After two weeks in Peru, all Squamish rafting guide Jason Hosler can do now is wait to see if he's a fan favourite, a judges pick, or both, in the Best Travel Job Ever contest.
As one of the six semi-finalists vying for one of two grand prize packages, the Garibaldi Highlands resident is compiling marketing videos by using the seven hours of footage and more than 1,700 photos he took while on the whirlwind trip to the South American nation.
Each package includes a trip to a secret exotic location destination from Intrepid Travel and Air Canada, a $2,000 cash prize, a HD video camera upgrade and a $500 clothing shopping spree with Roots.
The journey to the top six wasn't as smooth as it could have been for Hosler. Initially, he didn't make the cut to the semi-finals but top six competitor bowed out to pursue employment opportunities and contest organizers gave Hosler a call.
"I was pretty bummed out that I didn't get it, and then I was starting to move on and I was starting to get used to the idea that I wasn't going to be travelling," said the 26-year-old Nipawin Sask. native.
"And then suddenly I get an email saying 'Hey, are you interested in taking some ones spot?' and I was like, 'Yes!' I couldn't really say no. It was a pleasant surprise, that's for sure."
So with little more than three days notice, Hosler packed his bags and boarded a plane for Peru.
"It took me about four days to actually realize that I was there and believe that I was there, and it was kind of a weird sort of feeling to suddenly be in Peru and be on this awesome tour," he said.
"It was pretty much incredible."
Hosler and another Best Travel Job competitor, New Brunswick-based Mike Corey, spent two weeks travelling around the country with a group of Intrepid travellers. The group toured the Peruvian capital of Lima and visited the largest centre of the ancient Incan empire a city named Cusco.
Hosler and Corey spent a few days staying with a local family, fully immersing themselves and their stomachs into Peruvian culture and cuisine.
While at their home stay, Hosler ate the Incan grain quinoa and alpaca meat, which Hosler said is delicious.
"It was sort of the same consistency of beef, nice lean beef."
The morning he and his travel partner were scheduled to depart, the family made a Peruvian delicacy for the Canadian duo - deep-fried king fish. Although Hosler said he appreciated the effort, he said this was one recipe he wouldn't be trying at home.
A hike up the Pachamama trail lead Hosler to a temple, where he witnessed a memorable sunset.
"That was probably the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen in another country."
After a few more hikes through the Sacred Valley, Hosler headed to the top of a mountain to see Machu Picchu, a 6,000-year-old estate believed to have been built for an Incan emperor.
Hosler said the day at Machu Picchu was the highlight of his entire trip.
"It was incredible. It was hard to believe. Just taking pictures there you felt like you were in front of a green screen but obviously you weren't. It was extremely hard to believe that I was there. Just seeing the ingenuity of the Incan culture and experiencing it, it was completely surreal. I can still hardly believe that I was there."
A quick jaunt through the Amazon rainforest gave Hosler a chance to fish for piranhas. He said he managed to catch one of the vicious fish but it leapt off his line before he had a chance to take a photo of it.
"So I didn't really have any proof - except one other person saw it. But I caught a piranha in the Amazon, I was very pumped about that."
Since his return to Canada in mid-June, Hosler is now working on editing down his footage and gearing up for the next round of voting which starts in mid-July.
He plans to inundate everyone he can with reminders to vote for him on the contest's website and he's even planning to make business card like reminders to hand out. If he doesn't nabbed the voter's choice pick, he said he still has a good chance to win one of two grand prizes by become the judges top pick.
"I feel that I have just as good of a chance as anyone else, there's only six of us left, so I think everyone's gunning for the top obviously but I think I have a pretty good chance."
"Hopefully I'll get a lot of my worldwide friends to vote for me."
To read more about Hosler's expedition visit web.me.com/jason_hosler/Jasons_Adventure_Travels/Home.html
Starting on Monday July 19, the public can vote for any of the top six semi finalists by visiting besttraveljobever.com.
The fan favourite and judges pick will be announced on Sunday Aug. 15.
