http://i.imgur.com/LpZx8y2.jpg

## <center>When I started this contest, I had no idea how incredible it would be!</center>

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First off, the entries were very varied and spanned a wide array of travel stories from all around the world. Some entries were of events that were decades old while others only days old. Men and woman of all ages submitted some amazing travel stories, and it took me a bit to work through them all. 

It is times like this that make me wish I was made of STEEM, because I wish I could just throw 1000 STEEM at each entry to encourage the authors and reward their efforts. However, @papa-pepper is *not* made of STEEM, *at least not* ***yet***...

https://img1.steemit.com/0x0/http://i.imgur.com/uVNBbyL.jpg

Anyway, I said I'd reward three of the entries and split up 100 STEEM to do so, so here are my incredibly hard entries to choose from:

https://steemit.com/travel/@natator88/nesting-leatherback-sea-turtles-in-florida

https://steemit.com/travel/@ourlifestory/our-life-story-or-chapter-17-travel-contest-entry-how-this-trip-will-change-our-life

https://steemit.com/travelstory/@scribblingramma/night-train-to-lesce

https://steemit.com/travelstory/@loveon/buying-back-my-kuna

https://steemit.com/travelstory/@timothyb/sometimes-the-lights-are-shining-on-me

https://steemit.com/travelstory/@madlenfox/our-holiday-trip-yesterday

https://steemit.com/travelstory/@nik9/revisiting-india-goa-going-gone-a-rewrite-for-travel-story-contest

https://steemit.com/travelstory/@pyrowngs/sailing-on-the-tall-ship-europa-travel-story-contest-entry

https://steemit.com/travelstory/@jacobtothe/the-oregon-coast

https://steemit.com/travelstory/@paradise-found/locked-in-the-garden-of-gethsemane

https://steemit.com/travel/@aksinya/little-blond-adventures-in-iraq-taking-part-in-travel-story-contest-organised-by-papa-pepper

https://steemit.com/story/@tincho/i-fell-in-love-with-a-girl-in-steemit

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When you include the late entry, I had 12 stories to choose from. Honestly, I hate picking winners, but love running contests, so I suffer through it to bless others.

https://img1.steemit.com/0x0/http://i.imgur.com/uVNBbyL.jpg

When this contest started, @loveon was pretty confident that her travel story would win. I was skeptical and wasn't sure, but she won!

# <center>@loveon - 50 STEEM!!!</center>

To wind up in a foreign country with no identification or possessions and in the position where you have to pay for another person's freedom kind of stuck out!

https://img1.steemit.com/0x0/http://i.imgur.com/uVNBbyL.jpg

# <center>The runners up for 25 STEEM each are as follows.</center>

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# <center>@paradise-found - 25 STEEM</center>

I'm not sure how many people have ever wound up getting locked in the Garden of Gethsemane, but @paradise-lost did, and it sure made for a great story.

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# <center>@natator88 - 25 STEEM</center>

As a lover of all of creation whose favorite animals are turtles, this story had me from the title on.

https://img1.steemit.com/0x0/http://i.imgur.com/uVNBbyL.jpg

This doesn't mean that the rest of the authors did not do an amazing job or that their travels and stories somehow fall short. They were all very interesting to read and I enjoyed them all!

I was considering making another story contest, but wasn't sure of the topic... does anyone think that @papa-pepper should run another one? If so, what kind of story would you suggest? Thanks!



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#### <center>Until next time…</center>
## <center>STEEMIT LIKE YOU MEAN IT!</center>


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