Monthly Archives: September 2010

Volunteer Abroad and Have Fun Helping Out

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Your generation isn’t nearly as shallow, apathetic, or clueless as the media makes you out to be. (Right?) Sure you want to have fun and spend some of your holiday sleeping in, dancing on pub tables, and extreme sporting, but you want a little more to show for your time away from home than a sunburn and a few blurry photos taken with your friend’s camera phone.

If you’re looking for an experience that will let you combine good times and good deeds, consider spending time as a volunteer in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Ghana, Nepal, Nicaragua, Peru, or Tanzania.

Ghana

With the Volunteer Abroad program, you can work with kids in a local school, support conservation efforts, help rebuild homes and schools in regions that have been hit by floods or earthquakes, assist in a medical clinic, or pick out one of the many other worthwhile projects available.

So get yourself connected. Projects last between 4 and 24 weeks, making it simple to combine a shorter project with a backpacking trip you’re planning, or make the volunteer experience the main part of your itinerary. Volunteer Abroad will help you plan your travel arrangements, including any day trips, weekend activities, or other destinations you want to add to your adventure.

Visit www.volunteerabroad.ca for more information.

Be a Student Reporter for the International Red Cross

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International Red Cross

Sorry for the last-minute notice, but the International Red Cross has an opportunity for five lucky travellers, age 18-25, to act as reporters during one-week missions to ICRC delegations in Senegal, Georgia, Lebanon, Liberia and the Philippines.

You will get to interview young people affected by armed conflict or other situations of violence and have a chance to report back to your peers, using your own words and creative talents, in print or film.

Interested? Well hurry up, because applications are due October 1st, 2010.

Get all the details at www.icrc.org.

Good luck!

Attend a Study and Go Abroad Fair Near You

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If you’re in Montreal or Toronto and are thinking about going abroad, you can’t afford to miss the free Go Abroad Fair.  You’ll learn how to save money without spending any.

The fair will help you learn more about:

  • Study abroad and student exchange programs
  • Universities, Colleges and Technical Institutes from around the world offering full-degree, diploma, professional and short-term programs
  • Eco/adventure and language travel opportunities
  • Internship and volunteer abroad opportunities
  • Work abroad programs for students and youth
  • International job opportunities with an emphasis on teaching English as a foreign language
  • Scholarship and financial aid information, travel deals, housing and cultural information
  • Information seminars on a range of topics to help you choose and get the most out of your international experience:

    • Catch the fair in one of these locations:

  • Montreal – Le Centre Sheraton
    Saturday, September 25, 2010 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Toronto – Sheraton Parkway
    Sunday, September 26, 2008 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
    Monday, September 27, 2008 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

    • Visit www.studyandgoabroad.com for more information. Happy planning!

    You Can See Oktoberfest From Your House!

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    Head to the Hippodrom!

    Can’t make it to Munich? No worries, just hop over to oktoberfest-tv.de and watch their live feeds of various beer tents. They also have maps and schedules if you are actually headed to Germany for the festivities, or if you want to plan for next year.

    Be sure to have a look at the Hippodrom, which looks like P.T. Barnum’s idea of a good time. It’s the tent where the young travellers, celebrities and international types go for a bite and a brew, and it supposedly has the highest “flirt factor”.

    Prost!

    Rock Climbing and Heli-hiking in Canada

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    Have you ever looked at a photo and gotten dizzy?

    Like, you look at the people in it, climbing up high or hanging on to a ledge by a little rope or walking a thin bridge over a massive gorge, and just thinking about doing what they’re doing makes your head spin?

    Well this article I just read about climbing the via ferrata on Nimbus Tower, in the Purcell Mountains of southeast British Columbia, left me feeling equal parts, “I want to do that!” and “*Shudder* I think I’m gonna be sick.”

    I heli-hiked Franz Josef glacier in New Zealand, but it was nothing like this. There were no rickety bridges and no real chance of falling to your death – although I did get the mother of all sunburns (iceburns?) that left me in pain for days.

    But the Nimbus Tower? I’ll leave that to you daredevil types.

    What do you think? Would you do it?

    Only Two Weeks Left! Enter the Student Travel Video Contest

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    What’s so great (or terrible) about your life? Why do you need free tickets to fly or rail around Canada?

    Tell your story in a video and you might win one of Travel CUTS’ prizes in their Travel Video contest. Tell your story from your dorm, your car, your crappy job, wherever you can get a few minutes to yourself to express just how much you need to get away.

    To be eligible for this contest you must:
    • be a legal resident of Canada (excluding the province of Quebec);
    • be of the age of majority in his/her province or territory of residence or older at the time of entry;
    • be the sole owner of all right, title and interest (including copyright) in the video

    The contest ends September 30, 2010 so get your best phone camera out and start shooting!

    See full rules and submit your video.

    Take a Halloween Travel Break: Get Freaky for Less

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    Ghouls gone wild in Florida for Fantasy Fest.

    Halloween is one of the best times of the year to get out of the house and find something different to do. You’d be hard pressed to find a corn maze around Easter, and there’s hardly any point at all in hunting vampires in July. Here’s a rundown of things you can do to make the most of October and the spooky season.

    Haunted Happenings in Salem, MA
    Salem wasn’t the only place to hold witch trials, but it’s the most famous. Whether you’re seriously into the Wicca thing or you just want to see masses of people dressed up and eating caramel apples, Salem is a great place to spend the holiday. There are arts and crafts, haunted houses, psychics, games, and even a pirate museum. Yar! I spent a couple of Halloweens here when I was a student in Boston, and it was always a good time.

    Voodoo and Beignets in New Orleans
    For a truly terrifying trip, why not combine a graveyard adventure with vampires and voodoo down south in New Orleans and see how the city’s doing? Learn more about gris-gris and the voodoo priestess who made it famous (Marie Laveau), or visit Emeril Lagasse’s restaurant, NOLA (Sure, the food is heavenly, but those prices? Terrifying!). Catch some jazz in the French Quarter to mellow out afterward, and use your ISIC for discounts on tours, lodging, and meals.

    All Over the Map
    Want to get chased around in the dark by evil scarecrows and small children with sticky hands? (The horror!) Try one of 600 corn mazes in North America, or use www.hauntedhouseonline.com to find a haunted place near you.

    Spend the weekend sucking blood(y marys) at the Ottawa Jail Hostel.

    Go to Jail
    When I think about ways to give myself nightmares, sleeping in a haunted jail ranks pretty high on the list. Spend a few nights at the Ottawa Jail Hostel and see how much shuteye you get. Have a few drinks at their new Mugshots bar if you think it will help.

    Sun and Rum
    If you prefer to plan ahead, check out Fantasy Fest 2010 in Key West, Florida, where “Predators and Prey Come out to Play”. Held from October 22 through 31, the Fantasy Fest will include street parties, costume balls, beach games, a pet parade, plus all the usual spring breakish activities, but you get to wear a mask.

    Finally, if none of these suggestions work for you, well, you can go to Hell. (It’s in Michigan.)

    Flexible? Get "Bumped" and Let the Airlines Pay You to Fly

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    What are they feeding people in the Dallas airport?

    I was flying home yesterday from a mini-vacation in Boston, Mass., and during my layover the airline announced that the plane they had was smaller than the plane they originally booked. That meant too many people and too few seats.

    Since I wasn’t in a big hurry to get home, I volunteered to give up my seat for the $300 travel voucher they were offering. I grabbed a bite to eat, read a book and killed the extra two hours I had thinking about where I should go for my next trip, now that I had $300 to spend on airfare.

    What I didn’t find out until later was that my original flight took off, had a medical emergency and had to go back. By the time they settled everything and took off a second time, it was after I took off, so they arrived after me.

    So now I’m up $300 and I got in earlier than I would have if I had stayed on that flight. As a final bonus, my luggage was on my original flight, and since it didn’t arrive with me, the airline delivered it to my house for free today, which means I didn’t have to lug it on the train from the airport home.

    Now that’s some good travel karma.

    Read more about the benefits of being bumped.

    Find Travel Treasures at Local Yard Sales

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    Hola! Wie geht es Ihnen? Molto bene!

    I do love a good yard sale. I love picking through other people’s stuff and finding something bizarre or tacky or perfect and paying 50 cents for it then gifting it to a friend or adding it to my collection of weird and wonderful nicknacks and do-dads.

    Sometimes though you can find something really useful that will help you save some money on your next trip. Backpacks, camping equipment and travel books are always great, and the previous owner might even give you some tips on where they went and what they did.

    Last weekend I hit just a few sales and found the language tapes and CDs you see here for $1 or less each. I don’t even have plans to go to Italy or Germany any time soon, but I know I’ll go eventually, and while I don’t expect to be fluent, I’ll at least be able to manage basic shopping and getting around.

    A good find might even inspire your next trip. A set of old postcards from Paris might get you thinking about a semester abroad, or a book on the Incas could have you considering a trip to Peru.

    The first step in travel is deciding where you want to go, then it’s just a matter of getting there. Simple, right?

    Spend Halloween With Harry Potter at Hogwarts

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    It’s September! That means it’s almost October! And that means it’s almost time for me to make my first trip to Orlando to spend Halloween at the new Harry Potter theme park.

    I can’t freaking wait to get there, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it.

    Now that classes are back in you might be ready to plan a quick getaway, and I think Halloween is the perfect time to run away from normal life. You can walk the streets of Hogsmeade, shop at Honeydukes and find the wand that’s meant for you at Ollivander’s.

    When I first booked the trip I mentioned that I’m normally I’m very wary of package deals, especially when going somewhere as touristy as Orlando. Sometimes you’ll think you’re getting a good deal until you do a little research and find that booking everything separately on your own is much cheaper. The packages being offered by Universal Orlando (where Harry Potter lives – he’s not at DisneyWorld) are pretty good though.

    If you want to stay at one of the three hotels and resorts on the Universal property, you’re going to pay a lot. But if you’re willing to stay at a nearby hotel, maybe a mile or two away – with free shuttle service – you can get four nights hotel and a three day pass for the Universal parks for less than US$350 a person. That’s based on two people going. If you can get a group of four, then it works out to about US$280 a person.

    Grab a great student airfare and you can totally swing this trip with the earnings from your summer job.

    In case you need even more incentive, if you book a package with Universal for travel between now and December 31, 2010, you’ll also get:

    * Early Park Admission to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
    * Breakfast at the Three Broomsticks™
    * A commemorative ticket

    Accio October!
    Lisa the Muggle

    Wizarding World of Harry Potter

    Lumos Maxima!

    Update: Someone asked whether I’m going to wear a costume to the park. Having just been to Comic-Con a couple of months ago, costumes do sound like fun.

    I would like to feel Hogwartian while I’m there, but I’m also very aware that this is an amusement park, so I want to be practical. I don’t want to wear anything that will be difficult to sit down in, or to get on a ride, or that will be hot or heavy to wear or carry.

    I think I might just go with a robe over normal clothes. I also have an HP scarf that I love, and I have some plastic Harry glasses I got at a midnight book release party. I might take those and just put them on for pictures.

    There are shops there if you want an official Hogwarts outfit (http://tiny.cc/bdcnx), and there are places to buy them online, but if you want something affordable that you won’t worry about getting dirty, I think a Halloween store (or Target or Walmart or one of those) will be your best bet for a simple black cape.