An Inside Look at the Competitours Experience

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The Competitours experience was truly a travel-altering experience for me when my buddy Sam and I participated in the “2015 season”. It was an exhilarating ride full of twists and turns and for an Amazing Race fanboy like myself, it was everything I was looking for in a travel competition. To this day I think about all the adventures we went through and wish I could go again.

Well, the best I can do is relive the race through the teams that were lucky enough to compete this year. I had a chance to interview a few of the teams to find out how it went. Aside from my selfish desire to learn just how similar or different our experiences were, I wanted to put together something to give travellers an authentic view. Thing is, I remember being in that spot where I didn't know if Competitours was legitimate or whether it was something that I would enjoy.

So here it is! 3 teams from the 2016 Competitours group were awesome enough to agree to be interviewed and these are their genuine responses.

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Team Lost & Late

Team Lost and Late (Photo Credit: Sarah)

We live in Silicon Valley, that awkward stretch of tech suburbia between San Francisco and San Jose (which itself remains a mystery to much of the US). We try to do two major trips a year with one being international, but last year in 2015 we failed miserably. So this year we have 2, yes two, trips to Europe planned. This is the first. We love visiting Europe so we are excited.

Russell works for one of those two-syllable tech companies. He has managed to bike to work regularly thanks to a friendly competition with a coworker.

Sarah works for a company that values her so much they routinely contract her out. To do satellite guidance, namely keeping TV satellites pointed toward you, so you can watch the Amazing Race.

The mission of Team Lost and Late is

to enjoy the journey to the fullest
to immerse ourselves in local culture (mostly by eating it)
to not be too lost, late or last
to make many new friends and no new enemies

1) How did you hear about Competitours and why did you sign up?

I really don't remember where I first heard of it, but I must have bookmarked it as something interesting because I just came across the bookmark earlier this year when I was looking for something fun to do for a trip this summer. I always wanted to go on the Amazing Race except I really didn't like two features of those trips: 1) the chance of being eliminated and 2) being on TV. This trip removed both of those negatives, so it was a no brainer to sign up.

2) What was your favourite challenge of Competitours 2016?

Hard to say, I probably enjoyed the Maastricht tunnels and Rotterdam boating the most, because solving puzzles while traversing a route are the kinds of challenges we do most often at home (look up DASH Puzzle Hunt or Shinteki, if you want to know what I'm talking about) but on the other hand, some of the challenges that took me completely out of my comfort zone (like water color painting in Florence or blowing glass in Murano) were really fun because it was stuff I never would have tried if I hadn't been forced to do so. Gelato making gets an honorable mention, of course. What's not to love about that???

3) What was your favourite destination of Competitours 2016?

I may have to pick Bologna, even though the cooking challenge was one of my least favorite events. We just had a really fun time exploring the city, both on our own and with other teams. That was the city where we seemed to have the most free time to explore. I loved the challenges on the trip, but they didn't really lend themselves to experiencing the locations very much, so I'm not sure “favorite destination” translates to “favorite day” or “favorite experience”. The Halstatt and Lake Gosau region in Austria was the most picturesque region and made me feel like I had stepped into a postcard. Venice was amazing, but it was clearly the most touristy place we went. Which isn't terrible, I mean, I am a tourist and I can't deny that, but it did feel like the locals were just worn down and tired of dealing with tourists.

4) Did the trip meet your expectations of what it would be like? How was it different than what you expected and how was it exactly what you thought it would be?

There was less puzzle solving than I expected, which may have been for the best, since we seemed to really suck at those challenges. There were zero travel logistics challenges, but I think I realized that before we actually started. I read enough of other people's blogs before I went that it was pretty much what I expected. The one thing that really surprised me was the other team dynamics. We were the only team who were romantic partners. Everyone else was either parent (or grandparent) and child or else a pair of friends (with a few teams that were actually strangers before the trip) and I didn't expect that.

5) Is there a particular story you'd like to share about your team's experiences? Was there a defining moment? Did something funny happen along the way? What was the most memorable that you'll never forget?

One of the most memorable events was standing with a bunch of other teams on top of this 300 ft tall medieval tower in Bologna singing “O Canada” (it was Canada Day). Well, the Canadians were singing, the rest of us were just kind of humming along. That had nothing to do with the challenges, it was just a spontaneous outing that turned patriotic. The spontaneous group dinners were also a lot of fun. The one where we eating literally on the water of this Alpine lake and swans were swimming next to our table was just magical.

6) What made Competitours special for you? Was it the challenges? Travelling with your team mate or the other teams? The places you went? Or something else?

It was a combination of doing things I never would have done if we were traveling on our own and also really bonding with some of the other teams. Easily half (two-thirds?) of the challenges were things I never would have done on our own and easily half of the people on the trip are people I would travel with again or go to visit if I can.

7) I'm sure Competitours wasn't all butterflies and roses. For us, the scoring was always a little sketchy and frustrating at times. How was it for you this year? If you could, what would you improve? Tell me what sucked!

The scoring didn't really bother us, since we never were trying to win, just to embrace the experience. Plus, once you realized that the scoring was going to be completely random and just sort of surrendered to the vagaries of chance, it was easier to enjoy the moment.

Steve's weakness (which he will admit) is that he is not great on logistical planning. Some problems came up at the last minute and no amount of planning could have avoided them, but some issues were Steve scoring an own-goal. My understanding is he has realized he needs to bring an assistant on future trips, which should help a lot. [Confirmed that he'll be bringing an assistant on upcoming trips]

My biggest complaint was that several of the challenges would have been more fun if we had just a little of instruction ahead of time (I'm looking at you, Cooking in Bologna and Sketching in Florence!) and several others would have been more rewarding if we weren't so pressed for time (I'm looking at you, Mask Making in Venice and Hedge Maze in Vaals!). Incidentally, we actually won points for the two challenges I found most frustrating. It seems our end result was pretty respectable, but we spent so much effort flailing to actually enjoy the experience. I'd rather have done less well and had more fun.

8) If you were to sell Competitours to a friend, family member or a complete stranger, what would you say about it?

It's a very intense trip, the antithesis of a relaxing vacation but you will have experiences unlike anything you've ever done before and you will make memories you will keep forever.

9) Would you do Competitours again? If so, why and what would you do different second time around?

Yes, I would! I wouldn't want to do the same trip again, but I'd like to experience the crazy intensity again. I would probably want a little more info about the starting and ending cities (not full disclosure, but maybe some general area hints) so I could schedule the before and after parts better.

Team Dirty Aprons

Hailing from Vancouver, BC, Canada, introducing Po On and Ivy of Team Dirty Aprons. Here's an introduction from Po On of Poy meets World. I highly recommend you check out their pre-trip challenge video where they introduce their team name and their trip highlight video.

Po On: Ivy and I met 7 years ago at one of those Fitness Bootcamps and became fast friends hitting it off immediately given our shared love for trying new things and enjoying good food. She taught me how to make homemade biscotti which was a wonderful treat after working out 5x/week at 6 am! During that time, I was in a long-distance relationship with my now-husband while him/ my sister pursued their dreams in the Silicon Valley of creating a travel start up community with some Facebook funding. This is also why I connected with Ivy so well – she was running a local business with her husband, while I was living vicariously through my family and their entrepreneurial ambitions!

While Ivy and I made use of Vancouver’s natural outdoor playground by going on hikes in the mountains and experiencing the explosion in the local culinary scene – travel wasn’t something we were able to do much of due to the typical time/money restraints. We both have friends that did the whole back-packing thing around Europe or South East Asia but we didn’t have the same opportunity. Which is why we were SO STOKED and INCREDIBLY excited to finally go on our own European Adventure!!! It’s never too late and we’re thrilled to celebrate our new decade with this experience together!!

1) How did you hear about Competitours and why did you sign up?

Po On: My sister and husband used to have a travel start-up in the valley that was aimed towards independent travelers. She was subscribed to many travel mailing lists and even went on a few travel writing assignments. She sent this to me knowing how I much I love trying news things and thinking it would be a perfect once in a lifetime travel experience and great way to celebrate my husband and I entering new decades in our life. He wasn't able to join me, but I was excited to invite a good friend who was also celebrating a milestone year and neither of us had never done the whole backpacking around Europe in our younger years, and were ready to do it now.

Ivy: I signed up on a whim/gamble. Po On contacted me a couple days before the payment deadline so I had little time to make a decision. It was pricey and there wasn't much information on Competitours so I had some serious concerns about this trip …until I came across your videos. It looked REAL, exciting, adventurous and DOABLE! Actually, your Youtube videos sold me on this trip ;)

2) What was your favourite challenge of Competitours 2016?

Po On: It's a tie – being able to say that I went to Gelato University in Italy and made my very own Italian Gelato (and won points for our lemon flavour) is a great conversation piece! The Via Ferrata mountain experience was also amazing because I had actually done Via Ferrata before (and blogged about how it was the “scariest thing I had ever done”) and wasn't thrilled about doing it again since I'm so scared of heights. Somehow though, this setting with the gorgeous lake scenery and positive environment with friendly people created the perfect conditions for me to really embrace it. Also, since I was sort of coaching fellow competitour behind me, I had some new found confidence and really enjoyed this extreme mountain sport the second time around!

Ivy: Same for me. Gelato University and Via Ferrata were my two favourites.
Gelato University, in general, was so much fun! The fool-proof recipes allowed everyone to make some impressive gelato. And then allowing us to eat as much gelato as we wanted?!!! Hello, we were like kids in a candy store hahahaha!

I desperately wanted to do the Via Ferrata. Needless to say, I was over the moon when we finally got to do it on Day 10. It was a beautiful climb over a picturesque lake in Gosau, Austria. The scenery was stunning and the climb was very manageable. I loved everything about it! …except for the video we had to make afterwards (eyeroll LOL)

3) What was your favourite destination of Competitours 2016?

Po On: Venice has always been on my bucket list – it's a beautiful city and it was so cool to hear how other people, that had already been to Venice, experienced it in a completely different way.
I've been thinking about this for days and I honestly can't pick a favourite. I had a blast from beginning to end. Although I do preferred the smaller, less known locations like Maastricht.

4) Did the trip meet your expectations of what it would be like? How was it different than what you expected and how was it exactly what you thought it would be?

Po On: I knew there would be new activities every day, but I didn't realize that on our very first day, we would do 5 new activities in ONE day! We did archery, archery tag, power kiting, kite buggying, kite fighting and then off to Rotterdam for an escape room experience. Oh wait, that's 6 activities!

Just one way the trip completely exceeded expectations!

Ivy: From watching your videos, I knew there would be scavenger hunts and cooking challenges. There were some things I hoped would be repeated on our trip. But mostly I just wanted to do things I've never done before. YES, Steve met and surpassed my expectations. Each day was packed with new and exciting activities that I would never do on my own. I thought we would have more down time, but I'm glad we didn't. The pace of the trip felt like the Amazing Race (which was what I signed up for).

5) Is there a particular story you'd like to share about your team's experiences? Was there a defining moment? Did something funny happen along the way? What was the most memorable that you'll never forget?

Ivy: On our second day we were teamed up with another group to do a scavenger hunt in the Rotterdam Canals. There were a lot things that went wrong – unbeknownst to us we had broken GPS and kept going around in circles for the first hour not making any progress and also got stuck in a torrential downpour. Collectively though, we were able to keep a positive attitude and bonded over our shared perspective on this trip – we're all here to try news things and have fun! We found a good a balance between our teams with someone from each team taking control of the driving while others worked on navigation or puzzles. It was a true example of teamwork and we stuck by each other throughout the rest of the competitours trip sharing lots of dinners and laughs! I think going through that crazy experience and not getting frustrated at each other made us all a lot closer.

6) What made Competitours special for you? Was it the challenges? Travelling with your team mate or the other teams? The places you went? Or something else?

Po On: I really enjoyed meeting so many diverse people. The fact that we all signed up for such a crazy, random experience, not knowing what to expect shows that we all have a few things in common – being open to new adventures! I had the expectation that I would experience Europe off the beaten path and see new sights and do lots of new activities, which were all met and exceeded, but it was the new friendships that weren't necessarily expected, that made the trip truly special.

Ivy: For me, it was the PEOPLE. All the activities were amazing; and to be able to experience it with a great group of people, it made this trip even more incredible.

Zach from Team Rhapsody Askew is my hero (and the winner of the trip). He looked after us, made us laugh and was all around my favourite to be around.

7) I'm sure Competitours wasn't all butterflies and roses. For us, the scoring was always a little sketchy and frustrating at times. How was it for you this year? If you could, what would you improve? Tell me what sucked!

Po On: The challenge of figuring out the next destinations seemed completely random. It would be cool if there were actual clues (doesn't have to be easy one) that might actually give people more of a chance.

I also felt the Iron Chef challenge could have been done in a more productive way. We were given ingredients and told what to make, but with no recipe. I felt this could have been an opportunity to learn something first (perhaps a cooking technique) and then everyone could take the ingredients and try to make something interesting! [I totally can relate here as I was totally thrown off by a similar challenge we had. I came to the realization that cooking challenges straddle between being reasonable by proving multiple choices options with recipe ingredients and prep but with a couple of ‘red herring' options thrown in to keep it challenging]

Instead, the current format had no direction and it was all guess-work so that was a bit frustrating. Given that we were in the “Fat capital of Italy” with these amazing teachers and facilities, it would have been so cool to have gotten a lesson from them.

Still an interesting experience overall but this one I think could be improved.

Ivy: In addition to Po On's suggestions, tell Steve NO MORE VIDEOS. I thought there were too many video challenges. Towards the end of our trip, it was almost all video challenges, which eventually felt more like “work” and took away from the enjoyment of the day. [I've been told that future Competitours trips will have a max of 2 videos]

8) If you were to sell Competitours to a friend, family member or a complete stranger, what would you say about it?

Po On: I think tag line of the Amazing Race for regular people sums it up perfectly! It's a chance to do things you could never do on your own and you get to feel like an actual contestant in a contest with the added bonus of a possible prize.

9) Would you do Competitours again? If so, why and what would you do different second time around?

Po On: I would love to do this again! I would arrive earlier and stay later knowing how little sleep you get on the actual trip haha!

Ivy: Yes I would definitely do this again! Next time I would bring a battery pack or two and brush up on my geography LOL!

Team RandR

That time we shot at people and “raced” kite buggies on the beach in the Netherlands #svenwiththeblackeyes #smokincharlie #jackjustjack #hungergames #kitefights #northseacoast #TeamRandR #competitours

A photo posted by @trina_baby on Jun 25, 2016 at 10:29am PDT

Nicole and Catrina are two relatively reckless individuals hailing from the nation's capital where they are either deeply invested in or recovering from the act of making our Great Democracy even better. We are game for most everything! Though we will have an insane amount of clarifying questions before we proceed.

We've both been traveling since infancy. Nicole's dad is a pilot and took her up like basically as she was being born. Catrina took her first passport photo before she had fully developed a spine to go meet family in Portugal. We've both learned a lot from traveling and don't intend to stop any time soon.

Nicole is the undisputed reigning champ of finding discount airfares. Catrina is the undisputed reigning champ of just going along with whatever Nicole recommends.

This is the most perfect thing we've ever created.

1) How did you hear about Competitours and why did you sign up?

A friend of a coworker (I think?) put a link to the Competitours site up on facebook. Another coworker decided that she had to do this trip (Nicole) and sort of conned me into going. I'm all for adventure, but not knowing what was in store for us was obviously a little risky. Anyway, I nearly cleaned out the fund I'd saved up to redo my roof (very responsible!) and jumped in. Why the hell not, right???

2) What was your favourite challenge of Competitours 2016?

It's hard to choose. There were about a million challenges and they were totally diverse. The most thrilling was climbing the Via Ferrata over an Alpine lake. I am highly unlikely to replicate such a thing for myself in the future. The most beautiful was taking a day to sketch and paint in Florence like we were a bunch of Renaissance rich dudes and not a raggedy pack of exhausted tourists. The most delicious was obviously Gelato University. Still can't believe that was real.

3) What was your favourite destination of Competitours 2016?

Rotterdam is one of those cities that is almost well-touristed, so it was very nice to go see it. Not sure I would have made time for it myself. Bologna was also a surprise! It's beautiful and sprawling and a very cosmopolitan city; I seek those out plenty, but not sure I'd have ever thought in a million years to visit Bologna.

4) Did the trip meet your expectations of what it would be like? How was it different than what you expected and how was it exactly what you thought it would be?

Yes and no! I sort of gave up on the competition part within the first three hours since our scorers were pretty disinterested in things like counting and adding. I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about winning, even though I really needed that money for my damn roof. I spent most of the time learning about people that I would never have an opportunity to get to know otherwise. It's pretty unusual to spend nearly two weeks with a group of people aged 13-73 (or whatever) that's not your family. That was probably my favorite part.

It was also probably the most exhausting two weeks of my life and I'm a chronic overachiever and workaholic. Damn Steve. This is not a trip for people who like sleep!

5) Is there a particular story you'd like to share about your team's experiences? Was there a defining moment? Did something funny happen along the way? What was the most memorable that you'll never forget?

I mean who in their right mind hands you a boat and a GPS in the most active port in Europe and just lets you go tool around? Did that really happen? Were we even in Rotterdam? Day 2 and it was completely obvious we were in for an experience that I'd never replicate or forget. There were lots of perfect moments, especially sharing meals with our new friends and learning new and exciting things in beautiful places. We had dinner on a floating dock on Hallstatt Lake, drove through the Italian and Austrian alps as the sun set, played on the beach for hours in the Netherlands, stayed on the Grand Canal in Venice. It was beautiful and immersive and the best parts aren't the parts I expected to be so wonderful. Also, I learned I'm pretty damn good at shooting a crossbow.

6) What made Competitours special for you? Was it the challenges? Travelling with your team mate or the other teams? The places you went? Or something else?

Competitours is special because it combines a lot of things. I got to become so close with my travel companion, became friends with people who live literally all over the world, do things I'd never be able to recreate (or, in some cases, want to), take in a diversity of European cultures that you'd only otherwise get with a long backpacking trip, and all at what turned out to be a pretty sweet deal. It's built for people who love adventure and also other people. It's not as competitive as it's billed to be. It's much more journey than destination.

7) I'm sure Competitours wasn't all butterflies and roses. For us, the scoring was always a little sketchy and frustrating at times. How was it for you this year? If you could, what would you improve? Tell me what sucked!

Ugh. Well I'd have liked more points? As I said earlier, the guys on the beach in the Netherlands could not care less about scoring, which was a bummer. Steve also gave points to people who agreed that nothing had gone wrong that day when much clearly went wrong. It was a bribe and it was dumb. Sometimes, more information about scoring could change your technique, like when we were doing challenges in a tunnel in Maastricht and didn't appropriately allocate between time and accuracy. Sometimes, the scores didn't make any sense at all. I mean, I made some really good gelato! But I think it was mostly disappointing that the scoring took a while to update even when Steve was really interested in getting us competitive. If we don't know where we stand, it's hard to figure out what to want to do. Anyway, I didn't particularly care. I committed to not judging this trip by my scores at literally the first challenge. If that's a sentiment that Steve makes a bit more acceptable, I think fewer people would get upset about it!

8) If you were to sell Competitours to a friend, family member or a complete stranger, what would you say about it?

If you like adventure and have a lot of stamina and patience, this trip can't be beat. It's also not as expensive as it seems. Promise.

9) Would you do Competitours again? If so, why and what would you do different second time around?

Uh, yeah! But only if I could know that we wouldn't be repeating more than 1 or 2 events/cities. That would be a bummer. I'd also pack enough underwear to not have to do laundry. [Steve's told me that upcoming trips are 85-100% new destinations]

My Thoughts

I thought about summarizing the responses at first but the answers were so genuine that my paraphrasing would only ruin the essence of it all.

As a previous “contestant”, I can 100% vouch for everything that's been said here. If I were to boil up the entire experience, I'd say it was the incredible teams and individuals that we met through our journey. Sure the points were frustrating at times but at the end of the day, the prize and winning were secondary to the relationships we created with all the other teams.

That being said, I look back on our trip and am still amazed at all the crazy things we did in Europe. In 2015, it was the Maastricht tunnels, Via Ferrata, exploring Pompeii, and practically everything we did in Sorrento that still bring a smile to my face when I think about those memories.

One thing is clear though, writing this article certainly didn't help curb my wanderlust and my want of signing up for next year's Competitours.

Featured image credit goes to Po On of Team Dirty Aprons

An Inside Look at the Competitours Experience

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Team Lost & Late

1) How did you hear about Competitours and why did you sign up?

2) What was your favourite challenge of Competitours 2016?

3) What was your favourite destination of Competitours 2016?

4) Did the trip meet your expectations of what it would be like? How was it different than what you expected and how was it exactly what you thought it would be?

5) Is there a particular story you'd like to share about your team's experiences? Was there a defining moment? Did something funny happen along the way? What was the most memorable that you'll never forget?

6) What made Competitours special for you? Was it the challenges? Travelling with your team mate or the other teams? The places you went? Or something else?

7) I'm sure Competitours wasn't all butterflies and roses. For us, the scoring was always a little sketchy and frustrating at times. How was it for you this year? If you could, what would you improve? Tell me what sucked!

8) If you were to sell Competitours to a friend, family member or a complete stranger, what would you say about it?

9) Would you do Competitours again? If so, why and what would you do different second time around?

Team Dirty Aprons

1) How did you hear about Competitours and why did you sign up?

2) What was your favourite challenge of Competitours 2016?

3) What was your favourite destination of Competitours 2016?

4) Did the trip meet your expectations of what it would be like? How was it different than what you expected and how was it exactly what you thought it would be?

5) Is there a particular story you'd like to share about your team's experiences? Was there a defining moment? Did something funny happen along the way? What was the most memorable that you'll never forget?

6) What made Competitours special for you? Was it the challenges? Travelling with your team mate or the other teams? The places you went? Or something else?

7) I'm sure Competitours wasn't all butterflies and roses. For us, the scoring was always a little sketchy and frustrating at times. How was it for you this year? If you could, what would you improve? Tell me what sucked!

8) If you were to sell Competitours to a friend, family member or a complete stranger, what would you say about it?

9) Would you do Competitours again? If so, why and what would you do different second time around?

Team RandR

1) How did you hear about Competitours and why did you sign up?

2) What was your favourite challenge of Competitours 2016?

3) What was your favourite destination of Competitours 2016?

4) Did the trip meet your expectations of what it would be like? How was it different than what you expected and how was it exactly what you thought it would be?

5) Is there a particular story you'd like to share about your team's experiences? Was there a defining moment? Did something funny happen along the way? What was the most memorable that you'll never forget?

6) What made Competitours special for you? Was it the challenges? Travelling with your team mate or the other teams? The places you went? Or something else?

7) I'm sure Competitours wasn't all butterflies and roses. For us, the scoring was always a little sketchy and frustrating at times. How was it for you this year? If you could, what would you improve? Tell me what sucked!

8) If you were to sell Competitours to a friend, family member or a complete stranger, what would you say about it?

9) Would you do Competitours again? If so, why and what would you do different second time around?

My Thoughts

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