Off we go folks – and Team Purple is in the Lead – First team Captain Neil from Backpacks and Bunkbeds started us out, he handed the baton over to Vicky at Vicky Flip Flops, who passed it to Monica at The Travel Hack, and she passed it my way. The Baton is mine. Who will I pass the torch on to? Read on to see.

Lowcostholidays.com have created the Blogger Relay competition for travel writers to create a massive index of travel memories and stories. You have to write about your 3 greatest travel memories from 3 destinations ranking them 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, and they will be added to that index. You then Pass the travel baton forward to another blogger friend to continue the Relay! Its THAT simple!

I am on #TeamPurple! The Best team there IS. Follow the entire Relay on Twitter at #BloggerRelay. And at the end of my post I’ll let you know who I am passing the Travel Baton onwards to! Ps. The team with the LONGEST chain by the end of the competition (September 30th) will be the WINNER of the Travel Blogger Relay! And who doesn’t like to win? What WHAT do we win?

• an iPad2
• Nikon D3100 Digital SLR Camera
• Walking Boots

3rd Place: Snowboarding in the Alps, in Zinal Switzerland

Switzerland was my first foray into international travel. I went on exchange in highschool and found myself in the small town of Neuchatel attending French high school without the ability to speak French. But one thing that you don’t need to be able to communicate for is appreciating the sheer magnitude of fresh air blasting past you as you carve your way down the Alps. I’d snowboarded for most of my life, but on nothing of the scale on the Alps. Zinal was a small village that sits nestled in between the mountains and made the entire week of snowboarding one of the most memorable times in my life.

2nd Place: Temple Exploring in Kyoto, Japan

Kyoto is my favourite destination in Japan. It is the cultural centre of the country and is home to more than 1800 shrines and temples. With that many temples its no wonder everybody catches temple fever! I hopped on a friends bike, and alone, set out in the city. I didn’t need a map because the temples are so concentrated that once I arrived at one temple, I could bike one block to the next. I spent the entire day wide-eyed and in awe of the, history and beauty of Kyoto and all its wonderful temples.

1st Place: Elephant Training in Chiang Mai, Thailand

There is no greater travel memory for me than learning to train elephants in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Chiang Mai is up in Northern Thailand where the landscape is mountainous and lush. I had fallen in love with the gentle giants months earlier while living there and visiting Koh Chang whenever possible. But it wasn’t until I went to Chiang Mai that I spent some truly quality time with elephants and learned about them. I learned how to groom elephants, climb onto an elephant sans stool, guide an elephant, care for an elephant, take an elephant swimming, command him to run or stop, have him throw mud balls out of his trunk at other elephant mahouts. There is certainly nothing more fun then spending quality time with elephants. (And watch your best friend get hit in the face with a mud pile)

And those are my top 3 travel memories! 1st place goes to Chiang Mai, Thailand and its elephants, 2nd place to Kyoto, Japan and its glorious temples, and 3rd place goes to Switzerland for its natural beauty and adventures.

So who an I passing the  Baton to?

Why it is Simon at MAN VS THE WORLD!

Take it Away!

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