nick – 6 pts, Stephen – 6 pts
- Personal missions: Greg – 3 pts (fastest to 15 carriers), Nick – 0 pts (most cities visited and audience choice), Stephen – 0 pts (beat Greg by 2 days and Nick by 4)
- Journal Bonus: Greg – 0 pts (missed one update), Nick – 5 pts, Stephen – 5 pts
| Greg | Nick | Stephen | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speed | 25 | 15 | 20 |
| Affordability | 15 | 20 | 25 |
| Style | 25 | 20 | 15 |
| Audience Choice | 25 | 20 | 15 |
| Extra Credit | 10 | 8 | 8 |
| Best of awards | 6 | 6 | 8 |
| Personal Missions | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Journal Bonus | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Total | 109 | 94 | 96 |
| Final Place | 1st | 3rd | 2nd |
And the winner is…
Greg the Frequent Miler! In the end, after all the points were counted, it was neck and neck between Stephen and Greg with the final outcome resting on the audience choice award.
After four days and well over 1,200 votes, Greg was the people’s choice with 41% of the total, making him the winner! It was hard-fought and each of our three contestants showed plenty of creativity, know-how and determination in traveling around the world in the quest to become a SAS millionaire.
Congrats to Greg for killing the SAS EuroBonus Challenge with style, speed and panache. You’re the 2024 second annual challenge champion!
Trip Summaries
Greg the Frequent Miler
Greg’s Trip Stats
- Total Time: 9:02:05
- Time it took to complete SAS challenge: 6:22:50
- Total Distance travelled: 31,090 miles
- Total flight legs: 23
- Number of legs in a premium cabin: 7
- Premium Cabin percentage: 30%
- Total Cost (including points and miles): $8,265
- Out of pocket cash cost: $4,230
- Cost of qualifying flights to complete challenge: $3,147
- Points, miles and credits used: $170 Hotel.com GC, 182,500 AA miles, 28,400 Marriott pts, $220 Hilton credit, 95,000 Hilton points, 25,500 Delta SkyMiles, 25K Hyatt points.
- Hotel Nights: 6
- Hotel Nights as percentage of trip: 70%
- Total Hotel Cost (including points and miles): $1,304
- Out of pocket hotel cost: $12
Highlights
Here are some of Greg’s trip updates that caught our attention the most. We’ve reviewed the blog and Instagram reactions to include your thoughts in this assessment as well!
- Etihad First Apartments from Paris to Abu Dhabi – You all loved the Armani pajamas, two different wine tastings, and of course the incredibly spacious apartment!
- Blade helicopter ride and free massage in New York City – Greg started his trip with buckets of style. First, he used a $300 Equinox credit from his Amex Platinum to get a free massage treatment before he jumped on his Europe, then rode to the airport in style using a complimentary blade helicopter transfer.
- The Conrad Tokyo Hotel – Once again, you all seem to love sleepwear because the Conrad pajamas really caught your attention, as well as the beautiful room tour.
- Using points and miles – While Greg’s trip came in at by far the highest total cost, his out of pocket cash outlay was right in the same ballpark as Stephen and Nick’s trip, as was his cost of flights to complete the challenge. How did that happen? He used a ton of points and miles to make his trip more luxurious. Maybe he should start a blog some day!
- Sushi-making classes with a real Sushi Master and hedgehog petting at Harry’s Hedgehog Shop – These two outings in Tokyo had you all equally excited, and maybe a little jealous too. Hedgehogs may be prickly, but when you bribe them with little worms, they’re quite cuddly and cute too!<
View this post on Instagram - The JAL First Class experience, including 100th Anniversary Edition Hibiki – When Greg successfully made it onto a flight that is brag-worthy in its own right, but also gave him access to a very exclusive whiskey that happens to have sentimental value for the team (from our Party of 5 ANA first class suites experience together), you were all suddenly trying to find an application for working at Frequent Miler.
View this post on Instagram
Lowlights
Using your feedback from Instagram to help assess Greg’s highs and lows, here are some of Greg’s trip lowlights:
- Isn’t this trip expensive? – Some of you couldn’t help but notice Greg’s more relaxed approach to the budget.
- Did Greg get out enough? – Greg slayed it in New York, Copenhagen and Tokyo with his on the ground activities. In between it was a little sparse, although part of that was the weather in Hangzhou (see below).
- Hangzhou busts – Greg was a little too late for the night markets in Hangzhou, and then the weather didn’t cooperate for his boat ride goals the next morning.
View this post on Instagram
Nick Reyes
Nick’s Trip Stats
- Total Time: 12:19:45
- Time it took to complete SAS challenge: 12:19:45
- Total Distance travelled: 33,317
- Total flight legs: 22 + 2 ground transit legs between cities
- Number of legs in a premium cabin: 3
- Premium Cabin percentage: 14%
- Total Cost (including points and miles): $6,199
- Out of pocket cash cost: $4,592
- Cost of flights needed to complete challenge: $2,763
- Points, miles and credits used: Amex airline incidental fee credit ($200), 102,500 AA miles, 8,000 United miles
- Hotel Nights: 10
- Hotel Nights as percentage of trip: 78%
- Total Hotel Cost (including points and miles): $1,070
- Out of pocket hotel cost: $1,070
Highlights
Here’s what got us the most excited during Nick’s trip:
- Therme Bucharest – Everyone was excited to see Nick’s visit to a water-park-meets-spa, Therme Bucharest. This was in the middle of a stretch of several days where this was the only real on-the-ground activity we saw from any of our competitors!
View this post on Instagram - Taipei food and language outing with Nick’s local friend – As it turns out, there are a number of Xiao Long Bao fans in our audience! You were excited to see Nick trying local delicacies like these.
- Gulangyu and the Terra Cotta Warriors – Some of you were excited to learn about a new off-the-beaten-path destination with the Gulangyu “piano island” visit, and even more of you were thrilled to see Nick visiting the terra cotta warriors in Xi’an. Either way, you loved seeing Nick take advantage of his 10-year China visa with some worthy destinations.
View this post on InstagramView this post on Instagram - Etihad First Class Apartments – Then of course, you were all super excited to see Nick going after those style points with the exact reverse of Greg’s Etihad First Class Apartments itinerary.
Lowlights
According to your own feedback, here are some of Nick’s trip lowlights:
- What about speed? – Nick was intentional. Verrrry intentional. Traveling ~50% longer than either of his competitors, some folks felt like Nick forgot that speed was even a part of this challenge.
- Missed flight – Nick was the only competitor to actually miss a flight…and he did it before he even left New York.
- What, you don’t like animals? Nick was the only one of our competitors to not take the time to relax with a furry friend…which was what we thought the easiest extra credit assignment would be.
- No breakfast for Nick – At least a few of us were amused by how impossible it was for Nick to score free breakfast in the many Priority Pass lounges of Incheon Airport before his long Air Asia flight.
View this post on Instagram
Stephen “the Sultan of Savings” Pepper
Stephen’s Trip Stats
- Total Time: 10:05:28
- Time it took to complete SAS challenge: 10:05:28
- Total Distance travelled: 34,620
- Total flight legs: 24
- Number of legs in a premium cabin: 4
- Premium Cabin percentage: 17%
- Total Cost (including points and miles): $5,106
- Out of pocket cash cost: $3,720
- Cost of flights needed to complete challenge: $3,201
- Points, miles and credits used: 21,500 AA miles, IHG fixed 40K cert, 12,500 Aeroplan points, 56,000 Flying Blue miles.
- Hotel Nights: 5
- Hotel Nights as percentage of trip: 49%
- Total Hotel Cost (including points and miles): $587
- Out of pocket hotel cost: $377
Highlights
For Stephen, there were quite a few things that got us excited:
- Hotel upgrades, including InterContinental Athenee Palace Bucharest – Our viewers noticed that, especially in the first half, Stephen’s travels included some very restful accommodations, often with upgrades. The InterContinental Athenee Palace Bucharest seemed especially nice.
- Last-minute Garuda Business Class – Many of you were very grateful to see Stephen switch up his plans to avoid a 10-hour economy flight on Saudia, opting for a Garuda Business class flight instead.
View this post on Instagram - Cheap, Cheap – Stephen Pepper prides himself on being a cheap date, and he showed it by coming in first in affordability.
- 15 Priority Pass Lounges! – Our viewers appreciated the extra-credit task Stephen gave himself, making sure to visit 15 different Priority Pass lounges during his journey, even if it meant visiting one in Vegas when he landed!
View this post on Instagram
Lowlights
According to your own feedback, here are some of Stephen’s trip lowlights:
- Show us more! – Our viewers love Stephen and they always want to see more of him.
- Not much local interaction – Stephen was the only competitor to not take advantage of the extra credit for learning something from a local. In fact, we didn’t get to see a ton of him in exotic, non-airport locales at all.
- Rained out in Bucharest – Just like Greg in Hangzhou, Stephen got rained out of his planned activities in Bucharest.
View this post on Instagram
“Best of” Award Nominees
Carrie and Tim were kind enough to give the fellas a ton of opportunities to earn additional points: extra credit, personal missions, journals and “Best Of” awards. They had ten different categories that they could win…some of them are quantitative, others are up to the judges to decide who won. Below you’ll find our nominees for Best Flight, Best Hotel, Best Video Update, Best Local Food Experience, Best Selfie with an FM hat on and Best Airport Activity.
We’ll announce the winners during the final livestream next Tuesday night…in the meantime, let us know in the comments who we should pick for each category!
Best hotel
Greg – Conrad Tokyo
We often hear about the Conrad Tokyo as being one of the best “luxury values” on points in Tokyo. Greg celebrated completing his 15 carrier challenge by turning “putting on the ritz” in a beautiful room with view over Tokyo Bay.
View this post on Instagram
Nick – Canopy Xi’an
Easily the most eye-catching hotel in Nick’s travels was a brand that we don’t see a ton about – Canopy by Hilton. Nick was looking to brush up on some hand-to-hand combat skills before his encounter with the Terracotta Warriors and found the perfect place to practice at the hotel…boxing ring?
View this post on Instagram
Stephen (winner) – Intercontinental Athenee Bucharest
Stephen stayed in some nice hotels in Europe, but this Intercontinental in Bucharest, Romania was our favorite. He scored a sweet suite upgrade (see what we did there) and took a well-stocked club lounge for all he could.
View this post on Instagram
Best flight
Greg (winner) – Etihad Apartments Paris – Abu Dhabi
Greg had a pretty spectacular trip from Europe to Asia, stacking up Etihad First Apartments and Qatar business class for hours upon hours of food and good sleep. While on Etihad, he decided that only thing better than trying one wine off of the stellar wine list would be to taste all of them! The flight attendants were game and took him on a multi-course food and wine odyssey.
View this post on Instagram
Nick – Etihad Apartments Abu Dhabi – Paris
Nick had a great idea: fly one of the best First Class products in the air. He took advantage of a great sweet spot, booking the fabulous Etihad Apartments between Abu Dhabi and Paris – which Nick will tell you is waaay better than going from Paris to Abu Dhabi like Greg did.
View this post on Instagram
Stephen – Garuda Business Class Riyadh – Jakarta
Stephen was the only person that held to his economy roots when transiting between Europe and Asia…until he realized that meant spending 10+ hours in the back of a Saudia plane. Luckily, a cooler Pepper prevailed and he diverted at the last minute to a business class flight on Garuda.
View this post on Instagram
Best local food experience
Greg – Sushi Making in Tokyo
When in Tokyo, roll sushi! Greg didn’t waste the opportunity by learning how to make sushi from a Michelin-starred sushi master during his day exploring Tokyo. By his own admission, the Frequent Miler is usually terrible at cooking…but he found out that he was a natural with rice and raw fish.
View this post on Instagram
Nick (winner) – Bubble Tea and Dim Sum in Taipei
Nick combined learning something from a local AND a food experience in one terrific day where gave it his best go at learning how to order bubble tea and dim sum in Taipei.
View this post on Instagram
Stephen – Pho in Vietnam
Stephen took some time away from the non-stop travel to enjoy a hot stone massage, followed by a steaming-hot bowl of pho in Vietnam.
View this post on Instagram
Best video update
Greg (winner) – Mystery animal at Harry’s Hedgehogs
Greg took his extra-credit mission of finding an animal to pet very seriously, visiting a Hedgehog shop which also had another little mystery animal to visit…ever heard of a “Mia Cat?”
View this post on Instagram
Nick – Hotel laundry how-to!
It seems a lot of you either found Nick’s laundry hotel hack useful or fascinating, but this video got more likes than almost any other video of the challenge!
View this post on Instagram
Stephen – Reunion with Truffles
Who does heartwarming better than Stephen’s adorable dog Truffles. Their long-awaited reunion was a classic!
View this post on Instagram
Best selfie with a Frequent Miler hat on
Greg – Fine wine tasting at 35,000 feet in Etihad First Class Apartments
Nick – Enjoying the Christmas Markets in Vienna
Stephen (winner) – With a Thomas Dambo troll
Best airport activity
Greg – Japan Airlines First Class Lounge Haneda
This lounge included several different areas with different ambiances and Greg visited/reviewed them all! The Red Suite seemed to impress him the most with its speakeasy-type vibe!
View this post on Instagram
Nick – Etihad First Lounge Abu Dhabi
Nick got himself a complimentary massage in the Etihad First Class Lounge in Abu Dhabi, and despite not liking massages much (…what???) he actually enjoyed this one!
View this post on Instagram
Stephen (winner) – Butterfly Gardens Singapore
Stephen always finds a way to explore the many interesting exhibits at the Singapore airport, including this beautiful and unique butterfly garden!
View this post on Instagram
Vote for the winner of Million Mile Madness
Before we get to the audience vote, we gave each of our competitors one, final chance to give their pitch to as to why they’re the obvious winner.
Why Greg thinks that he should win
I had three goals for this trip, and I crushed them all…
-
Do it fast. I wanted to get back to my family as quickly as possible. And, indeed I did. It took me only 9 days from start to finish.
-
Do it in style. I wanted to fly in luxury as much as was feasible. And, indeed, I did. All of my longest flights were in peak luxury: Etihad First Apartments (~7 hours); Qatar business class (~10 hours); and JAL first class (~12 hours). And all were booked with AA miles at incredibly reasonably prices. Other luxuries included two first class lounges (along with countless other lounges); 7 nights in luxury and high-end hotels; a full body Equinox massage; and a helicopter ride to JFK. Sightseeing was not one of my objectives for this trip, but I still managed to explore Copenhagen, experience Bucharest’s night life in Old Town, enjoy an invigorating run through Jeddah’s airport, explore West Lake China, take a Sushi Master’s sushi making class in Tokyo, and hold hedgehogs and pet a meerkat at a hedgehog cafe.
-
My secret mission was to acquire Hibiki’s 100th Anniversary Suntory Whiskey, which is only available to JAL and ANA first class passengers for a limited time! Following our Party of 5 adventure in 2023 where the entire team enjoyed a whiskey tasting aboard ANA first class and declared Hibiki the undisputed winner, I knew Hibiki’s 100th anniversary whiskey would make the perfect nightcap to this trip around the world. The problem was that first class award space wasn’t available when I started the trip. It wasn’t even available once I finished all 15 SkyTeam flights. But an award seat finally appeared on the day I was set to go home whiskey-less. I cancelled those backup plans and booked JAL first class (which was fantastic!) and bought the Hibiki on that flight. I can’t wait to share it with the team at our next in-person meet!
Why Nick thinks that he should win
The Million Mile Madness challenge pushed us to complete flying 15 qualifying SkyTeam carriers with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style. I was the slowest of the three of us, so why should readers vote for me?
I think it’s pretty simple: I completed the challenge in a reasonably quick amount of time (~13 days to fly 15 qualifying airlines!), I did it without wasting too many dimes, and I had a great time.
When it comes to style, I matched several of Greg’s top elements: Qatar business class from the Middle East to Asia; Etihad Apartments first class between the Middle East and Europe; a complimentary massage (albeit a shorter one!) in the Etihad first class lounge (although you could make the argument that Stephen’s inexpensive massage beats both of our massage elements). But I also added my own “style” by taking advantage of layovers along the way to spend extra time in Copenhagen (and get a great dinner at Slurp Ramen Joint!), spend a day relaxing at the largest wellness center in Europe at Therme Bucharest, visit a friend in Taipei for dinner and learn some Chinese words, visit Gulangyu Island (the “Piano Island), a UNESCO World Heritage site in Xiamen, visit another UNESCO World Heritage site in the Terracotta Army in Xi’an, and spend a day wandering the Christmas Markets of Vienna before capping things off with delicious tapas and sangria in Barcelona — and at far, far less total cost than Greg!
No, I didn’t beat Stephen on affordability, but I gave him a fair run for his money (and I might have been able to beat him without the Etihad first class award!). When it comes to bang for your buck, I think my trip was hard to beat. Did I visit more Priority Pass lounges than Stephen? No, probably not. Could I have done more if I spent more? Sure. Did Greg have a killer finish with the special edition Hibiki that I know he genuinely looks forward to sharing with the team and that I can’t wait to taste? Absolutely. But did anyone combine Speed, Affordability, and Style better than I did? If you think so, then by all means vote for the person who did.
Why Stephen thinks that he should win
If you’re going to fly all around the world to earn one million miles, it seemed to me that the most important factor would be to do it as cheaply as possible – especially when you’re doing it on your boss’s dime! Affordability was therefore what I regarded as the most important of the three main categories and I managed to complete the challenge while spending the least of all three of us.
There was a fairly significant difference in affordability too. Nick spent an extra 20% than I did, while Greg spent a whopping 62% more than me. Despite that, I was still extremely competitive with my speed against Greg considering he was able to spend more to obtain optimal flight timings, while it took Nick 2.5 more days to complete his journey than I did – a pretty big difference on speed. Despite all that, I managed to fly the most miles of us all at a much lower cost than the other contestants.
Despite spending the least of all three of us, I still managed to travel in style. I got excellent value from my American Airlines positioning flights, flew business class or first class four times, had numerous rows to myself or empty middle seats when flying in economy and visited 15 different Priority Pass lounges to match the 15 different SkyTeam airlines that I flew.
I’m also proud of the fact that I had a 100% success rate getting a suite upgrade at hotels where it was possible to get a suite. That didn’t even include any Hyatt stays where I would’ve been eligible for a suite upgrade thanks to my Globalist status; instead, I received those suite upgrades with IHG, Marriott and Hilton. The Marriott upgrade was courtesy of redeeming a Nightly Upgrade Award which most people struggle to get any success with, so that’s probably worth a win in its own right 😉
I was therefore able to complete the challenge most affordably by a large margin, in a speedy way and in far more style than might’ve been expected considering how much less I spent than Greg and Nick. If you agree, then vote for me!
Million Mile Madness Reader / Viewer Poll
Ok, now it’s your turn. Each of our competitors has finished their Million Mile Madness and, like they say in sports, “the tape doesn’t lie.” Now that you’ve seen what each of them did to obtain their SAS glory, it’s time for the audience to weigh in. Like the other three categories, the “people’s choice” winner will get 25 points, 2nd place will get 20 and 3rd will have a sort of respectable 15 points.
Who do you think combined speed, affordability and style the best?
Who do you think won Million Mile Madness?
- Greg (42%, 558 Votes)
- Nick (34%, 452 Votes)
- Stephen (25%, 332 Votes)
Total Voters: 1,342
Loading ...
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
Well deserved Greg!
Recount!!
Congratulations to Greg.
The friendly and strong competition among you is inspiring. I learned a lot by following along.
Conspiracy theory:
Starting to think the game was rigged so that each contestant got 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in three different categories. LOL
Stephen! Fast and least expensive with occasional luxury!
The vote button on the top of the page does not work for me. Am I the only one?
Me too, been trying to vote for Stephen – won’t register. Tested Greg, all of a sudden it registered. Something was wrong with coding in the poll.
Once again, a fantastic and fun challenge where we learned SO MUCH about what is possible in the points and miles world. The biggest winner – your readers and viewers! Keep up the great work team.
When does the voting poll close?
Tuesday before the livestream
My vote would go to Greg, but it looks like polling was closed early. Fun challenge nonetheless. I spent a fair amount of time mapping out my own route(s), but ultimately decided not to go for it and just live vicariously through the FM team.
Voting is still open but if someone else in your household had already voted they system may not let you vote.
I’ve realized that Stephen is operating under something of a cultural disadvantage. There’s a certain amount of “selling it” that needs to go on in the Instagram videos and written reports — “this is so cool”, “look how clever I was”, “can you believe this luxury” and taciturn, British Stephen just doesn’t do as much of that as the two raucous Americans. And when he does, it’s almost apologetic (“I think that might be worth a point it two”).
This isn’t a knock on anyone, and Greg and Nick aren’t at all obnoxious about it but they definitely want you to know why they’re doing the things they’re doing, and why you should vote for those things. I’m thinking about Nick’s enthusiastic (and heartwarming) pleasure in seeing places he never thought as a kid he would be able to visit and Greg’s heroic efforts to obtain that bottle of Hibiki 100 Year Old Dragon’s Piss whiskey (i may not have the name exactly correct) to share with the whole group.
Stephen, I suggest you take a leaf from the book of your compatriot Robin, in Ruddigore: https://gsarchive.net/ruddigore/web_opera/rudd07.html
Yep, I think I might be a little too mindful, a little too demure 😉
I assumed it was because you had other things on your mind, like moving elsewhere.
That too, but I’m not much of a flashy person when it comes to showing off on social media. I only tend to post to Facebook a couple of times a year and my wife takes care of our Instagram as it generally doesn’t occur to me to update it. The videos I recorded during the challenge were about 10 years worth of videos that I’d normally record with myself in them!
I learned a lot of new tips from Nick. Stephen was just showing off a few fancy products we’ve all seen before and heading home ASAP.
Wonderful challenge and tough to grade. It seemed a bit like Greg felt less constrained in spending more than Nick or Stephen because they didn’t want to outspend the boss, which might have given Greg an advantage.
Bosses always outspend everyone else…
Enjoyed the challenge thoroughly. My first reaction was why is Nick taking so much longer! But now I am curious to hear what contingency plans did Greg and Stephen given the large domino effects downstream if something were to go wrong early in the trip.
Question for Tim and Carrie: How long is voting open?
voting i still open. You have to scoll down to the end of the blog post to see where to vote
We’ll keep it open until next Tuesday’s livestream.
The voting poll was not working correctly for at least part of that time. Stephen’s votes were not registering when I selected him, it just kept spinning. However, as test when clicking Greg, it immediately registered. Something was prolly wrong with the poll coding… oh well.
It was great to follow along on this challenge! Can they all win??
I would have loved to see more content from Stephen (making content doesn’t add to the cost of the trip!!) I agree with Nick that traveling that far in 13 days is still an incredible feat. And so glad Greg ended the trip on such a dream award. Well done all!