Coca-Cola awards three contest winners epic one-year, 206-country trip

Tony Martin, Kelly Ferris, and Antonio Santiago better order a few extra passport pages. Coca-Cola announced earlier today that the trio were the winners of a year-long trip to every country and territory where Coke is sold-- 206 in all.

Expedition 206, as the trip is called, will begin from Madrid on January 1, 2010, and will include stops at the World Cup in South Africa and the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Martin, Ferris, and Santiago will promote Coke's "Open Happiness" campaign by documenting and sharing scenes of happiness from their travels.

"It's an ambitious task," says Kelly Ferris, a 23-year-old student from Brussels, "but I can't think of a better way to spend a year than exploring what makes people happy."

I spoke with the three winners this morning shortly after it was announced that their team had prevailed in the contest's online voting. They discussed how they learned about and eventually won the contest, where they're most (and least) looking forward to going, and whether 206 countries in 365 days is way too much.

You can follow the entire expedition, through the team's photos, videos, and blog posts, at Expedition206.com.

A map of the expedition's planned route is below the fold...

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