TRAVEL / Postcard Competition: Wish You Were There?

CAN YOU choose 50 words to leave your lover/ spouse / friend / family in no doubt about what you thought of your holiday destination? Send us a postcard, and you could win a two-week trip to America (including return flight), courtesy of Campus Travel, plus a choice of tours with Trek America. With activities ranging from whitewater rafting to mountain biking, these are not for the faint-hearted. Runners-up prizes from Campus Travel are two pairs of Eurotrain tickets with a choice of destination, valid for two months' travel.

This 'Independent on Sunday' competition is a cut above other travel writing competitions. You don't need to type 1,000 double-spaced words; you just need to write (legibly) on the back of a locally produced picture postcard, and send it to us - and you can send in as many entries as you like.

We are looking for pithy summaries of your holiday destination, be it Bognor, Benidorm or Bali. The winner is just as likely to be someone writing an entertaining account of doing nothing for a fortnight as to be an intrepid Amazonian explorer. Do not feel obliged to use all 50 words; a postcard of St Peter's in Rome, for example, could simply carry the message 'Good God]'. You might want to send a postcard from the edge of a nervous or mechanical breakdown, or complain wanly about the food.

HOW TO ENTER: Entries must be sent to Postcards, 'Independent on Sunday' (Travel Section), 40 City Road, London EC1Y 2DB to arrive by 31 August 1993. In addition to the maximum of 50 words, you should include your home address and telephone number.

Open to all UK residents aged 18 or over. Entry is not open to employees of Newspaper Publishing plc, Campus Travel and Trek America, their associates or members of their families. No purchase is necessary. Standard competition rules apply - copies on request.