GISHWHES- THE GREATEST INTERNATIONAL SCAVENGER HUNT THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN

So what are you doing July 30- August 6 this year? Would you like to create weird stuff and do crazy things for a good cause?  Then take part in Gishwhes, and you can help your team win a great prize and benefit charity. 

Have you heard of Gishwhes?  Gishwhes- an acronym for The
 Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen takes place every year around August.  .It was founded in 2011 by actor Misha Collins as a publicity stunt for the show Supernatural. It started by him telling fans he  was promised a live rhinoceros if his show Supernatural won the fan favorite TV Guide cover for 2010. Misha then promised to share that rhinoceros with everyone who had voted and helped them win. He made good on his promise.  He had people mail in self-addressed stamped envelopes and he  sent them back puzzle pieces, which were clues to the beginning of a scavenger hunt. Hence, Gishwhes was born.

Me and my family have personally participated for the past 3 years. Trust me, if you've never done it, you have to try it at least once. Over 6200 people participated last year. Its even attracted a few celebrities who have participated with teams of their own like William Shatner and Justin Guarini. You play on a team of 15, and you can sign up as a team or individual. If you dont have enough to fill up your team, never fear they will add people for you.When the (as they call it) Hunt starts they publish list only viewable for participates to see. It usually consist of 150 + items to do, consisting of videos, things to create, things to do, and charitable acts. When you cross something off your list you submit it via the guidelines posted during the hunt. Your tam has one week to cross off as may items listed as possible. Let me tell you, some of the things on the list are near impossible to do, like the year we had to try to get NASA to name a mountain on Mars" Gishwhes."That one was done by the way. And then some things are just plain crazy, like the year we had to get my husband dress up as a baby and be driven through a restaurant drive thru.

Sometimes when I look back at some of our teams submissions I cant help but say, wow that turned out amazing, or its so hilarious.  It takes a little bit of money to participate though. It costs 18.99 for the basic registration, which goes up in price if you choose add-ons like a flag or holiday card. You can apply for a gish- scholarship to pay for your registration fee, but thats not a guarantee. The fees goes to fund the prize for the winning team, and the rest is given to the Random Acts charity that is founded by Misha Collins and does many amazing things. The prize for the winning team is an awesome trip to an exotic place with Misha. This year they're going to Iceland. 

You also will wind up spending money to be able to do some of the items. I personally spend bare minium $100 on supplies each year, some people spend much, much more. Some of the items are not even doable unless you have some money to spend. For example, one year we had to get an airplane skywriter to write Gishwhes in the sky. Now that took some money to do.For each item you do, you get points. If your teams submission looks exceptionally good, your team is awarded extra points. The team with the most points wins! It takes several months for the judges to go through all the submissions and inform us of who's the winner. All in all, I've always had a great time doing this, albeit a little stressful at times.I highly recommend giving this a try, its a great bonding experience with family and friends, and a great way to make new ones!