When you plan a summer vacation, you plan all things good and fun. You run through where you’re going to stay, how you’re going to get there, your itinerary full of fun activities that you’ll do and adventures that you’ll have. Everything is planned out just perfectly.
We did that a few years ago. It was a lengthy road trip with kids. We had planned to start off our trip with a ferry ride for dinner and follow that with the start of our trek across the country in just perfect timing for the kids to fall asleep for the majority of our drive. In my head, it all seemed so perfect. Then I watched it play out in action… all wrong.
We did start our trip off perfectly okay, until the ferry left port that is. The sun was out but the weather was anything but nice. The seas were rough to say the least. Our attempted dinner was accompanied by the back and forth sights of nothing but sea followed by nothing but sky. The kids’ meals ended up on the floor, walking around the ship was difficult to say the least, and my stomach was horribly nauseous. Our time on the road continued in this manner. The DVD player in the car worked sporadically, the kids didn’t want to sleep, everyone was uncomfortable, and our perfectly planned out vacation was quickly becoming far from perfect. Thankfully, the eventual arrival at our destination and the events that followed did go surprisingly well (except for that one locking ourselves out of the car moment but we won’t go there). However, this crazy vacation taught me one incredibly important – plan for things not to go as planned.
Now, I’m sure that all of you have at least one “vacation gone wrong” story and, this year, you have the chance to take that story and finally give it a happy ending. To celebrate their 75th anniversary, Choice Hotels has partnered with YouTube sensations Rhett & Link to award one lucky winner with a grand prize of $10,000 to re-do their trip that went awry the first time around. How fun?!

Some vacations go great – some go to hell in a handbasket. From bad luck to bad weather and whatever, we want to hear your stomach-turning, toe-curling, head-shakinest vacation mishaps. The most cray cray vacay will win –
Through the #VacayGoneCrayCray contest, participants should submit their craziest vacation stories and photos by one of three ways:

- Direct submission via www.VacayGoneCrayCray.com
- Through the embedded video link on the Choice Hotels’ Rhett & Link YouTube Channel
- On the Choice Hotels Facebook Contest Tab
Each week, starting on July 17th, Rhett & Link will select the best (err – worst?) vacation experiences and reenact it on their “Good Mythical Morning Show” every Thursday.
This summer, I too will be partnering with Choice Hotels (Ascend Collection, Cambria Hotels & Suites, Clarion, Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Econo Lodge, MainStay Suites, Rodeway Inn, Sleep Inn, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, and Quality brands) to further celebrate their 75th anniversary.

Not only will I be enjoying the past wildly crazy dismay of others and taking notes on what not to do on vacation but Choice Hotels will be sending me on my very own #VacayGoneCrayCray do-over. And, with that, I am looking forward to an incredible summer of misadventure.
“Through the #VacayGoneCrayCray contest, Choice Hotels can help turn those crazy misadventures back into positive memories.” – Robert McDowell, Choice Hotels
For consideration and to be eligible for the grand prize, participants must submit their most extreme vacation misadventure stories (in 250 words or less) before the contest’s deadline on August 27th, 2014. The winner will then be announced on September 4th, 2014. For Official Rules, including prize descriptions and how to enter, please visit the contest’s website.

What are you waiting for?
Enter now!
*Randi will be provided a free hotel stay and travel compensation for her partnership with the Choice Hotels brand in order to facilitate this post. All opinions are her own.