Steampunk Fashion: contest

After waiting far too long, I am finally, FINALLY, starting the Adventurous Kate Newsletter, a fantastic extension to this site.

And because I want people to sign up, I’m making a special offer to entice you to subscribe.

I’m giving away $100!

If I get 100 people to sign up by February 5, 2012, I will be giving away $100 to a randomly selected subscriber.

I will either send you $100 USD cash via PayPal or send you a gift card to Amazon, Best Buy, or any other store you like.

Think of what you could do with all that money…

Why sign up?

You’ll be getting many more exclusive pieces that will never make it onto the web site.

Here’s what it will contain:

New, exclusive travel content. The newsletter will feature travel content that will never be seen on the site, on the Facebook page, or anywhere else — it’s just for subscribers.
Personal updates from Kate. Find out where I’ve been, where I’m going, cool things I’ve eaten lately — the works!
Destination spotlights. Each month, I’ll write an in-depth profile on a destination I love, including some of my favorite places to visit there.
Notable posts from the travel blogosphere. I’d like to highlight interesting posts from my fellow travel bloggers that I think you’d enjoy.
Travel deals. I’d like my advertisers to extend their offers to YOU, my newsletter subscribers, directly. This is something that will probably begin with the March newsletter, once I have solid numbers to offer my advertisers.

I’m sure that the newsletter will evolve over time, but it will always include special, exclusive content for subscribers only.

How to sign up:

Click here and enter your email address. If you’re reading this on the site ( click here if you’re reading this via email or RSS), you can see that there is a form in the right sidebar, as well.

Once you sign up, you will be sent a confirmation email — be sure to confirm that email as well!

When is the newsletter coming out?

The first newsletter will be coming out in early February, right after I return from my trip to Shetland.

I plan on them being monthly for now, but depending how the first few months go, perhaps I’ll increase them to twice per month.

And that’s not all!

If I get 200 subscribers, another one of you will win $50.

300 subscribers? Yet ANOTHER one of you will win $50.

So be sure to spread the word to your friends to maximize your chances!

Note: if you try to cheat and enter multiple times on the same address, i.e. john.smith@gmail.com, j.ohnsmith@gmail.com, jo.hnsmith@gmail.com, you’re not going to win anything. I WILL notice.

Thanks for subscribing!

I can’t wait to share the newsletter with you all! Get started by signing up here .

Here are my photos that best exemplify the colors blue, red, yellow, green, and white:

Blue

Edinburgh, Scotland

Edinburgh is a magical city on any given day — but on a sunny day after a rainstorm, the cobblestones on the Royal Mile actually glow blue! I was thrilled to witness this phenomenon on an early morning in January, before Edinburgh’s most street got overly crowded.

Edinburgh is one of those rare cities, like Paris and Venice, to look just as stunning on a cloudy day — but when the sun shines, that beauty is multiplied. The next time you visit Edinburgh, be sure to try to see the blue cobblestones on a sunny winter morning.

Red

Petra, Jordan

Petra may be most famous for its rose-colored Treasury, but no red stood out to me better than the blankets on the camels led by this Bedouin.

I love so much about this photo — the Bedouin’s casual camel-riding stance, the ancient city in the background — but what I love most is that he’s wearing an outfit that you would see on half the freshmen at BU, down to the Che Guevara t-shirt. It might be a quirky reminder of the similarities we share across the world, but it’s a reminder that needs repeating.

Yellow

Torgiano, Umbria, Italy

A farm in the countryside, a cloudy day, and quite a bit of wine! This was taken at Terre Margaritelli, after we indulged in a delicious Umbrian feast .

I love this photo because it’s a nontraditional view of the color yellow. Yellow always makes me think of sunshine and warmth and yellow daisies, but the weather here couldn’t be more different. The yellow labels on the wine bottles are the only bit of yellow in this scene, and they add so much warmth to the photo. You wouldn’t say the same thing if the labels were lilac or bright white.

Green

Gásadalur, Vagar, Faroe Islands

The Faroe Islands, surrounded by cliffs topped with soft green grass, have preserved their distinctive culture in part because they’re so isolated. And few places exemplify that better than the tiny village of Gásadalur, which was set between mountains and isolated from the rest of the Faroe Islands until a tunnel was built in 2006. In this shot, I capture the entire, newly connected town — which consists of 17 residents.

That day, I drove straight from Gásadalur to Gjov on the island of Eysturoy. The journey took me about 90 minutes. I was told that just a few years ago, that same journey took days. It’s unbelievable how fast life is changing here.

Additionally, seeing photos taken from this viewpoint is what made me want to visit the Faroe Islands in the first place. I was thrilled to get a shot of my own!

White

Forlimpopoli, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

You see so much white in travel photography — sand dunes, snow, wildflowers. I chose to show an example of something else intrinsic to our travels, yet one that isn’t photographed as often: chefs in their whites.

After giving us a lightning-fast pasta-making demonstration at Casa Artusi cooking school in Emilia-Romagna, our chef poured us some local wine to celebrate the end of our trip. I grabbed a quick shot — not realizing that this moment would go on to become immortalized in one of my best ever travel photos.

Now, here’s my confession — this post took HOURS longer than I anticipated. I had my post ready to go, and then I changed almost all of the photos. Why? They were pretty photos, sometimes gorgeous, but a pretty yellow sunset doesn’t speak to you. I tried to pick photos that tell a story.

And now, for more bloggers:

Nominations

Waegook Tom . He shares photos of the wonderful strangeness of colorful Korea. I’d love to see which photos he chooses!

Landing Standing . I hope Meg and Tony’s post covers diverse landscapes around the world, from Patagonia to Croatia!

The Road Forks . Nobody does better food photography than Akila, and I’d love to see some nice food shots in this series.

Expat Edna . When you live somewhere long-term, you tend to be more picky about the pictures you take around town. Having been an expat in Shanghai, Singapore, and now Paris, I’m sure Edna has a lot of unusual photos to share!

The Ranunculus Adventures . My cousin Colleen runs this fabulously entertaining personal/travel/books/flowers/writing/life blog, and she’s been to so many gorgeous places. I’d love to see her add some photos from the forests of Washington!

Good luck to all!

Steampunk Fashion

Sign Up For The Adventurous Kate Newsletter And You Could Win $100!