StayCay to Far Away Week 1: Pick the winner(s)

The first full week of #StayCaytoFarAway videos are entered into the challenge. Nick heated things up out of the gate, Stephen conquered the Great American Road Trip with his life hack, Carrie carried us to a far away place with her creativity, and Greg proved that Colin Mochrie’s got nothing on him. Now is your chance to weigh in on your favorites to determine this week’s winner and the eventual mini challenge winners.  We’ll summarize this week’s entries below, but you need to head to Youtube (as shown below) to hit “like” to determine who crushed the competition in week 1. Remember though that you should hit “like” on every video you enjoy. See below for more detail on how winners are chosen and see this post for a full breakdown of the competition: Challenge! StayCay to Far Away.

Weekly Winner: Most YouTube “Likes”

That’s it.  The title says it all.  We’re going to count up each video’s “likes” (thumbs ups).

When you’re viewing a video embedded in a blog post, it’s a little tricky to give it a thumbs up.  Here’s how: Hover your mouse over the video (or click the video if viewing on your phone) and then click the video title to go to YouTube.  Once there, click the thumbs up icon to “like” the video.

The weekly winner will be announced in Saturday morning’s week in review post, so “like” these videos today and keep an eye out for the announcement on Saturday.

This week’s entries

Destination cooking with Nick (our post with more detail)

For a handy link directly to Youtube so you can find the “like” button, click here.

When I set out to replicate a delicious dish I had in Rome during my honeymoon years ago, I couldn’t have hoped for things to go more delightfully wrong en route to sweet redemption. A few fails, a special guest appearance, some good old fashioned trash-talking, and a one-liner or two to make you smile — what’s not to “like”? Making this video even inspired me to spend a little more time in the kitchen: I made another round of fresh pasta yesterday (and fresh bread, too), prompting this moment of reflection on Twitter:

Where was the knowledge that this is called a dough hook when I kneaded it? pic.twitter.com/qnDy1uaRY2

— Nick Reyes (@NickatFM) April 22, 2020

Travel Life Hack with Stephen (our post with more detail)

For a handy link directly to Youtube so you can find the “like” button, click here.

We’ve all been a bit stir crazy these past few weeks and I’m sure there are some itchy feet out there waiting for any opportunity to leave home. It’s gotten to the point where my 2 year old son walks past our vehicle in the driveway and points at it and pleads, “Car ride?”. If that story feels familiar, you are likely already plotting out the first post-COVID good ole American road trip. Leave it to a Brit to lay claim to the best hack for the great American rite of passage, but I have to hand it to him: Stephen’s mobile kitchen really does appear to talk the talk. I look forward to Destination Cooking with Stephen to see whether it walks the walk or that barking in the background is just Truffles looking to be let out.

Imitation Travel with Carrie (our post with more info)

For a handy link directly to Youtube so you can find the “like” button, click here.

Let yourself be transported to a far away place in your imagination in under a minute with our first imitation travel footage. Carrie was almost at the biggest disadvantage this week: between her status as the pre-challenge polling front-runner and her reining title as Creative Director of Frequent Miler, expectations were high on the artsy imitation travel challenge. Based on comments like this one, you know that she rose to the occasion:

Vlad

In the travel blogosphere, Caroline’s work is like haiku in a terrain of talking-point pablum.

I’m glad not to have to follow that next week. Good luck, Greg! Speaking of Greg….

Improv Travel with Greg (our post with more info)

For a handy link directly to Youtube so you can find the “like” button, click here.

Improv Travel is the challenge about which I feel least confident. That’s likely because we have no idea what to expect until the film starts rolling. No edits, no do-overs, just one shot to narrate the photos from an unknown trip to…somewhere. I can’t lie: each time I watch this video again I laugh a little harder. I definitely didn’t guess the destination before the final frame, but Greg’s creative preparation kicked things up a notch and made me a little nervous that he may also knock imitation travel out of the park next week. Either way, you don’t want to miss this one as it’ll be hard for the rest of us not to riff off of some of his tricks.

Bottom line

Take 13 minutes off today, watch these four videos, smile and get a chuckle or two, then head over to Youtube and hit like. Right now, we’re racing to around a hundred likes per video, but I know that Frequent Miler readers can kick that up a notch today. Watch the videos, like the ones you like, and don’t forget to subscribe to our channel.

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