Have you ever won a prize where you felt you were the luckiest person on the planet?

That is how I felt this past week. Not only did I get to sit on the edge of the ocean and talk to Mother Earth, search for seashells and soak up the sun, but got to share it with people I love.

In 2017, my sister took me to Cuba for my 50th birthday. I thought in 2019 I would reciprocate. However, that year we went on a trip we won the previous year. We attended a destination wedding, coincidentally at the resort, we just stayed at Platinum Yucatan Princess in the Riviera Maya, Mexico. Then my sister got married. No time or money for that vacation. The world shut down.
In early 2022, when my boyfriend George got fed up with the snow, he stated he didn’t care about any of the travel restrictions, but that we just needed a warm getaway. Ten days later we were at the Hotel Punta Cana Princess. While there, I declared I wanted to take my sister and brother-in-law away on vacation to Mexico. It would be her birthday present and their wedding present, plus it would be fun to travel all together.
You would think, as I teach the Law of Attraction I would use Helene Hadsell’s SPEC method t manifest my wish. Instead, I am thinking I need to publish more books, get out of debt, save money, etc.
We were home for only four days when I found the Booking.com Superbowl contest. They were giving away 100 $5000 travel gift cards. It was the only Superbowl giveaway open to Canadians. I thought, “I am winning one of those trips.“
I read the rules carefully. (Remember, reading the sweepstakes rules is my #1 tip.) To enter you had to take a photo of the Superbowl commercials, then share the photo on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, tagging the sponsor and using a specific hashtag. For four hours I entered furiously, bouncing between social media platforms. I have no idea how many entries I ended up submitting, but even after the game ended I still kept posting pictures as the deadline was midnight. George shut off the TV and said it was time to stop. Reluctantly I went to bed. (This hobby can be addicting.)

Monday came and went. Nothing. I was disappointed. I was sure I was going to win. Then early Tuesday morning I spotted a tweet from Booking.com telling me to check my DMs. I won! WOO HOO! (As a sweepstakes marketer I should have known it would take several days to vet 100 potential winners to ensure they followed the rules, and then notify them.)

When I told George, he smiled and shook his head. Even after five years together he is still amazed at how I win us date nights, tickets, swag, stuff, trips, etc. Then I called my sister. (This is one of the hidden gems of the sweepstakes hobby. Sharing the fun and joy with your friends and family.)

The point of this blog is twofold.

  1. To teach you that you should always focus on the end result. The HOW is the domain of the Universe.
  2. And that if you want a specific type of prize, make that your priority. (Read the November 1st issue of The Winning EDGE for my top tips on winning vacations.)

(No, the resort wasn’t empty. I was up early to watch the sunrise and got pictures before anyone else was around. It was busy, but not packed. And, for some reason, we never got a picture of the four of us. I guess I just have to win another trip!)

Have you ever won a trip? If so, where?