You may not have heard of World Nomads. They’re an Australian travel insurance company. Boring, you’re thinking? You’d be wrong. They have a fantastic way of connecting with people, including language apps you can download to your smart phone. They have a sense of humor too; one of the apps is to help you speak Australian…

This year they’re running a contest for travel writers, or aspiring travel writers. I’ll let you read the rest yourself, as written on their website.

Travel Writing Scholarship 2012 – Southeast Asia

Do you want to be a published travel writer?

This year we decided to shake things up a bit and instead of choosing just one country for our scholarship…we’ve decided to send you off to three different countries in Southeast Asia! Once on the ground, you’ll have the opportunity to see for yourself life beyond the banana pancake trail, and get to know Southeast Asia from the local perspectives, through the eyes of three amazing writers.

Here’s the triple-dip deal:

First you’ll head off to Singapore to go on assignment for five days under the mentorship of Rough Guides writer Richard Lim to review and update ‘The Rough Guide to Singapore’.

Then you’ll fly to Bali and meet up with Stuart McDonald, founder of Travelfish, the online travel guide to Southeast Asia, before heading off on six days of cultural insight and adventure in Indonesia.

For the last leg of the scholarship, you will be whisked off to Malaysia for a food odyssey through Kuala Lumpur and Penang with former local and cookbook author of award-winning hsa*ba Burmese cookbook, Tin Cho Chaw, to explore how cuisine shapes the lives of Malaysians.

To read about the submission guidelines, click here

Good luck, and maybe, Bon Voyage!