The Top Entries–and the Winner of $500 from GoNOMAD

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This morning dawned sunny despite the weatherman’s warnings. Last night we had a wonderful time reading and judging the 50 entries for the GoNOMAD travel awards. Having Lisa here, who grades papers and AP exams for a living, helped a great deal. We read through each one and gave each a minus or a plus, and then went back through and winnowed and culled. Here are some of the top submissions:

* A kayaking trip between two major East Coast Cities–Peter Mandel.

* A trek through the Pyrenees Mountains between France and Spain–Julian Smith

*Interviewing Turkish people to learn more about misunderstandings between Muslims and Westerners–Jessica Hayden.

*River rafting and visting the Akkha tribe in Laos–Kathryn Brockman

* Feature on history and culture on Elba, Napoleon’s island exile–Irvina Lew

After much wine and agonizing, we picked a clear winner, he will get the check for $500. This was the winning idea:

*In search of the truth about Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid, tracing the legend in Bolivia–David Atkinson.