What's this all about?

Linda and I are competing in a competition to win a three-month paid blogging trip around New Zealand with Entirely Kiwi, a Christchurch-based travel company. If we win, we'll spend our time travelling New Zealand taking screeds of photos and video footage plus writing articles on the various places and activities we encounter. 

We made a video application to get this job, trying to show we're competent with the medium and to display some of the personal and professional skills needed to pull off a new media campaign:

With just one day remaining in the competition, you might ask why you'd vote for us by hitting "follow" in the sidebar.

1. We have passion and fun

Travel is what we live for. 

Since 2006 we've been enjoying ourselves in about 40 countries; leaving NZ and hitting Europe big time, with a little bit of time in Asia too. After Entirely World Famous we plan to head to South America then back to Europe, and on to Africa then Asia. We love and live travelling: new places, new foods, new people are so important to us. 

That said, we're far from jaded! We really enjoy ourselves while we travel; getting out and doing as much as we can, while also taking some time to relax and enjoy the places we're in. An afternoon people watching in a cafe can be just as much fun as waking up camping by a lake or jumping 134 meters off the Nevis! You can help us live the dream by clicking follow and then spreading the word.

2. We have skills and experience

While we've been travelling, we've built up the Indie Travel Podcast; a Lonely Planet award-winning travel podcast and blog. We currently publish five posts a week, which includes audio and video, photos, and articles for independent travellers. We have just launched a print+digital travel magazine. We do social media consulting for travel companies and Craig is also a partner in Top Travel Content and Seriously Board. We have been blogging since 2004 and know our stuff.

We also know what it's like to blog "on the road". With dodgy internet connections and the pull to hit the beach, it takes commitment and time to put together engaging articles, sort photos and edit videos. If we win, we'll commit to doing the hard yards (and not complaining about it!) to ensure you get the goods. Craig studied Film, TV and Media Studies while Linda studied English and she also has a qualification in editing, so you'll get great content from us. We'll upload our video to Youtube for you to embed and licence our photos under a license that allows you to use it in non-commercial blogs and projects.

As employees, we'll bring our years of experience into play and help to build a comprehensive strategy for quality traffic generation which will add immense value to Entirely Kiwi and their partners.

3. We have local knowledge and are constantly curious

We grew up in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, and have taken quick trips (three to four weeks) road-tripping around New Zealand. We know something of New Zealand's unique culture(s) but have also spent enough time overseas to see it with fresh eyes. 

With our local knowledge, we can help you to see beyond the guidebooks; introducing you to places and characters you wouldn't normally find. Getting "off the tourist track" is a useless cliché though: we will ensure you see and learn about all the things that make New Zealand famous.

We want to move beyond travellogue though. It would be great to research the places we're moving through and document our findings for future travellers and those hopelessly curious souls like ourselves. 

We need your help

This round of the competition is solely built around numbers: we need more than seven of nine competitors. The judges will be making a final decision from the top three blogs by the numbers. Right from the start of the competition, we've stayed in the top three. As we enter the last 24 hours of the competition, we need your help more than ever. This is going to get tight. We would love you to do two things:

1. Hit "follow" in the sidebar and make sure you're publicly following.

2. Post a note on Twitter or Facebook (or anywhere else you are online) to show your support.

Here's an example status message/tweet you can post:

Help @craig_martin and @LindaJMartin win a 3-month NZ blog trip: http://su.pr/2nrtQU <-- just click Follow.

Thanks to everyone who's supported us so far and thanks to everyone who's gone beyond the call of duty. People have told us they called their mum or grandpa, emailed their friends or Facebook contacts and many, many people have tweeted in support or changed their Facebook status to show their support. Thank you! We'll do our best to make your support worth it.