TOP 10!

I am absolutely overwhelmed… making it to the TOP 10 is an absolute dream come true! The possibility of becoming one of the World Traveler Interns gives me goosebumps!


Keep up the great work on the viewing and posting, it is definitely helping! And be on the lookout for my next video… it’s going to blow you away! : )

http://blog.statravel.com/index.php/2009/03/20/world-traveler-internship-top-10/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZpH6t4W9t0

California, Here I Come!

Another trip, another long writing break... this time I was working (doing an internship at a conference) and didn't have much time to sit down at a computer! I just got back from a fabulous trip to San Fransisco... and I am officially in love.

I've always heard about how wonderful California is, but never knew that it was PERFECT! It's almost as if God carved out this piece of land and dubbed it "Beautopia." The place is GORGEOUS! I spent two wonderful days at Pebble Beach (where the 2010 Golf US Open will be held!) and then 3 more in San Fran. The weather was superb, the scenery was stunning, and I absolutely can't wait to go back!

Sometime I get caught up in wanting to travel overseas, and I forget how much the good ol' US of A has to offer. The cliffs of Pebble Beach were as striking as those in Dover, the beaches as remarkable as those in Nice, and the food as scrumptious as that in Rome! I had such a wonderful time, and I was only there for 5 days! It reminded me that you don't always have to travel to far-off lands to experience culture, beauty, and novelty... sometimes it's just a stone's throw away!

A True Vacation

Hey everyone!

Sorry I've been M.I.A. for the past couple of days... I have been snowboarding in Winter Park, Colorado and didn't have much access to a computer! While this normally stresses me out (I am a compulsive email checker!), it was actually pretty nice to have a true vacation, away from the modern technologies that crowd our daily lives.

I would recommend taking a "electronics-free" vacation to anyone... it's very liberating! Once you get over the initial anxiety of not having immediate information at your fingertips and worrying about so-and-so not being able to get in touch with you, you realize that a couple of days without cell phones, computers, and iPods is not the end of the world! You truly get to focus on you, which is what a VACATION (key word: VACATE) is all about! You are supposed to relinquish your worries, stresses, and anxieties and simply enjoy being alive!

So whether you go to Colorado, Fiji, or a hammock in your backyard, take a true vacation by giving yourself a break from all the things that fill your every-day life and just... be.

STA's World Traveler Internship 2009!

According to STA Travel, “only 1.4% of the 18.4 million college students travel overseas as part of their education.” So, to cure that, they are offering an internship that sends two people around the world (on their dime) to video and blog about their trip in order to inspire other young adults to travel and experience all that our wonderful world has to offer!

Could there be a more perfect job?! I think not.

This internship is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I when I found out about it, I almost hyperventilated, I was so excited! If you could custom-make a job for me, this would be it! Almost every day, I am talking to friends, family, or strangers about the wonders of traveling. There is truly no formal education that could teach someone the things that are learned while on the road. It would make me so happy to be able to show others why they should travel, something that gives me so much joy! So these past couple of weeks I have been preparing my application and it is officially ready to be posted!

Please, please, please, help me to accomplish this goal! The more people that see and comment on my video, the better my chances of getting selected! Please send this video to all of your friends, and help my dream come true!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZpH6t4W9t0&feature=channel

Breaking the Status Quo

I absolutely love the Luann comic. It’s such a great depiction of a typical teenage girl’s life, and it cracks me up at how accurate it can be! Luann, along with her best friends, Delta and Bernice, is continuously trying to balance her academic, extracurricular, and (especially) social lives, and in doing so provides a great character from which to watch and learn.

The other day, the comic struck me as the classic example of what can happen when you limit yourself to solely interacting with similar-minded people. So many times, we close ourselves off to people who are different than us, whether in their actions, speech, or dress. By doing so, we miss out on exciting experiences and opportunities that could be afforded us if we only broke down the walls of familiarity. As Delta wisely observed, when you associate with only people that are exactly like you, you end up having a pretty lame party.

But that is one of the GREAT things about traveling! It forces us to let down our barriers and embrace cultures and environments that are foreign to our own. It challenges us to break the status quo and grow as human beings. It encourages us to learn from those that are different than us, and in doing so, we emerge as well-rounded and worldly individuals. As Mark Twain wisely said, "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." By expanding our horizons, we also expand the scope of our “party,” thus making our lives a heck of a lot more interesting! Long live diversity!

Traveling During a Recession

It's official. The National Bureau of Economic Research announced last month that the U.S. is in a recession and has been since December 2007. While this news is pretty disheartening, don't let it stop you from enjoying stellar trips! I have a couple of tips for you to navigate the murky waters of traveling during a recession. With a little bit of ingenuity, "roughing it" could be even more fun than you expected!

1. Try to go to a country with a favorable exchange rate. You want to go to a country where you get the most bang for your buck, and, as hard as it may be to believe, the dollar IS appreciating against certain currencies. I recommend going to www.xe.com where you can find the latest exchange rates for most currencies. For example, the South African rand, the Hungarian forint, and the Chinese yuan are all relatively cheap right now!
   



2. When you're in the mood for food… try not to eat out so much! You’d be surprised how much of your budget is spent on eating, especially when you regularly chow down at restaurants. So, instead of trying to find the nearest restaurant chain, think like a local and hit up the grocery store or farmer's market! You can find some great fresh fruit, ham and turkey to make sandwiches, and much more, all at a low cost! Plus, a little bonus is: it's portable! When I was in Amsterdam this summer, I didn't want to waste any time. So my tour mates and I bought bread, honey, nutella, and peanut butter and ate a delicious meal while standing in line for the Anne Frank house! Fun AND cheap!
   



3. Bottled water = EXPENSIVE. When you're planning your budget, you don't often think about the money you'll be spending on certain items that, over time, can add up. One of those things is bottled water. It is amazing how expensive it can be! So, if you are traveling to a location where drinking tap water is sanitary, bring along a water bottle with you and fill it up at water fountains or taps. You'll be thankful when you can spend that cash on a river cruise or museum tour instead of water!
   



4. Be wary of ATM fees! Most ATMs will charge you a processing fee when you pull your money out from a bank other than your own. These small fees can really accumulate if you're always in need of cash. Instead, try to anticipate how much cash would last you for a couple of weeks and withdraw that amount to cut down on your visits to the ATM. Or, if you would prefer not having a lot of cash on you, see if you can get a credit card that doesn't charge a fee when you use it oversees. Even better, see if you can earn frequent flier miles on your purchases with that card! Let your spending work for you!
   



5. Look around for scholarship, internship, or job opportunities abroad! You can't imagine how many opportunities that are out there concerning travel! Shop around for different scholarships that might be able to fund your adventures! If you are willing to do a little research or writing while on your trip, you may be able to reap monetary benefits! There are also plenty of companies and websites that want to help you set up a job or an internship abroad… just Google different ideas that you have, and let your web surfing go wild!

So as you can see, an economic downturn does not have to limit your traveling dreams! You may have to adapt your plans a little bit or go without certain luxuries, but if that means you get to continue touring, it's totally worth it! If you have any other ideas about how to save money for traveling, let everyone know in the comments section!

A penny saved...

Last night I was at a family Christmas party, and now that I am “in my 20s”, I was shunned from the “kids” group and was told by the youngest that “I wasn’t a teenager anymore”, I was “a woman.” Once I got over the hilarity of that statement, I accepted the fact that I was officially a new member at “the adult table,” and as such, missed the whole process of the under-20 crowd getting riled up about the approaching present-giving.

When I finally realized that the chaos in the living room was related to opening gifts, I calmly, albeit excitedly, walked over to the living room to receive my gift from Santa. The ever-so-practical Santa had deemed it appropriate this year to bestow upon me the gift of… an electronic coin counter. While my brother wasn’t too thrilled by his technologically advanced piggy bank (the other boys got iPod gift certificates and fishing poles), I was absolutely delighted!

I’m sure you, like me, have hundreds of random coins lying around the house, car, inside the cracks of the couch, etc. But now, with my new handy-dandy coin counter, not only will I have a place to keep all my extra change, it will count it for me too! What a perfect way to have a visibly growing travel fund… every time I see a coin, I will run to pick it up and put it in my jar, envisioning all the places I might go once it is full (or rather, has been filled and emptied multiple times).

As soon as I ripped open the gift wrapping paper, I knew that I would be decorating my jar with all the places I want to go. I’m going to print off pictures from the internet, paste on old plane ticket stubs, and wait for my coffers to fill. Every little coin I see now gives me so much joy because I know exactly where it’s going: into my travel fund! Being able to see exactly where my extra money is going keeps me on the straight path of saving. If, instead of spending the little extra change I have, I put it right into my jar, it will gradually grow and assist me in my trekking endeavors! After all, a penny saved is a penny that can be spent on a plane ticket!

If you need a last minute Christmas gift, or just want one for yourself, you can find a coin counting jar at Kohls or order it offline at http://www.amazon.com/Summit-ZMJ01-NI-Electronic-Money-Jar/dp/B0001CU1QA. Make sure to decorate it with the places you want to go… it makes your travel dreams that much more real!