How I Won A Trip To Tahiti

I’ve never thought of myself as being a ‘lucky’ person but perhaps I am. When I tell people that I went to Tahiti, the first thing people say is, “ooooohhhhh”. When I tell them I won the trip they say, “HOW?” So, I figure I should probably tell the story here. This is how I won a trip to Tahiti. 

I’m online a lot. Like A LOT, a lot. I work online, I socialize online and I educate myself, you guessed it, online. Probably half of my Facebook friends are from my online/blog/social media world and I’ve grown to love them and appreciate them. One of these friends is a big travel blogger and social media personality based in Toronto. I remember watching her travels to Tahiti on a press trip courtesy of Tahiti Tourism and loving every second of it while at the same time being so jelly that I wasn’t with her.

Fast forward to the dead of winter. February 14th to be exact. It was freezing cold and grey outside, no sign of sun or blue sky anywhere. I saw a post on Facebook that my friend had shared. It was a contest the Tahiti Tourism Facebook page was running and due to the fact that my friend had previously gone on a press trip with Tahiti Tourism, she was not eligible to win.

At first glance I was sceptical that I could possibly win. For starters, the Tahiti Tourism Facebook page has over 868,000 followers. But I read the requirements for the contest and looked at the entries that had already been submitted. I sat for a few minutes to brainstorm and then I got butterflies in my tummy.

I’m totally going to win a trip to Tahiti!

Here’s how the contest went:

1 entry per person, must take a picture of you in a ‘PDA’ (public display of affection) with someone else, post said picture to the Tahiti Tourism Facebook page, tag the page plus 2 other affiliated pages (Air Tahiti Nui and Far & Away Travel agency), use a hashtag, “Like” all 3 Facebook pages.

{phew}

then, share the picture you just posted to the Tahiti Tourism Facebook page to YOUR personal wall and make that post public, tag a friend, get creative-best PDA wins.

The contest was only open for 1 day, Valentine’s Day and only open to Canadians. Bonus!

With that laundry list of requirements to enter, there weren’t many entries by the time I saw my friends Facebook post about the contest. I came up with an idea, I waited until the kids and Brent were home and I set up the tripod to capture my entry shot.

I posted my entry, double checked that I had completed all the requirements. Closed my computer and turned to Brent and said, “We’re going to win a trip to Tahiti!”

By the time the contest closed there were about a dozen entries but only 8 that actually followed all the rules and got their posts up before the contest closed.

And then I waited!

And waited.

It felt like forever.

Then over a month later, I was standing in line to pay for groceries and my cell phone rang. It was someone from Tahiti Tourism in Toronto.

“Congratulations, you won our Facebook contest!”

I might have screamed in the check out line at No-Frills.

With the help of Normand at Far & Away Travel agency, I booked our prize trip.

Airfare for 2 from LAX>PPT (Tahiti) return on Air Tahiti Nui

4 nights in a garden bungalow at the Motu Iti Pension

2 nights in an OVER WATER bungalow at the Manava Beach Resort & Spa including breakfast buffet

Airport, island ferry and land transfers

It was a dream come true. Tahiti has been at the top of my bucket list for ever and staying in an over water bungalow was key to that dream. We left for Tahiti on November 11, 2018. After deciding that 6 nights wouldn’t be enough, we extended our stay for an additional 6 nights at our expense.

It was a trip of a lifetime.

Was it luck? Maybe.

It was definitely good timing, a little creativity and a whole lot of gratitude.

Thank you to Tahiti Tourism, Air Tahiti Nui and Far & Away Travel for making this dream trip possible. And special thanks to my friend, Candace, for sharing the contest so that one of her Facebook friends could win.

Stay tuned for more posts about our trip.

Have YOU ever won a contest? Tell me about it.

Maururu (Thank you)