Welcome to this month’s giveaways!

Each month we offer at least one giveaway to our loyal readers as a way to say thank you. These may range from anything from luggage to travel clothing to travel vouchers to photography gear.

We strive for these giveaways to be open to as many of our readers and subscribers as possible. However, given rules, legislation, and shipping restrictions, this is not always possible and many of the giveaways do have geographical restrictions (as well as other restrictions) so please be sure to note these before entering a giveaway.

**If you are a brand or company that is interested in featuring a quality travel or photography product or gift voucher, please contact us directly.**

Our Giveaways are Exclusive to our Newsletter Subscribers

We run regular giveaways that are exclusive to our newsletter subscribers. You must be a newsletter subscriber to be eligible for our giveaways. Please enter the giveaways using the name and email you use to receive our emails.

If you sign up to the giveaways and are not a confirmed newsletter subscriber, your entry will be discarded.

If you are not a subscriber and want to sign up to our newsletter, you can sign up using this form:

If you have any questions about subscribing to our newsletter, or don’t receive the confirmation e-mail, please contact us.

Current Giveaway Details: January 2020

This month we have two giveaways for you! Our first giveaway is a travel shoes bundle from Tropicfeel worth $166. Our second giveaway is for a canvas, framed print or large print of any photo on our blogs, worth up to $125.

Giveaway #1: Tropicfeel Shoes and Accessories

Brand/Manufacturer: Tropicfeel
Product Link: https://www.tropicfeel.com
Retail Value: USD $166
Giveaway Open to: Worldwide

Finding the right pair of shoes for travel is always a challenge. You want something that is comfortable for all day adventures, packs light, and ideally is versatile enough for a number of uses.

We’ve spent a lot of time looking at and trying different travel shoes, and we’ve even written guides to the best travel shoes for men and the best travel shoes for women.

One brand we’ve found that now has a permanent place in our travel kit is Tropicfeel. They make a range of travel focused shoes which have a number of travel specific features we love. Which is why this month we’re delighted to be giving away a pair of their Canyon shoes, described by Tropicfeel as the ultimate travel shoe.

It’s hard to disagree. The Canyon travel shoe has the following nifty features:

• Works as a water shoe, with quick-drying odorless material
• Slips on and off
• Breathable material, can be worn without socks
• Only weigh 7 oz
• Slip-resistant sole, designed to be comfortable for all day walking
• Smart enough for all day use, from the beach to the city
• Made from recycled plastics, vegan friendly
• 1% of all sales are donated to National Parks around the world

As you can see, there’s a lot to like, and we’ve travelled the world with our Tropicfeel shoes, using them on the beach, for light hiking, on boats, and even for casual meals out! They’ve really cut down on the number of pairs of shoes we travel with.

As well as the actual shoes, Tropicfeel are bundling some more products into this month’s giveaway to make an awesome prize pack. The winner will also receive a pair of Havasu flip flops worth $28, a Cruiser backpack worth $20, and a Shopper bag worth $9. All in all, a pretty awesome bundle, and one we are thankful to Tropicfeel for providing!

The winner of the giveaway will receive one (1) pair of Canyon shoes, one (1) pair of Havasu flip flops, one (1) Cruiser backpack and one (1) shopper bag, with a total retail value of $166.

How to Enter the Giveaway

Please read the rules below to enter the giveaway:

1 – You need to be signed up for our newsletter.

If you get our monthly newsletters, you are eligible! If you’re already signed up you don’t need to sign up again. Skip to #2.

If you are not a subscriber, you can sign up using the form at the top of the page, or on this page.

After you sign up for our newsletter, you’ll be sent an e-mail asking you to confirm your sign-up. You’ll need to click the link in the email to confirm and activate your subscription before you are eligible to participate. Once you do that, come back here and sign up for the giveaway!

2. Check the rules of the giveaway

Before signing up, read over the rules (listed in detail below the entry form) to make sure you are eligible to apply. While we strive to have our giveaways open to all subscribers, some of the giveaways have geographical, residency, age, or other restrictions.

3 – Use the form below to enter the giveaway.

You must use the same e-mail address that you used to sign up to the newsletter with, as we’ll be checking e-mails this way to validate your entry. You must be an active subscriber when we make the draw to be eligible to win!

Enter the Giveaway!

Winners will be randomly drawn with 1 winner receiving one (1) pair of Canyon shoes, one (1) pair of Havasu flip flops, one (1) Cruiser backpack and one (1) shopper bag, with a total retail value of $166.

Applicants must be 18 years or older, have a valid email address, and have a valid mailing address.

Winners will be contacted by the email provided (so please use an email to enter that you check regularly). If a winner does not respond to email within 72 hours, another winner will be chosen.

The winner will be contacted via email by us, and the prize will be fulfilled by Tropicfeel.

Note that you can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time, but you must be an active subscriber when the draw takes place to be eligible to win. Draws take place within a week of the giveaway closing.

The data entered into the giveaway form will solely be used for the purposes of verifying your entry, checking you are an active newsletter subscriber and contacting you if you are a winner.

Winners (first name and last initial, and country of residence) will be announced on the bottom of this page and in our monthly newsletter.

Full Giveaway Terms and Conditions

These are the full terms and conditions!

1. The promoter is: Finding the Universe & Independent Travel Cats
2. Finding the Universe & Independent Travel Cats contributors, and their family members or anyone else connected in any way with the giveaway including helping to set up the giveaway shall not be permitted to enter the giveaway.
3. The giveaway is only open to active newsletter subscribers of the Finding the Universe & Independent Travel Cats monthly newsletter.
4. There is no entry fee and no purchase necessary to enter this giveaway.
5. Route to entry for the giveaway and details of how to enter are via this blog post
6. You must be 18 years of age or older to participate in the giveaway.
7. You must fill out all the requested information in the entry form to be eligible. Incomplete entries will not be considered.
8. Closing date for entry is January 29, 2020 at midnight EST. After this date no further entries to the giveaway will be permitted. Only one entry may be submitted per participant. Multiple entries will not be considered, and will invalidate all entries by the participant. Incomplete, incorrect, or otherwise invalid entries will not be considered. The Promoter reserves the right to verify the eligibility of all participants.
9. No responsibility can be accepted for entries not received for whatever reason.
10. The prize is as follows: one (1) pair of Canyon shoes, one (1) pair of Havasu flip flops, one (1) Cruiser backpack and one (1) shopper bag, with a total retail value of USD $166.
11. The prize:
    1. is subject to availability
    2. has no cash value
    3. can only be claimed by the winner
    4. cannot be transferred to another person
12. The promoter reserves the right to cancel or amend the giveaway and these terms and conditions without notice and for any reason. Any changes to the giveaway will be notified to entrants as soon as possible by the promoter.
13. No cash alternative to the prize will be offered. The prize is not transferable. Prizes are subject to availability and the promoter reserves the right to substitute any prize with another of equivalent value without giving notice.
14. Winners will be drawn at random from all valid entries. The odds of winning will depend on the number of entries received. Promoters are not responsible for prize fulfillment nor for any technical failures. Winning entry will be verified. A list of winners will be displayed on this page and published in the monthly newsletter.
15. Promoter reserves the right to publish winner’s first name and last initial and country of residence. Any personal data relating to the winner or any other entrants will be used solely in accordance with current UK data protection legislation and will not be disclosed to a third party without the entrant’s prior consent.
16. The winner will be notified by email within 10 days of the closing date. If the winner cannot be contacted or does not claim the prize within 72 hours of notification, the promoter reserves the right to withdraw the prize from the winner and pick a replacement winner.
17. The winner consents to providing their name, email, and mobile contact number to the promoters for the sole purpose of enabling their prize to be delivered.
18. The promoters’ decision in respect of all matters to do with the giveaway will be final.
19. By entering this giveaway, an entrant is indicating his/her agreement to be bound by these terms and conditions.
20. The giveaway and these terms and conditions will be governed by UK law and any disputes will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the UK.
21. Images included in the giveaway post may not depict the exact prize, and are for illustrative purposes only.
22. Residents of Canada will be required to answer a skill-testing question to claim their prize according to law.
23. Void where Prohibited

 

Giveaway #2: Travel Photos Prints or Canvases

Brand/Manufacturer: Us!
Prize: Winner’s choice of two images from our site, printed and shipped
Retail Value: up to $125 USD
Giveaway Open to: Worldwide

One of the ways we earn a living is by taking and selling photos to companies and tourism boards. But we also sell photos for personal use to readers like yourselves.

This month, we thought we’d giveaway prints of two of our travel photos. The winner can choose any photo that we have taken that is on either of our travel websites or has been posted by us to our social media accounts. You can hang it on your wall or give it as a gift.

We’re going to let you choose both the images themselves and the printed format you prefer. You can choose one of the following formats:

• Option #1: Two 8 inches X 10 inches (20 cm X 25 cm) wrapped canvases
• Option # 2: Two 8 inches X 10 inches (20 cm X 25 cm) photos with frames (with or without matting)
• Option # 3: Two 30 inches X 40 inches (76cm X 102 cm) semi-gloss printed photos (no frame)

In terms of the photos – well, you have literally thousands to choose from! You can easily search our sites (Finding the Universe and Independent Travel Cats) to find photos of a specific city or country.

Some posts that you might start with include:

• Our North Coast 500 road trip planning guide, which has lots of beautiful Scottish imagery
• Our Glen Coe landscape photo essay which has some more lovely views of Scotland
• Our seven day Iceland ring road itinerary, which has some iconic Iceland shots
• Our 2 week Route 66 itinerary, with lots of classic images of the famous USA route
• Our series of Photography Location guides from around the world
• And of course, our two Instagram accounts, @lozula & @independent_travel_cats have lots of options for you!

The winner of the giveaway will receive two (2) images printed on a medium of their choice, shipped to their home address. 

BTW, if you’re interested in purchasing any of the photos on our sites, you can head over to our “buy a photo” page and we’ll take it from there.

How to Enter the Giveaway

Please read the rules below to enter the giveaway:

1 – You need to be signed up for our newsletter.

If you get our monthly newsletters, you are eligible!

If you are not a subscriber, you can sign up using the form at the top of the page, or on this page.

If you’re already signed up you don’t need to sign up again and you can skip to the newsletter entry form. When you sign up for our newsletter, you’ll be sent an e-mail to asking you to confirm your sign-up. You’ll need to click the link to confirm and activate your subscription.

2. Check the rules of the giveaway

Before signing up, read over the rules (listed in detail below the entry form) to make sure you are eligible to apply. While we strive to have our giveaway open to all subscribers, some of the giveaways have geographical, residency, age, or other restrictions.

3 – Use the form below to enter the giveaway.

You must use the same e-mail address that you used to sign up to the newsletter with, as we’ll be checking e-mails this way to validate your entry. You must be an active subscriber when we make the draw to be eligible to win!

Enter the Giveaway!

Winners will be randomly drawn with the winner receiving their choice of two images from our site, printed and shipped.

The retail value of the giveaway is up to USD $125, depending on the print style and shipping location.

Applicants must be 18 years or older, have a valid email address, and have a valid mailing address.

Winners will be contacted by the email provided (so please use an email to enter that you check regularly). If a winner does not respond to email within 72 hours, another winner will be chosen.

The winner will be contacted via email by us, and we will arrange for the prize to be printed and shipped.

Note you can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time, but you must be an active subscriber when the draw takes place to be eligible to win. Draws take place within a week of the contest closing.

The data entered into the giveaway form will solely be used for the purposes of verifying your entry, checking you are an active newsletter subscriber, and contacting you if you are a winner.

Winners (first name and last initial, and country of residence) will be announced on the bottom of this page and in our monthly newsletter.

Full Giveaway Terms and Conditions

These are the full terms and conditions!

1. The promoter is: Finding the Universe & Independent Travel Cats
2. Finding the Universe & Independent Travel Cats contributors, and their family members or anyone else connected in any way with the giveaway including helping to set up the giveaway shall not be permitted to enter the giveaway.
3. The giveaway is only open to active newsletter subscribers of the Finding the Universe & Independent Travel Cats monthly newsletter.
4. There is no entry fee and no purchase necessary to enter this giveaway.
5. Route to entry for the giveaway and details of how to enter are via this blog post
6. You must be 18 years of age or older to participate in the giveaway.
7. You must fill out all the requested information in the entry form to be eligible. Incomplete entries will not be considered.
8. Closing date for entry is January 29, 2020 at midnight EST. After this date no further entries to the giveaway will be permitted. Only one entry may be submitted per participant. Multiple entries will not be considered, and will invalidate all entries by participant. Incomplete, incorrect, or otherwise invalid entries will not be considered. The Promoter reserves the right to verify the eligibility of all participants.
9. No responsibility can be accepted for entries not received for whatever reason.
10. The prizes are as follows: 1 winner will receive their choice of 2 prints, chosen from Finding the Universe and Independent Travel Cats. Only photos taken by the blog owners are eligible.
11. The promoter reserves the right to cancel or amend the giveaway and these terms and conditions without notice and for any reason. Any changes to the giveaway will be notified to entrants as soon as possible by the promoter.
12. No cash alternative to the prizes will be offered. The prizes are not transferable. Prizes are subject to availability and the promoter reserves the right to substitute any prize with another of equivalent value without giving notice.
13. Winners will be drawn at random from all valid entries. The odds of winning will depend on the number of entries received. Promoters are not responsible for prize fulfillment nor for any technical failures. Winning entry will be verified. A list of winners will be displayed on this page and published in the monthly newsletter.
14. Promoter reserves the right to publish winner’s first name and last initial and country of residence. Any personal data relating to the winner or any other entrants will be used solely in accordance with current UK data protection legislation and will not be disclosed to a third party without the entrant’s prior consent.
15. The winner will be notified by email within 10 days of the closing date. If the winner cannot be contacted or does not claim the prize within 72 hours of notification, the promoter reserves the right to withdraw the prize from the winner and pick a replacement winner.
16. The winner consents to providing their name, email, mailing address, and mobile contact number to the promoters for the sole purpose of enabling their prize to be delivered.
17. The promoters’ decision in respect of all matters to do with the giveaway will be final.
18. By entering this giveaway, an entrant is indicating his/her agreement to be bound by these terms and conditions.
19. The giveaway and these terms and conditions will be governed by UK law and any disputes will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the UK.
20. Images included in the giveaway post may not depict the exact prize, and are for illustrative purposes only.
21. Residents of Canada will be required to answer a skill-testing question to claim their prize.
22. Void where Prohibited

We wish you the best of luck!

If you have any questions or concerns about the giveaways, please let us know in the Comments section below or email us directly.

Past Winners

Here is a list of our past giveaway winners:

December 2019

• Janni N. of Denmark won a pair of Vallerret Photography gloves and a Beanie, with a retail value of $136
• Louis D. of Illinois, USA won a GetYourGuide gift card worth $250

November 2019

• Kiara G. of England, UK won an Ovcio Featherlight cashmere scarf worth $125
• Barbara C. of Idaho, USA won her choice of gifts worth up to $200 from our gift guide for travelers and gift guide for photographers.

October 2019

• Ian F. of England, UK won an AKASO V50 Elite action camera worth $140.
• Stephanie L. of California, USA, Heather S. of Ontario, Canada and Christopher S. of New York, USA won a Wanderchain and set of 10 engraved tokens from The Wander Club. A $67 value each. Jill T. of Pennsylvania also won a Wanderchain.
• Jarna P. of Finland won a Tinggly holiday gift card, a $119 value.

September 2019

• Linda K. of Michigan, USA won a 3-piece Happyluxe travel set. A $88 value.
• Catherine R. of Ontario, Canada won a pair of travel shoes of her choice. She chose a pair of Sorel Joan Explorer winter boots, a $150 value.

August 2019

• Cynthia R. of Arizona, USA won a $150 gift credit to use to book camping and glamping sites on Hipcamp.
• Kelly J. of New Zealand won her choice of a set of Shacke Pack packing cubes, a Vera Bradley travel pill case, and a Zoppen travel wallet.

July 2019

• Julie W. of Michigan, USA won a Vanguard VEO 2 GO 235CB carbon fiber tripod and a VEO GO 34M bag with a total value of USD $339.98. Philip B. of England, UK won a VEO 2 GO 204AB aluminum tripod with a value of USD $149.99. Megan K. of England UK, William B. of North Carolina, USA, and Robin S. of Ontario Canada each won a VESTA Mini Tripod with a value of USD $43.99 each.
• Rachael B. of Ohio, USA, won a RavPower Filehub Plus travel router with a value of USD $42.99.

June 2019

• Ashley S. of Florida, USA won a USD $150 voucher for ScotteVest travel clothing of choice.
• Iain M. of Scotland, UK won a My Webspot Individual Edition WiFi Hotspot and a 20 day usage pass with a retail value of USD $299.

May 2019

• Gerri T. of Wales, UK was the first prize winner for the online travel photography course and Skylum Lumniar photo editing software, worth USD $168. Abbas K. of Turkey and Patsy B. of Canada also each won a free copy of the Skylum Luminar editing software.
• William T. of Georgia, USA who won a Pad & Quill TechFolio Pro Cord Organizer worth USD $140

April 2019

• Rotem A. of Israel, Cassandra C. of Missouri, USA, and Carolina R. of Argentina, each of whom won a day tour of their choice for 2 persons from Iceland Travel worth up to USD $700
• Sheila H. of England, UK who won a Melifluos travel wrap worth USD $32
• Carolyn  E. of England, UK who won a Happyluxe travel wrap worth USD $56
• David S. of Wisconsin, USA who won 3 custom vintage travel posters from Just Go Travel Studios worth USD $135

March 2019

• Delyna B. of Australia, who won a Rabbie’s Tour in the UK or Ireland worth up to USD $500
• Goretti R. of Catalonia, Spain, who won a Sony compact camera valued at USD $200

February 2019

• Becky P. from London, England, UK who won a tour from Travel Talk worth up to USD $1,200.

January 2019

• Anissa E. from Washington D.C., USA, who won a USD $200 voucher for use to buy a backpack on the Arcido store
• Anke K. from South Africa, who won a USD $200 voucher for any walking tour on the Take Walks website

December 2018

• Michelle B. from Germany, who won a Travelccessories Toiletry Bag & Travel Laundry Kit with a retail value of USD $100
• Russell C. from England, UK, who won a 5-piece Manta Sleep travel package with a retail value of USD $90

November 2018

• Toni K. from Kentucky, USA, who won OOO Traveling luggage with a retail value of USD $298
• Gary R. from Ontario, Canada, who won a Tinggly Best in the World travel gift card with a retail value of USD $119

October 2018

• Tracy C. from Australia, who won a free lifetime subscription to our travel photography course with a retail value of USD $99
• Vicki L. from the USA, who won a custom Passport Map with a retail value of USD $129

September 2018

• Toni A. of Evansville, IN, USA won a Vanguard VEO 2 235CB Carbon Fiber tripod with a retail value of USD $199
• Kevin C. of Wales, UK won a Thule Subterra Carry-On 55cm with a retail value of GBP £215