AMERICANWAY
NOVEMBER 1 2007
S H A H I N T A K E S O F F
108
ILLUSTRATIONBYAMANDADUFFY
address, phonenumber,
and e-mail address; I had to receive
the entry no later than 11:59 p.m.
(CT), June 30, 2007; and the pitch
couldnot exceed 100words.
Ifanyof thosestipulationswasnot
met, the entrywas discarded. It pains
me to recall someof the fabulousentries
thatIwasduty-bound todisqualify. Iwill
not disclose any of them because they
wouldpain the entrants evenmore.
Actually, Iwill mention one, because
I thought it was a great idea: Go to
New Orleans and build houses. I think
everyone should go to NewOrleans and help
that essential city get back on its feet. But I
couldn’t select that entry— 160words.
The notion of socially conscious travel
emerged as a recurring theme. Go “some-
where north,” suggested one respondent, “to
experience global warming: What you see
will not be like that again.” Go to Calcutta,
suggested another: “Youwill treasure expos-
ing yourself to just howhardmany folks have
it and just howblessedwe are.”
A goodly number of entries were about
that most enduring of travel themes: ro-
mance. Respondents had Jessica andme din-
ing at a candlelit outdoor table inHawaii and
kissing at sunrise inGreece.
There were some very clever submis-
sions, including one that suggestedDublin by
rewriting the lyrics to “My Favorite Things”
and another that had the first letter of each
sentence spell out the suggested destination,
HamptonRoads, Virginia.
Recommendations ranged from beaches
to mountains, from Thurber, Texas, to Paris,
France. We came close to choosing Iceland,
Malta, Kenya, and (believe it or not) Idaho.
With somany choices, I made some arbi-
trary decisions as Iwent along. One, Iwould
not choose somewhere I hadpreviouslybeen.
Two, the place must be at least reasonably
accessible by an American Airlines flight. (I
mean, come on. You didn’t think I’d choose a
placeAmericandoesn’tfly, didyou?)Three, at
OKAY, LETME FIRST
apologize for getting
us into this.
Ask theAmericanAirlinesflyingpublic for
suggestions on where to take my next vaca-
tion, promising 100,000 AAdvantage miles
for thewinner?
Was I nuts?
The problem wasn’t the hundreds of e-
mails I received — and, yes, read. Every.
Single. One. Of. Them.
Okay,maybe that
was
part of theproblem.
But the real problem was that I had to
choose.
Reading through theentries, I started feel-
ing bad, because on any given day someone
else might have won and because I couldn’t
go to every place suggested. That’s a little
ironic, asmy inability todecide iswhat start-
ed the contest in thefirst place.
Back in the spring, with so many places
in the world to visit, my wife, Jessica, my
son, Sam, and Iwere paralyzed by indecision
aboutwhere togoon springbreak.Weended
up inNew Jersey.
Now then, New Jersey is a lovely state.
It is — really. (Hey, stop snickering.) Still, I
mean, you know…
And so I concocted this cockamamy con-
test: Tell Jim and his family where to go on
their next vacation.
The rules were simple. Entries had to in-
clude contact info, including full name, street
least two, and preferably all three, members
ofmy family had to agree on the location.
Ipruned thee-mailsuntil I hadmy top40;
then IhadSamandJessica select their favor-
ites. We trimmed the nominees down to 14,
and for three days, we went through them,
debating, considering, lobbying.
In the end, decidingwas less about choos-
ing the single most creative submission or
the most sharply written entry or, in some
mannerof speaking, the “best.”Rather, itwas
about finding the one thatmost spoke to the
three of us overall.
The winning entrant combined a variety
of compelling lures, from sites dating back to
antiquity to a fascinatingmodern-day cultur-
al milieu, from stunning scenery to different
activities. He ranged broadly and yet specifi-
cally. His entry is below.
Before getting to it, I want to say thanks
to all of you for playing. Somany of the sub-
missionswere reallygood. Butwehad topick
one. And on that day, we selected the entry
submittedbyAlperAras of Chicago:
I recommend that yougo toTurkey:
1. Experience Europe, Asia, and Middle East
culturally and geographically in one country,
and even in one city: Istanbul.
2. Interested in cultural trips? Visit two of
the Seven Wonders of the World (Ephesus,
Halicarnassus), Hagia Sophia Church, the
BlueMosque, VirginMary’s House, St. Claus’s
house, andmanymore.
3. Interested in nature? Visit the Black Sea
coast for beautifulmountains and hiking.
4. Interested inbeaches?Choose theAegean,
Mediterranean, or Black Sea, or take spec-
tacular Blue Voyage yacht trips, stopping at
beautiful Turkish coastal towns.
I DON’T KNOW
that we actually
will
go to
Turkey. Thatwasn’t part of the deal. But it is
the place we most want to go, based on the
submissions.
Of course, it isn’t New Jersey. But, then,
what is?
ByJimShahin
