Alas, our 2009 Dream Trip Contest ended on Friday. We'll announce who will win a $25,000 vacation to anywhere he or she chooses in our November issue. In the meantime, feast your eyes on this image--one of more than 19,000 contest entries:

Forgive us for invoking the cliché about the horse of a different color, but today's Photo of the Day has us thinking about animals of a less-than-natural palette.

"I spotted this woman guiding her colorful animal, decorated for a Hindu festival, along a road near Mysore, India," writes Dream Trip entrant rubenst in the Dream Trip entry "Woman with Yellow Cow". "I knew I wasn't dreaming when I subsequently saw pink lambs and goats."

"I wonder what happens to the dyed animals when it rains?"

It was so much fun while it lasted! Alas, our 2009 Dream Trip Contest ended on Friday. We'll announce who will win a $25,000 vacation to anywhere he or she chooses in our November issue. In the meantime, feast your eyes on this image--one of more than 19,000 contest entries:

This melancholy shot matches our mood at the end of the 2009 Dream Trip Contest, and reminds us that even the best-laid travel plans can go awry, often because of the weather.

"We were disappointed by the rain in Olympic National Park," writes Dream Trip entrant desertbill in the Dream Trip entry "Make the Most of a Rainy Day." "We made the most of it by using our rainbow umbrella and its brilliant cheerful colors in contrast with the almost black-and-white scene. Since this day, we take a bright cheerful umbrella to places where rain is likely. It makes for a nice photo prop."

Today is your last chance to enter our 2009 Dream Trip Contest! You have only until 2 p.m. Eastern Time to enter for a shot at winning a $25,000 vacation to wherever you choose. So far, we've had more than 19,000 contenders. For inspiration for your own entry, read our take on a submission that caught our eye:

As we wrap up our 2009 Dream Trip Contest, Photo of the Day highlights a prayerful image, with best wishes for all who have tried their luck by entering. Dream Trip entrant asherah9 took this picture on Morocco's Erg Chebbi, the largest collection of dunes in the country.

"We slept in tents and woke just before dawn to climb the dune in time for the sunrise," writes asherah9 in the Dream Trip entry "Guide Me to Beauty." "Just before we reached the top, my guide held out his hands as though in prayer to the morning sun, and I snapped this picture. What a magical morning on top of the dune."

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.

There are just two days left in our 2009 Dream Trip Contest! You have only until July 31 to enter for a chance to win a $25,000 vacation to wherever you choose. So far, we've had more than 17,000 contenders. For inspiration for your own entry, read our take on a submission that caught our eye:

In travel, as in life, sometimes you start out looking for one thing and then end up (happily) finding another. So it was with Dream Trip entrant normans, who traveled near Oaxaca, Mexico, to find the Tule Tree, one of the world's biggest plants.

"While I was concentrating on how to photograph this giant biomass, a local father and son duo of musicians came over to serenade me," writes normans in the Dream Trip entry "The Musicians". "Their performance was distracting, so I gave them a few pesos and asked in my poor Spanish that they stop playing. They misunderstood and played even louder until I tried with more vigor and pesos to persuade them to stop. Receiving money to cease playing was beyond their comprehension; the boy's face melted into a look of frustration and bewilderment. My photo of his expression is more memorable to me than all the photos I finally took of the Tule Tree."

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.

The end is near! You have only until July 31 to enter our 2009 Dream Trip Contest for a chance to win a $25,000 vacation to wherever you choose. So far, we've had more than 17,000 contenders. For inspiration for your own entry, read our take on a submission that caught our eye:

Today's Photo of the Day, submitted by desertbill in the Dream Trip entry "Top of the Mountain," is one part call of the wild, and another part thrill of the voyeur. While we're taking in the scope of the Canadian Rockies in Banff National Park, we're also spying on another photographer taking in the same scene: It's nature photography made meta.

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.

The end is near! You have only until July 31 to enter our 2009 Dream Trip Contest for a chance to win a $25,000 vacation to wherever you choose. So far, we've had more than 17,000 contenders. For inspiration for your own entry, read our take on a submission that caught our eye:

We're well into summer vacation here in North America, so the image of children rejoicing at the end of the school day is downright unseasonal. But Dream Trip entrant adrobnick's photo of just-dismissed students in Bali skipping for joy is too sweet to wait for September to highlight.

"On a day-trip to Bali's villages, temples, and rice paddies, we shot this picture of several young schoolchildren being released from school for the day," writes adrobnick, a teacher, in the Dream Trip entry, "School's Out!" "It reminded me of my own students, and of the universally shared joy of being let out of school at the end of the 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.

The end is near! You have only until July 31 to enter our 2009 Dream Trip Contest for a chance to win a $25,000 vacation to wherever you choose. So far, we've had nearly 17,000 contenders. For inspiration for your own entry, read our take on a submission that caught our eye:

North Korea is in the news again, with the Hermit Kingdom going head-to-head with the United States about when, how, and with whom representatives of the isolated country will talk about its newly minted nuclear program.

Dream Trip entrant ernestinsitka gives us this reminder that in addition to the country's scary diplomacy, there are the equally disquieting, eerie performances of casts of thousands, known as mass games.

"While on a short trip to North Korea, our small group attended the annual Arirang festival in the country's largest stadium," ernestinsitka writes in the Dream Trip entry "Arirang." "It was spectacular."

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.

The end is near! You have only until July 31 to enter our 2009 Dream Trip Contest for a chance to win a $25,000 vacation to wherever you choose. So far, we've had more than 16,000 contenders. For inspiration for your own entry, read our take on a submission that caught our eye:

There's a lot to say about the desperate need for clean drinking water in Africa. (For starters, see Condé Nast Traveler Deputy Editor Dorinda Elliott's article "Matt Damon's Good Work Hunting", outlining the actor's support of well building on the continent, and the check out the magazine's Five & Alive Fund, which helps provide safe drinking water there.)

But words cannot encapsulate a basic need as expressively as the image that Dream Trip entrant stevorevo captured in a Malawi village, where the inhabitants had to walk a mile for fresh drinking water before the non-profit that stevorevo runs helped built a well.

"This girl is drinking from the new well for the first time," stevorevo writes in the Dream Trip entry "Essence of Life". "I was able to drink with the people of the village, which created a special bond between us. Every time I look at this photo, I am reminded of how important it is to bring clean water to those in need."

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.

Wanwisa Posner, the winner of last year's Dream Trip Contest, has just gotten back from her $25,000 adventure. Read what Wanwisa has to say about her travels in her blog entries over at the Perrin Post, and take a shot at winning your own vacation of a lifetime by enrolling in our 2009 Dream Trip Contest. You have until July 31 to enter. For inspiration, here's a  recent submission from our Dream Trip Gallery.

At first glance, today's Photo of the Day appears to be a straightforward framing of the iconic landmark of the Taj Mahal. On closer inspection, something is a little off: Since when has there been a field of marigolds in the grounds of Agra, India's famed mausoleum?

Dream Trip entrant dmaij solves the mystery while describing a travel memory in the Dream Trip entry "A Backwards Taj".

"Across the Yamuna River and opposite the Taj Mahal, my friends and I had a chance to look at a wonder of the world in a way that most visitors never consider," writes dmaij, who wandered the plantings and foundations of an unbuilt, mirror-image Black Taj that the widowed builder of the Taj Mahal planned for his own internment across the river from the tomb of his beloved wife. "As I walked along the central axis of the garden next to meters and meters of wildflowers, I imagined the young Shah Jahan in mourning and how he approached the tomb from the river--not the series of gates and manicured gardens all the tourists maneuver through today."

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.

Wanwisa Posner, the winner of last year's Dream Trip Contest, has just gotten back from her $25,000 adventure. Read what Wanwisa has to say about her travels in her blog entries over at the Perrin Post, and take a shot at winning your own vacation of a lifetime by enrolling in our 2009 Dream Trip Contest. You have until July 31 to enter. For inspiration, here's a highlighted recent submission from our Dream Trip Gallery.

Photo of the Day has gone to the dogs, thanks to this canine submission from Dream Trip entrant jgrimm723, who captured this image during a stay at Craig Country House, a B&B in County Galway, Ireland.

"Tom, the proprietor, was also master of hounds for the Galway Blazers hunt club, and gave my husband and me a tour of the foxhound kennels," writes jgrimm723 in the Dream Trip entry "The Hounds of the Galway Blazers." "All the hounds were very friendly, and this particular dog was very interested in my camera. What a wonderful insight we got into the horse and hunt culture so very much still alive in Ireland."

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.

Wanwisa Posner, the winner of last year's Dream Trip Contest, has just gotten back from her $25,000 adventure. Read what Wanwisa has to say about her travels in her blog entries over at the Perrin Post, and take a shot at winning your own vacation of a lifetime by enrolling our 2009 Dream Trip Contest. You have until July 31 to enter.

For inspiration, here's a highlighted submission from our Dream Trip Gallery taken in one of Wanwisa's dream destinations, Hong Kong.

Dream Trip entrant mjcourchane shot this image of Hong Kong's Man Mo Temple on a family trip before a daughter entered college as a student of poetry.

"We were particularly interested in scenery and restaurants and fun markets," writes mjcourchane in "The Smoking Temple in Hong Kong." "But for my daughter, Man Mo was the most amazing site we visited, as it honors the god of literature and was filled with a smoky mystery."

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.

Wanwisa Posner, the winner of last year's Dream Trip Contest, has just gotten back from her $25,000 adventure. Read what Wanwisa has to say about her travels in her blog entries over at the Perrin Post, and take a shot at winning your own vacation of a lifetime by enrolling our 2009 Dream Trip Contest. You have until July 31 to enter.

For inspiration, here's a highlighted submission to this year's contest taken in one of Wanwisa's dream destinations, the Maldives.

Dream Trip entrant lovetravel shot this image of a placid infinity-edge pool and slanting palm soon after arriving at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island.

"On our first morning in the Maldives we were greeted with this view from our breakfast table area," writes lovetravel in the Dream Trip entry Paradise Found. "We knew we had found paradise."

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.

You have until July 31 to enter our 2009 Dream Trip Contest for a chance to win a $25,000 vacation to wherever you choose. So far, we've had nearly 15,000 contenders. For inspiration for your own entry, read our take on a submission that caught our eye:

Red alert! Today's highlighted image comes from Dream Trip entrant jessicamelanieg, who snapped this picture of scarlet paper lanterns at the open market near Shanghai Old Street around Chinese New Year in early 2009.

"My sister and I were overwhelmed by the red lanterns, cow memorabilia marking the Year of the Ox, and lucky New Year's knots," writes jessicamelanieg in the Dream Trip entry "Seeing Red." "I snapped this photograph through one of dozens of hanging rows of lanterns while shopping alongside the locals. I love how the hurry of the moment is stilled, the vivid color is prominent, and the energy of the holiday is portrayed."

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.

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You have until July 31 to enter our 2009 Dream Trip Contest for a chance to win a $25,000 vacation to wherever you choose. So far, we've had more than 14,000 contenders. For inspiration for your own entry, read our take on a submission that caught our eye:

You can't visit a Vietnamese city without noticing how everyone who lives there seems to get around by motorcycle or scooter. No less an authority than Wikipedia puts the stats of the largest city, Saigon, as nearly two motorbikes (or "moto") for every three people. But as Dream Trip entrant Ajleifer discovered in the capital of Hanoi, not everyone has jumped on the fossil-fuel bandwagon.

"The woman behind the bike appears to be waiting for someone in the middle of a busy street," writes Ajleifer in the Dream Trip entry "Just an Average Day." "The photograph captures the patience of a woman against the traffic. She has not given in to the new way of doing things but instead sticks with her ways of daily shopping for fresh produce and her traditional bicycle."

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.

We're in the final three weeks of our 2009 Dream Trip Contest. You have until July 31 to enter for a chance to win a $25,000 vacation to wherever you choose. So far, we've had more than 14,000 contenders. For inspiration for your own entry, read our take on a submission that caught our eye:

Today's highlighted Dream Trip entry comes from entrant jmaceda, who snapped this image at a Lao New Year parade in Luang Prabang.

"Most other children I saw that day were celebrating by taking part in the traditional citywide water fight," writes jmaceda in the Dream Trip entry "Laotian Girl." "This girl was so serious and beautiful in her costume that she appeared to me both young and innocent, and wise beyond her years."

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.

We're entering the final three weeks of our 2009 Dream Trip Contest. You have until July 31 to enter for a chance to win a $25,000 vacation to wherever you choose. So far, we've had nearly 14,000 contenders. For inspiration for your own entry, read our take on a submission that caught our eye:

Last week, Dream Trip entrant FosiBear sent us on a mental tropical vacation with a shot of a palm tree leaning over Cook's Bay, on the French Polynesian isle of Moorea. Today, the peripatetic FosiBear gets us with another transporting arboreal image, this one in the Dream Trip entry "Temple Matron," which features a lone woman raking autumn leaves at Kyoto's Silver Pavilion.

"What I love about Japan are the pockets of simplicity, grace, and ease of life, the moments suspended in time," writes FosiBear. "Here an elderly temple matron is quietly and gently raking scarlet maple leaves from the moss-covered grounds: an ode to a simpler life surrounded by exquisite natural beauty."

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.

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 more than 13,000 entries. For inspiration for your own entry, read our take on a submission that caught our eye:

Ready for a quick mental vacation? Get an eyeful of Dream Trip entrant FosiBear drool-inspiring, desktop-worthy shot taken on a visit to Cook's Bay on the French Polynesian island of Moorea.

"With the sun slowly setting I set down my mai tai and with camera in hand, I waded out beneath the palm to get this perspective," writes FosiBear in the Dream Trip entry "Floating Palm Tree". "The stunning surroundings made this trip remarkable. Nothing could beat virtually rolling out of bed in a overwater bungalow and waking up with a splash in warm Polynesian waters."

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.

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.

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:

It takes two to tango, so the expression goes, and Dream Trip entrant agirlintheworld found just the pair to encapsulate a trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina, a couple whose pas de deux was seductive enough to inspire thoughts of permanent relocation.

"Just outside Recoleta Cemetery, the tango music played," writes agirlintheworld in the Dream Trip entry "Let's Dance." "I watched in guilty rapture as the couple swayed around the square. Tango, when done correctly, is so intimate. It makes the audience feel like a voyeur, a witness to something that they shouldn't be seeing, drawn in by the beauty of it all. This is what made me decide to move to Buenos Aires someday. Sometimes, life just needs to be danced away."

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.

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:

Dream Trip entrant funksoulbrotha captured this image, an almost prototypical shot of a leisurely stroll in the City of Light.

"I remember being enchanted with the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris," funksoulbrotha writes in a Dream Trip entry. "The Paris of my imagination lived there, where children ran around, an old musician played an accordion, and oversize hedgerows made me feel like Alice in Wonderland."

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.

After two months and almost 12,000 entries, our 2009 Dream Trip Contest is just hitting its stride. For inspiration for your own entry, and a chance to win a $25,000 vacation to wherever you choose, read our take on a submission that caught our eye:

Photo of the Day will be taking a break over the Independence Day weekend. But before we head out the virtual office door, here's a suitable pyrotechnic image from Dream Trip entrant judyeberhart, shot one July Fourth in Santa Barbara, California.

"Fireworks is traditional for celebration of the Fourth of July," judyeberhart explains to the uninitiated in her Dream Trip entry. "But made it so stunning here was the reflection off the ocean. The fireworks was held off the pier so the rest of the town could watch from almost any location. It was an uplifting demonstration of support for the U.S.A."

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.

After two months and almost 12,000 entries, our 2009 Dream Trip Contest is just hitting its stride. For inspiration for your own entry, and a chance to win a $25,000 vacation to wherever you choose, read our take on a submission that caught our eye:

Dream Trip entrant zibbirlo submitted today's image, which contrasts ornate pink-stone arches with a pair of women draped in blue.

"While visiting a temple in New Delhi, I saw these two women sitting on the floor comfortably chatting away," writes zibbirlo in the Dream Trip entry "Two Sisters." "I liked the setting and their blue dress. It gave me the feeling of a very peaceful, almost holy, place to be resting."

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.

After two months and almost 12,000 entries, our 2009 Dream Trip Contest is just hitting its stride. For inspiration for your own entry, and a chance to win a $25,000 vacation to wherever you choose, read our take on a submission that caught our eye:

The winding alleys of twee medieval neighborhoods are catnip to North Americans surrounded by buildings that are mere decades old. Dream Trip entrant NaomiMarx fell under the spell of the streets of Tallinn on an impromptu trip to Estonia, one that inspired a soon-to-be-finished book.

"I was in the midst of an extremely difficult divorce," NaomiMarx writes in the Dream Trip entry "Crossroads in Life." "A friend mentioned he was going to Estonia for work, so I joined him and explored some of the most magical medieval buildings, some of which were built in the 1200s. Not only was it magical but it also provided a sense of peace that inspired the bulk of ideas for a book I am nearing completion on."

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.

After two months and almost 12,000 entries, our 2009 Dream Trip Contest is just hitting its stride. For inspiration for your own entry, and a chance to win a $25,000 vacation to wherever you choose, read our take on a submission that caught our eye:

Author Isabel Fonseca captures Barbados's many facets--and its British charms--in her article "This Earth, This Realm, This Little England," in the July issue of Condé Nast Traveler, on newsstands now. In another take on Barbados, Dream Trip entrant iolaiola focuses on the island's bucolic side and meditates about the importance of human connections.

"This cow is alone in this field and appeared content," iolaiola writes in the Dream Trip entry "Cow in Solitude," a study in misty skies, green grasses, and brown bovine. "Why is it that animals don't need the company of their own, but humans do? Taking this picture, I recognized how we must appreciate all human company; we couldn't survive without it."

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.

Two months in and still going strong, our 2009 Dream Trip Contest has had more than 11,000 entries so far. For inspiration for your own entry, and a chance to win a $25,000 vacation to wherever you choose, read our take on a submission that caught our eye:

Dream Trip entrant Cpriaulx shot this colorful, buoyant image during a cross-country journey that included a stop at the celebrated Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, a road trip that ultimately turned Cpriaulx onto a new hobby. 

"After this trip I purchased a pick-up truck so I could get into this branch of aviation," Cpriaulx writes in the Dream Trip entry "Up, Up, and Away". "A balloon ride should be on everyone's to-do list. Balloon folks are a special breed of people. Fun loving and full of life, and they want to share it all with you.

"The balloons come to Albequerque every October," Cpriaulx advises. "Make your plans now!"

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.