We have been buddies since sophomore year in high school. Our friendship had formed from the commonality of strict parents, minimum waged jobs and the love of travel. Then, we could only talk and dream about traveling in the future. We both continued on to USF and although we were independent, our finances were still tight. Our sophomore year of college we decided that money (or the lack there of) would not stop us. We vowed that we would save up and take one exciting trip every year. Our first trip together was to Negril, Jamaica. We bought cheap round trip tickets leaving Ft. Lauderdale- 5 hours away from Tampa- at 9:30 A.M. We left Tampa 8 hours prior to the departure. 3 ½ hours down the road we had a flat tire… on Alligator Alley…and my car was missing the jack. After calling AAA and waiting for over 2 hours, a cop stopped to help us out. He changed our tire to the donut spare I had in the trunk and advised us not to exceed 40 mph. With the distance still ahead and our departure time, it looked like we would probably not make it. That, however, was not an option- we had already booked a hotel and we had no money left to buy another ticket. The donut tire (going 80) got us to the airport just in time. When we got to Jamaica, we decided that it would have to be one hell of a trip to have risked our lives getting there. We immersed ourselves in the culture- avoiding the typical Spring Break hot spots. We road horses on the secluded beaches of Paradise Park, went to local reggae shows and befriended a cab driver named Sparrow. We drove to the southern most tip of Jamaica and walked the tourist free streets of Savanna La Mar eating patties and drinking ting. Realizing that what we had always talked about as teens had come true was the best feeling in the world. The next year we went to the Bahamas where this picture was shot (before going snorkeling on the reefs off of Nassau). This year we were trying to research a trip up to Canada through STA and we found this contest. A trip to Australia would be an amazing addition to our travels and literally a dream, fulfilled.