haha sounds good (btw my add friends link doesnt work - i dont know how to add you!)

Funny you should say that, because the exact same happened to me. The first few all went to my junk folder so I didn't pay any attention, but the friend request came through as 'STA Travel.... invitation'. You can imagine what I thought it was going to say, but no dice this time. Oh well, they did say people would be notified up until Sunday.

It is indeed a great opportunity. Money has been the big restricting factor when it comes to my interest in travel, so if I don't win I'll probably get a waiting job to save up either for a study abroad semester or Habitat for Humanity International trip some time in the future. I'll definitely be following whoever does win if I don't end up going. I actually wrote a blog on my STA passport about what I am excited about, but it's hard to narrow down. Latin America, including both Ecuador and the Galapagos, is compelling because there's so much more to experience there than most people think. It's sad but true that most of the global south is ignored in favor of Europe and Australia when vacations are planned.