Lucy's London adventure

You can't make this stuff up. My Whirlwind trip of a lifetime. 

 
Last month I won a trip  of a lifetime!  Every year Damon Beard runs an amazing competition. This year, 'Where in the World is Damon' was slightly different. Whereas in previous years the destination was predetermined, this year the winner chose where to go.  I chose the UK. My motivation being my sister and her family, as well as a very close friend living there.  Part of the competition was to select a travel companion... and I chose my Mum.
The top 10 finalists were randomly selected and a week before the departure date we were asked to meet at ECR house. The rules of the competition were explained and the fun and games began.  Getting into the top 10 was a complete shock.  I had never won anything before ... so I already felt like a winner. 

To stay in the competition the participants had to acquire and maintain votes via social media, facebook and Twitter in particular.  At random times through the week different people were eliminated until 3 remained. The sheer panic I felt every time my phone rang was insane! My Facebook went mad and I have never spent so much time posting, liking, sharing, hash tagging and tweeting I'm my life!   The power of social media was alarming. I was connecting with people I hadn't heard from in years. My cousins, nieces, friends, friends of friends, clients, everyone was supporting me! That in itself was overwhelming. 

The final three were again called into the studio and interviewed live on air. That week was one of the most bazaar of my entire life!  Every time my phone rang, I prayed it wasn't Damon telling me I had been eliminated. The community were all on the edge of their proverbial seats. Facebook and Twitter continued to buzz. Everyone from the young to the old (some very old) contacted me to ask me how to vote.  Mum was a social media guru all of a sudden, at 70! 

48 hours before the winner was due to leave, the competition took an interesting turn... Voting via social media no longer counted and the only votes that counted were those cast by individuals on the ECR website. Each person could only vote once and for only one of the contestants. At this stage it was still anyones guess who would be spending that weekend at home or in their chosen destination. The excitement by this stage was palpable!  In the meantime, the main sponsors were planning for all eventualities. TRAVEL DYNAMIX and SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS had to make sure that it was all systems go for whichever contestant won. The prize included return flights to the destination, accommodation, spending money,travel insurance, a forex allowance and entertainment during the stay. 
 
The voting lines closed again after 24 hrs and then the nerves set in! It felt like I was going in for an exam completely unprepared.   I remember packing my bag on Friday morning, not knowing whether I was going to be seeing my sister or not. 

What a surreal day Friday was! We arrived at ECR again with our bags. The tension in the studio was electric. The sponsors were all there to greet us: Michelle from Travel DYNAMIX, Criba from SAA, Nathalie from Global Foreign Exchange,, Margie from Zurich and Bronwyn from Plum Accommodation.
 
I'm not sure who was more nervous, the contestants or Damon Beard whose job it was to send 2 of the 3 contestants home and take the other with him.  I honestly thought I was out of the competition.  

At 3 pm The Drive with Damon started and shortly after the start of his show, the contest who had least votes was announced.  It was down to just 2 and I was one of them! We were minutes away from either going home with our families all huddled outside the studio or going to KingShaka Airport.  When Damon opened that envelope and said my name, I had the oddest rush of mixed emotions. I felt terrible for poor Lorraine and her Mum who were going home but at the same time was absolutely beside myself with excitement that I had won and was taking my Mum to the UK for a week.  There were so many people listening to the radio at the time and streaming the show over the Internet, the messages of congrats started flooding in. I was completely overwhelmed by how so many people had taken the time to vote in the first place, then to listen to see if I had won and then to express how incredibly pleased they were that I had won. So many people have told me about THEIR moment when it was announced that I had won.  That for me was awesome. Everyone was taking part in the fun!  Life is, after all, about making memories...
 
Within minutes we were whisked out of ECR and taken to the Airport in an old London cab.
We were greeted at the airport by friends (our little fan club) and the team from SAA.. Nothing was too much trouble for them. We were checked in and then hosted in the SAA PREMIUM lounge, drinks and snacks laid on while we tried to digest what had just happened. Then, Akesh arrive with boarding cards for business class! This trip could not get any better (or so I thought!). I did however think that when he tore up our economy class boarding passes that this was a terrible joke and actually we hadn't won! 
 
When we arrived in jhb it was more royal treatment. The staff on the flight to Heathrow were fab. They were professional, helpful, friendly and engaging and just went the extra mile to make each passenger on the plane feel like they were the most important traveller. We were then met by a driver in London which was way better than the hack on the Tubes into London (as I had done during the 6 years living there)  The Hotel was great, in a fantastic location – really close to Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens.  Mum and did not waste a moment and hit the ground running.  We shopped and walked and shopped and ate out ... then shopped and drank Starbucks coffee and then shopped again ... ok you get the picture...
The highlight of the trip was the experience that Travel Dynamix arranged for us on the London Eye.  A glass of bubbly, good company and incredible views on the London Eye never go amiss. 
 
I know that there is an incredible amount of work that goes on behind the scenes to put something like this together.  Thank you to EVERYONE who was involved for giving Mum and I a truly fantastic opportunity and a break that I desperately needed.