The Global Scavenger Hunt is an annual international travel adventure competition in which teams of two people travel around the world in competition with other teams to win The World’s Greatest Travelers title and trophy.
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History
The first event was scheduled for 2001 but postponed due to the events of 9/11. The inaugural event took place in the spring of 2002. A spring 2003 event was cancelled due to the SARS epidemic and the onset of the Iraq war. The event has been held annually since 2008. This real life annual 23-day event, as opposed to the reality-TV game show The Amazing Race, is considered the travel world championship. The Global Scavenger Hunt, originally called GreatEscape, was created in 1999 and launched in 2000 by world traveler and author William D. Chalmers. Inspired by his 1989 participation in an around-the-world race sponsored by Visa traveler's cheques, Michelob Dry beer and Holiday Inns International, called the HumanRace. Chalmers, and his travel companion, Andy J. Valvur, won the one-time event collecting the $20,000 first place prize money in 17-days. Chalmers later wrote a book chronicling their exploits entitled A Blind Date with the World in 2000 and was later dubbed the "world's greatest traveler" in National Geographic Traveler magazine. The annual event is owned and operated by Great Escape Adventures, Inc., a special event and consulting firm operating out of California, United States since 2000. (California Seller of Travel #2071053-40) William Chalmers remains the Event Director.
The Event
The Global Scavenger Hunt is a series of rallies around the world. Competitors participating in attempt to complete a series of culturally-oriented scavenges from a scavenger hunt book created for each leg of the rally-like event. Scavenges are assigned points based on completion difficulty.
During each event, competitors travel to and within at least ten countries, across four continents during each event, but never know in advance which countries they are going to be visiting. The event is designed to test the participants collective 'travel IQ' requiring them to overcome language and communications barriers, cultural nuances, logistics, jet lag, team dynamics and 23-days of traveling across 24 time zones through ten countries.
Teams are also prohibited from using any technology to assist them and are limited to using only local modes of public transportation as they attempt to complete the scavenges.
The scavenges, based on a risk-reward points system, include food scavenges, participatory site-doing scavenges, karma-building scavenges, assigned urban, rural and nature-oriented photo safaris, playing Bartender Roulette, polling locals on issues of the day, performing blind taste tests, figuring out how to crash major cultural happenings.
Each leg is tallied and the eventual winners of the event are crowned The World's Greatest Travelers and given that title for that year. Winning teams earn the right to defend their The World's Greatest Travelers title in the next event with all entry fees waived. The event has no set course and is changed each year.
Events to Date
Charity
The travel adventure competition also serves as a charitable fundraising event for humanitarian organizations with the twin funding goals of building co-ed elementary schools with organizations like Free The Children in developing nations such as: Kenya, Niger, Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone, India, and Ecuador, and providing funds for micro-loans in conjunction with KIVA.org. It has also funded medical clinics and midwife educational centers.