I've owned three sleeping bags in my time as a traveller. The first was a huge, heavy thing that took up half of the space in my backpack. Since then, I only buy VANGO sleeping bags. They're top quality, great value, and come in a huge range of specifications so you can always find one that's just right for you.
In spite of the rough treatment it has received, my current Vango bag has done me proud over the last two years, and my first one, a summer bag, is also still in perfect condition. The Venom range of exceptionally small pack size sleeping bags, provides competitive mountain marathon runners and modern backpackers and travellers with a state of the art combination of warmth and extreme lightness. Available in 4 different weights and performances, Venom uses the very best goose down in preference to modern synthetic insulation. Check out www.vango.co.uk
One lucky winner will walk away with a Vango Venom 300 sleeping bag, a fantastically versatile bag, weighing in at only 875 grams, but rated to -8 degrees Celcius.
For your chance to win this great prize, you must visit the Vango website at www.vango.co.uk, and find the answer to this question: "What are the two features of the Venom 300 that you will not find on the less highly rated Venom 150?" It's not rocket science- the answer is right there, it might just take a little looking. But did you think you could walk away with a $200 sleeping bag without doing something? You should email your answer, along with your name, to info@vango.co.uk Remember to write "The Savage Files Competition" in the subject line of your email.

Sorry, there seems to have been a technical problem with the process for submitting entries. This competition has been cancelled :(

DMH Australia is a great Aussie company that has been around for nearly thirty years. DMH make a whole range of camping and outdoor products, and for one lucky winner, DMH will take you into the outdoors with a free self inflating sleeping mat! I've been travelling with one of these mats for the last two years, and I can thoroughly recommend the quality. They are a tough product and allow you to have a comfortable night's sleep just about anywhere, whether it's under a motorway overpass in upstate New York, or on the concrete floor of an abandoned farmhouse in the Andalucian Mountains of Spain. Enter to win a free Standard Long Trek-Lite self inflating sleeping mat.
To go in the draw for this great prize, you must visit the DMH website at www.dmh.aust.com/index.htm, and find the answer to this question: "What are the exact dimensions of the Standard Long Trek-Lite mat? That is, the length, width, thickness, and weight." You should email your answer, along with your name, to webenquiry@dmh.aust.com Remember to write "The Savage Files Competition" in the subject line of your email.

This prize has been won... The winner was selected by the folk at DMH. Terri from Jacksonville, Florida in the US won hersfelf the cool self-inflating sleeping mat!!" Congratulations Terri!
HEY! HOW ABOUT TWELVE MONTHS OF FREE TRAVEL INSURANCE?
One incredibly, ridiculously lucky reader will walk away with a free travel insurance policy from WORLD NOMADS... valid for twelve months! World Nomads is underwritten by Allianz, and their travel insurance covers every country in the world. The level of cover in their policy recognises the needs of young, independent and adventurous travellers. So there is cover for skiing and diving rather than for travel delays and missed connections, which most World Nomads take in their stride as part of the trip. From bungee jumping in New Zealand to white-water rafting in Nepal or skiing in Colorado, World Nomads cover most adventure sports. You can join online, make a claim online, and extend your policy online. They are undoubtedly the world leader in travel insurance for budget and independent travellers... like me!
To go in the draw for this great prize, just click here to fill out our survey and tell us in 25 words or less tell us why your 'life is unexpected'.

This prize has been won... The winner was selected by the folk at World Nomads. Sebastian from Hannover in Germany scooped the prize with his entry- "An important part of my life is travelling, for me travelling means living a dream and dreams are always unexpected!!!!" Congratulations Sebastian!
When I invited Maria to Paris, I was faced with the daunting task of finding a hotel room online, something that would impress my sweetheart, but wouldn't break the bank balance. Where did I turn? To HOSTELWORLD of course! At Hostelworld, you can surf a range of hostels and hotels in cities all over the world. You can view photographs of the rooms, compare prices, check availability, and make your booking... all from your computer. These guys rock! From the world leaders in online accommodation booking, you have the chance of winning one of ten Hostelworld GOLD CARDS! The Gold Card entitles the holder to pay no booking fees when booking hostels online with hostelworld.com for one year. Normally a $2 booking fee applies to each booking you make so the GOLD CARD means considerable savings for someone travelling for a year on a budget.
For your chance to win, you must visit the Hostelworld website at www.hostelworld.com, and find the answer to this question: "Give me the names of two hostels or hotels in Madrid that you can book online through Hostelworld." You should email your answer, along with your name, to me at steve@thesavagefiles.com Remember to write "The Savage Files Competition" in the subject line of your email. The first ten correct entries win a card!

Winners so far... Daniel from Tasmania, Jamette from Oklahoma in the US, Tarin from Western Australia, Kailani from Tennessee in the US, David and Lisa from Queensland, Australia, Josh from Oregon in the US...
A musical prize! This prize comes on behalf of three great Philadelphia bands, The Pulls, The Prisoners, and Mixmatch Sox. The prize is a package containing CD's from all three bands, tshirts from The Pulls and The Prisoners, and a black spaghetti strap girls shirt from the pulls that says "In love & pissed off". There are two such packages to be won. Once again, the bands are: The Pulls (punk), The Prisoners (rockabilly/rock) and Mixmatch Sox (hip hop).
For your chance to win, you must visit The Prisoners website at www.theprisoners.com, and find the answer to this question: "What are the names of the four members of The Prisoners?" Remember to write "The Savage Files Competition" as the subject line of your email.You should email your answer, along with your name, to hwbob@hotmail.com
*CD's may be different to the ones used here as illustrations*

You know I'm always proud to work with a great group like COUCHSURFING. Recently, Couchsurfing attracted its 8000th member. The group is growing every day- today, there are already 8215 members! To celebrate, the good folk at Couchsurfing are making available three custom designed Couchsurfing tshirts.
That's right, three lucky winners will walk away with a unique Couchsurfing tshirt, in their choice of size, delivered to their door. If you're not a member of Couchsurfing yet, all you need to do for your chance to win is to join. If you are already a member, you must refer at least one friend to join. Then simply send an email with your name and details of your membership or referral, to competition@couchsurfing.com Remember to write "The Savage Files Competition" in the subject line of your email.

This prize has been won... The winners are Terri from Florida, Jamette from Oklahoma, and Kailani from Tennessee! Congratulations ladies!








How cool is this? You could win a free kayaking tour with 'GAEA Guides - guided kayak nature tours' , Fort Myers, Florida. Get intimate with nature! You will travel with a professional naturalist to places rarely seen, and see the magnificence of Nature in Southwest Florida, in her true form, in quiet, easy to handle kayaks. This prize is completely transferable, so if you know that you won't have the opportunity to make use of it, you can give it to a friend who can.
To win just visit www.GAEAGuides.com, follow the link to 'Estuary Tours', and find the answer to this question: "How many species of birds live in the estuaries?" Email your answer to GAEAKayaks@aol.com, remembering to use "The Savage Files Competition" as your subject line.

This prize has been won... The winner was selected by the folk at GAEAGuides. Jamette from Oklahoma will be spending time in Florida this summer, and will enjoy a free kayaking trip with GAEAGuides. Congratulations Jamette!
There are three genuine Victorinox Swiss Army 'Sportsman' pocketknives to give away. Each knife features the following attachments: large blade, nailfile with nail cleaner, corkscrew, can opener with small screwdriver, cap lifter with screwdriver, wire stripper, reamer, punch, tweezers, toothpick.
To win, just send an email to freeswissarmyknife@hotmail.com explaining in fifteen words or less why you think you deserve one of these little beauties. Don't forget to use "The Savage Files Competition" as the subject line for your email. Good luck!

This prize has been won... Richard from Singapore earnt himself a Swiss Army Knife with this entry- "My first (Swiss Army Knife) was so admired I gave it away, second was confiscated at the airport. I'll hold on to the next one."

Eleanor from England walks away with her prize for this message of forgiveness- “I don’t blame the person who stole the one I’ve had since I was 16 - I just hope they use it as much as I did!” If I was her, I'd be hoping the thief accidentally severed their jugular with it while trying to open a tin of baked beans.. is that spiteful? I hate thieves...

And the third knife goes 'down under' to David and Lisa, who threatened to sue me because they didn't win the self-inflating sleeping mat!
I'm proud to be a repeat customer at VISTAPRINT. In fact I have all my 'The Savage Files' business cards printed at vistaprint for a fraction of the cost of 'conventional' printing. I get to design them myself, from a huge range of templates, and they are delivered to my door. At Vistaprint, you can even choose from thirty template designs, and design 250 business cards for free! You pay the postage, but for the purposes of this competition, two lucky winners will even receive free postage! That's right- 250 business cards, designed by you, delivered to your door...at no cost! This one is a little different. To win, you need to set yourself up an account with Vistaprint. That part is quick and painless. Follow the steps to design your own free business cards, save the design, and when you have finished, email me at thesavagefiles@gmail.com with your Vistaprint account details so I can preview your completed cards. I will then decide the two winners by whatever criteria I choose.

You can be just as glamorous as a flight attendant, with your very own carry-on sized bag... on wheels. If you're too much of a cissy to wear a backpack, this is the prize for you. It's small enought to fit in the overhead lockers, but large enough to carry several kilograms of drugs. It's also guaranteed to incresase your chances of joining the mile high club with one of the flight attendants...
There is one obstacle with this prize. You see, it has already been sent to me. That is to say that it is in my possession, and therefore I would have to post it out personally to the winner. If you know me, you'll know that I am far too mean for that. So drop me an email, tell me why the hell I should give you this cool bag, and how you would plan to take delivery of your prize if I should choose you as the winner. Cheers! thesavagefiles@gmail.com
This prize has been won... Jon from Calpe sent this entry, and well... the competition was over! "as for that ‘carry on bag with wheels’, well obviously it has to come to Calpe - for the following reasons:
1. Annabelle needs one as she cannot carry a back pack, being a very fragile and delicate and precious person!
2. As you are so mean you cannot afford to send it very far, you can pop it on the bus in Madrid, addressed to us and we will collect it in Calpe and pay its fare this end.
3. You may also put the new book in it (when I have paid for it), that will save me the postage on it!
4. Finally, without your visit to Calpe last year, you would not have the pleasures you have enjoyed for the past seven months. This in itself is worth a bag or two!
Kindly remove the ‘bag’ competition from your web site immediately, and send it to where it so obviously and, may I say, rightly belongs!!! What time is the bus due in????"
REFERRER'S PRIZE: Direct from the shelves of The Savage Files Emporium you could make a stand against terrorism with your choice of a unique "Terrorists can go kiss my ASS!" tshirt, coffee mug or mouse mat. To win this prize, you must first have placed an order for one or more copies of "Of Walls and Men" and also referred a new customer to place an order. Make sure your friend mentions that you referred them, and you could win this great prize. NB. This is a "one-off" prize, and will go to the first person whose friend places an order!

As yet unclaimed :(
SMALL PRINT

1. To be eligible for entry into any of the above competitions, you must have already placed an order for one or more copies of "Of Walls and Men". This competition is my way of promoting my book, and an opportunity to thank those who have supported me, not just an opportunity for me to do loads of work and give away cool stuff to random people. I hope you understand.

2. Of course you are welcome to submit entries to all of the separate competitions above, but I would suggest not trying to enter any one competition more than once. Remember that you have to include your name and email address with your entry, and that name must match a name on my list of book customers, for you to be eligible for the prize.

3. Once the sponsor company has notified you of your win, the agreement is between you and them. If there are any conflicts (and I don't see why there would be, but I'm just being over cautious here) I would do my best to help resolve them, but would not take any responsibility.

4. Because these competitions are being conducted by third parties, it is possible that one person may win more than one competition. This does not signify any foul play, just good luck. I do not have the ability to influence results, except of course of the couple of competitions that I am conducting personally.

5. No correspondence will be entered into. I'm not sure what this means, but it's always at the bottom of every competition, so I was loathe to omit it. I guess it means that if you don't win, don't come crying to me about it. Life goes on.