Hostelling International South Africa

Wine tasting in Stellenbosch :) with students from IH English school Cape Town

Me and my classmates :) in a IH Cape Town English School ….

The Atlantic Point Backepekers, the best hostel in town :)

We Want To Be Amoungst The WINNERS!

We have entered the last 2 weeks of The Big Blog Exchange (ends 15th April)

We have a 4 SA bloggers in the top 100 in the world but they need all the votes and tweets we can get them to make the top 16!

29th Mr CPT  http://www.bigblogexchange.org/blog/31057

65th Muay Guy  http://www.bigblogexchange.org/blog/424003

81st Just Kicking It  http://www.bigblogexchange.org/blog/512003

94th Mzansi Girl  http://www.bigblogexchange.org/blog/393001

Please vote for your favorite SA blogger, tweet and share it with your friends as the only way South Africa can be a featured destination is if one of our bloggers is in the Top 16.

We would really like to see a Southern African amoungst the winners of The Big Blog Exchange!! …. Would’nt you??

The Big Blog Exchange is picking up pace with thousands of bloggers from hundreds of countries around the world entering.

This is a very exciting time for Hostelling International Worldwide and we Hostelling International Southern Africa want to try and help our bloggers be amoungst the winners. As then we get the chance to be a featured destination and show off what our amazing countries have to offer.

Please take a look at some of the South African bloggers below and VOTE for your favorite and help us change lives using the power of blogs.

The Brew Mistress

Having established myself as a successful freelance travel writer over the past five years, I decided to diversify and dilute the travel writing with a little ale. As South Africa’s beer scene begins to blossom, I have become the country’s most prominent beer blogger. Between sips, I continue the travels, and am passionate about walking, talking and most of all, eating my way through as many cultures as I can. Seeing a place through another blogger’s eyes will be a wonderful intro to a new corner of the globe and I hope to share a pint of these travels with you. More Info

MzansiGirl - sharing the Mzansi love

Since as far back as I can remember I’ve always been fascinated by travel and culture. I’m a fun-loving, Africa-loving travel blogger who is passionate about Mzansi - that’s South Africa for all of you not fortunate enough to live in my amazing country =) I’m a strong believer in cross-cultural exchange and have been couchsurfing in 3 continents since 2006. The Big Blog Exchange is an amazing opportunity for me to take my blog more seriously and to truly immerse myself in another culture while sharing the best of my own. I’m happiest when I’m sharing my love of my country, its diverse cultures, its music and its heritage. I’ve travelled much of Southern Africa, but there’s so much more diversity and awesome to discover. I’m always happy to share tips on amazing places to explore in my country, More Info

Mr Cape Town Blog

I blog about anything from events, sport, marketing, campaigns, competitions, news, reviews, interviews and restaurants in and around my town which I find worth sharing with you, my readers! I think Cape Town is one of the fastest growing blogger communities at the moment, with our Twitter interaction being the 3rd largest in the World here in South Africa. I would love to let someone else experience this beautiful City and take away with them something I am blessed enough to live on a daily basis. I also run social media communities for other brands which is how I make the majority of my income. This would also let me trade places with one of you awesome people, helping me and my blog grow to new heights! I would love this journey to one day become a full time job, so make my dreams come true and help me achieve this life long dream to travel the World doing what I do best. Blog about it! VOTE for me and help change 2 lives :) Peace.More Info

Duff’s Suitcase

For over three years I worked as a travel journalist at Getaway Magazine in South Africa. My job took me on some incredible adventures, from hiking into an active volcano on Reunion island, tracking mountain gorillas in Rwanda, overlanding Malawi in a Mini, trekking in the Namib Desert, beach hopping in Mozambique, partying at music festivals around Africa, eating my way around Mauritius and riding elephants in India. Far from quenching my wanderlust, my work has only stoked my addiction to travel. I’m now a freelance journalist, and I plan to travel even more than before. What I makes me happiest is inspiring people to travel Africa through my stories, photography and blogs. I would love to bring another travel blogger from the other side of the world to the tip of this continent: to Cape Town, the amazing, beautiful, creative city I’ve made my home.More Info

True Fashionister

I want to tell the world my story as an African fashionister and how make my walk through the land mines to inspire people around the world. I want to spread the word, that fashion has changed the world. Anyone can be beautiful in their own skin! More Info

Above is simply a random selection of bloggers and many more have entered.

Please check out http://www.bigblogexchange.org/ and vote for who you like best or even enter yourself.

On March 1, the largest blog contest in history launches - The Big Blog Exchange.

Hosted by Hostelling International (HI), the Big Blog Exchange is seeking 16 passionate, talented and adventurous bloggers from around the world, who will have the once in a lifetime opportunity to exchange lives, places and blogs with one another for ten days (7^th June – 17^th June 2013).

From March 1^st until April 15^th, bloggers will be able to register their blogs at www.bigblogexchange.org for the exchange, express their motivation for taking part, before then encouraging readers, family and friends to vote for them.

“The winning bloggers will get the chance to swap places with another winner. They will then spend 10 days in each other’s countries learning about the people, culture, food, and environment and of course we will want to share this with them by reading their blog about their experience,” said CEO of Hostelling International, Mikael Hansson.

With the aim of creating a digital blogging global community like no other, which interacts in real life, the competition has already attracted the attention of over 1,000 bloggers worldwide, from more than 100 countries.

“We never expected that we would reach out and inspire so many people in so many countries,” said Mikael Hansson, “The reasons for bloggers wanting to take part have been hugely varied and in some cases have been extremely humbling. The level of interest has just confirmed that people are excited to learn and understand more about different cultures and different ways of life. Hostelling International has always aimed to encourage and promote global interaction so we look forward to watching this exciting project unfold”

UK blogger Glen Shorey, who writes ‘Adventures of Wheelchair Boy’, has a particularly poignant motivation for taking part, which he wrote about on his blog (theadventuresofwheelchairboy.blogspot.co.uk). Diagnosed with Friedreich’s Ataxia at a young age, he is hoping to be one of the winning bloggers so that he can travel for the first time in seven years.

“As soon as I read about this exciting opportunity, my eyes lit up. Obviously, being able to go abroad without worrying about the cost is a great relief but I also want to change people’s mind-set when it comes to disability.,” Glen explained.

The winning bloggers, who will be announced on April 29^th in a live online draw, will have their travel and accommodation expenses paid for by Hostelling International, in addition to a pocket money allowance for their stay.

www.bigblogexchange.org

Are you a blogger? Have you ever thought about swapping lives, places, cultures and BLOGS with someone across the globe? We’re offering a unique, once in a lifetime chance to do just this.

With over 170 million of them on the web at the moment, there is no doubt about the fact that blogs are fast becoming a popular news source, a place for everyday inspiration and a social hub. But we want to take the power of blogs that one step further. What if we could change the world using the power of blogs?

Whether you blog about politics, global warming, travel, fashion, beauty or even cupcakes, we are looking for passionate, adventurous and talented bloggers around the world to take part in the first ever Big Blog Exchange.

Originating in 1932, Hostelling International has 80 years’ experience in ensuring global interaction, especially amongst the younger generation – however, we are now looking to modernise this worldwide community by inviting 16 bloggers to take part in a unique exchange, which takes place both online and in real life. For ten days simultaneously (7th June – 17th June 2013), the selected bloggers will take part in the opportunity of a lifetime, swapping lives, places and blogs with another talented blogger.

The Big Blog Exchange’s teaser site launches on 4th February 2013, giving those interested in the project a chance to get a sneak preview of what is to come, in addition to information about getting involved. The trailer for the exchange will also be hosted on the brand new site, giving an insight into what the opportunity entails.

Not only will this be a great chance for bloggers to interact with other like-minded writers from all over the world, but it will also push your blog, your content and your talent into the limelight, giving it worldwide recognition. Selected bloggers will be flown across the globe, to their exchange destination, travelling around the area and experiencing it in an authentic, exciting way.

So, whether you’ve just set up your blog. Or whether it’s been around for ten years. If you have one million readers, or just the one. We are searching for the world’s most passionate bloggers, to help us change the world, using the power of YOUR blogs.