Our 2009 Dream Trip Contest is reaching the homestretch, with just three more weeks to enter for a chance to win a $25,000 vacation to wherever you choose. In some two-and-a-half months, we've had nearly 13,000 entries. For inspiration for your own entry, read our take on a submission that caught our eye:

Hot on the heels of the Fourth of July comes this visual reminder from Dream Trip entrant marinacgbd that the United States isn't the only country filled with patriotic fervor.

"I love this photo," writes marinacgbd, about Independence Day in India, of the shot taken last August 15 in Periyar, Kerala, India. "The boy in the photo was obviously such a character, but he also shared the immense national pride that I saw everywhere that day."

Share your travel photos and memories in our 2009 Dream Trip Contest. You could be just a few clicks away from a $25,000 trip to anywhere you choose.