Best Job in the World?

Lucky Brit, Ben Southall, beat out 34,000 other applicants last week to win, what has been dubbed, "the best job in the world" -- to "explore" the sands of a tropical island in Queensland, Australia for 6 months and earn an easy $110,000. It won't be all milling about in the sun for Ben, though, as he will have to "report back" on his findings in a weekly blog, collect the mail (not a strict requirement), occasionally feed the fish, and clean the pool -- the latter two appearing to be thinly veiled nudges to not neglect to "explore and report back" on the island's water offerings. Other perks include a three-bedroom home overlooking the tropical island's Great Barrier Reef, return airfares to and from the nearest capital city, transport on the island and to other nearby islands, and computer and camera gear. The only downside is that the job has a built in layoff.

Seriously though... it is a stretch to call this a "job" as it essentially is just some very slick advertising. The real winner here is Tourism Queensland who has managed to garner a great deal of attention for their islands and will probably see a spike in tourism this year. The Great Barrier Reef isn't on our travel wish list, but it is, at least, now on the radar and probably is for many other travelers as well.