"And since Smugshots began: Jordan, Germany twice (I met Johny Vegas in Dusseldorf during the World Cup last year), Italy (again), Jordan, Portugal, Peru, St Lucia, Russia, Bosnia, Croatia (again), Malaysia, India and San Marino

"I guess my favourite places have been South Africa (Cape Town), Jordan, Peru and Russia.

"I've just been to northern Spain (Bilbao and Logrono) and I am going to Cuba just after Christmas. I'm thinking of a holiday to Libya after that! I just love to travel! There are plenty of places on my 'to go' list."

Thanks Syd, you truly are a global phenomenon.

Competition terms and conditions

1. Employees of Times Newspaper Limited ("TNL"), News International Limited group, Lonely Planet, or associated companies may not enter.

2. TNL will not be liable for any failure of receipt of entries. TNL takes no responsibility for any entries that are lost, delayed, illegible, corrupted, damaged, incomplete or otherwise invalid.

3. Each entry must be a photograph taken by an amateur photographer and must be the original work of the author and not previously published. Entries may be rejected in the sole discretion of the judges, including for reasons of obscenity, defamation or invasion of privacy.

4. Prize winners must be resident in the United Kingdon or Republic of Ireland (ROI). Entries from other locations will be considered for publication in The Times or on Times Online, but will not be eligible for prizes.

5. The judges will select finalists in their sole discretion.

6. Readers will be nivited to vote for the winning picture by e-mail from November 30 - December 11. The winner will receive a Hamleys Noel Christmas Bear. While the prize will be sent shortly after the deadline for voting, Times Online cannot accept responsibility if the prize is delayed or lost in the post.

7. Entries must be received by 23:59:59 on November 29, 2007 (UK time). They must be e-mailed to smugbears@thetimes.co.uk as Jpeg attachments.

8. Entrants must be over 18 years of age. TNL reserves the right to publish entries other than the winning entries, and publication does not necessarily mean that the entrant has won a prize.

9. Entrants will retain copyright in their submitted entries, however by entering, all entrants licence TNL a worldwide royalty free perpetual licence to publish and use each entry in any and all media (including print and online) for publicity and news purposes. In particular, all entrants licence TNL the right to print their entry on Times Online and in The Times magazine.

12. The overall winners shall be notified by December 15, 2007.

13. Entries will not be acknowledged or returned.

14. Only one entry per person and a cash alternative to prizes is not available.

15. Winners and entrants must agree to their names and general locations being used for publicity purposes by The Times and Sunday Times newspapers in any and all media.

16. Winners may be required to submit valid identification before receiving their prize.

17. For a list of winners please send a stamped envelope to Times Newspaper Limited Competitions Department, 1 Virginia Street, London, E98 1RL, England, stating for which competition you would like winners details.

18. Any breach of these competition rules by an entrant will void their entry. Misrepresentative or fraudulent entries will invalidate an entry.

19. The judge's decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

20. The judges reserve the right to not select an overall winner if none of the entries are deemed to be of high enough quality for publication in The Times.

21. TNL reserve the right at any time to cancel, modify or supersede the competition (including altering prizes) if, in our sole discretion, a competition is not capable of being conducted as specified.

22. Competition rules published in The Times or Times Online form part of these rules.

Multimedia

• The Finalists - view the 25 selected and vote for your favourite now

Multimedia

• Gallery: view your entries for the best travelled bear competition

Multimedia

• Gallery: Some non-bear (therefore non-qualifying) images of fun furry animals

Multimedia

• Gallery: Syd the Bear - the original intrepid teddy

Times recommends

• Tuesday: the latest airport and flights news
• Wild Girls hit the Klosters slopes
• Red Sea: the complete guide