Student exchange is one of the most worthwhile experiences available in colleges and universities today, though preparing to study abroad isn’t something which happens overnight. The planning involved before your departure can often take a few months, though that’s not to mean you should be discouraged – studying abroad will without a doubt rank as one of the most amazing experiences of your life, and while your list of “to-dos” may appear long to begin with, most of the time it’s the case of being full with small, but very important items.
Use the following pre-depature checklist and you’ll be fine – this is a list of everything you need to organize before leaving to study abroad!
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Heading north along the St. Helena Highway it’s difficult not to be enamored by the sheer beauty of Napa Valley. Having just left the hustle and bustle of San Francisco, we felt transported to another country far removed from the hectic city life.
With so many wineries in the region however, it can be overwhelming when it comes to selecting one to actually spend your time. But then we then stumbled upon a winery which instantly demanded our attention. An authentic 13th-century Tuscan-inspired castle nestled in the western hills on 171 acres of land.
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As we travel the globe and send instant online updates, share photos via social media in a second, and click through for international video chat without batting an eye, is the age of sending and receiving the vintage postcard dead? Alli Blair says no.
A young traveler with an adventurous spirit, Alli worked two jobs throughout university in order to save to travel the world, and told her new employers on graduation that she would be using vacation days she didn’t have. To date she has hit 26 countries across 6 continents, and has quite the impressive postcard collection to show.
This week’s inspiring traveler interview: bringing back the age of the vintage postcard with the blogger and photographer behind website “The Vintage Postcard”, Alli Blair.
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Traveling along California’s famous Redwood Coast you’ll come across sandy beaches, a stunning rugged coast and the world’s tallest trees. Though tucked away in Crescent City well off the regular tourist trail lies Battery Point Lighthouse – a strikingly beautiful historic landmark built in the late 1800’s.
Standing a top a hill of vivid pink Gerbera, Battery Point Lighthouse is the most picturesque lighthouse in North America today.
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We arrived far too early for check-in, though we weren’t complaining about waiting for our hotel room on a soft sand beach. We slipped on our shades, lost our shoes, and grabbed a few freshly baked chocolate chip cookies to-go as the Californian sunshine beckoned us to the beach.
The most ideal location on the Santa Barbara coast, The Fess Parker DoubleTree by Hilton Resort is your home away from home – beach included! An upscale, luxury retreat with signature Santa Barbara red tile roofs, perfectly positioned between the mountains and the beach, there is no need to compile a listicle when recommending where to stay in Santa Barbara – no other property will define your Californian experience quite like this retreat.
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Whether you’re hiking through the Arizona desert, trekking through the Amazon, or perhaps exploring the tropics of Northern Queensland where pythons have been known to swallow Australian crocodiles whole, chances are you may come into contact with a snake at some point during your trip. And, after having stepped on a venomous cottonmouth in Florida, watched as a boa wrapped itself around our camera tripod recently in Joshua Tree (see featured image above!), and aggravated a deadly rattlesnake in Arizona, trust us, we would definitely know!
As a global traveler it’s important to be prepared – the following are essential tips and tricks you should be aware of re snakebite for emergency situations while hiking abroad. Would you believe, all photos are our own!
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From North Korea to Benin, from Mongolia to Madagascar, Albert Podell is one of the few people to have visited every country on earth. It took him fifty years and during his travels, he blasted his way out of minefields, came within seconds of being lynched, and coped with riots, voodoo priests, trigger happy child soldiers and Cape buffalo – all of which is recounted in great detail in his exciting new book “Around the World in Fifty Years: My Adventures to Every Country on Earth”.
He has eaten everything from old camel meat and rats to dung beetles and the “pulsating brain of a live monkey.” These are Albert Podell’s absolutely incredible tales from his adventures in eating abroad.
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It all began on November 25, 1990 – the date that Elephant Seals began using the beaches at Piedras Blancas.
What started off as less than 50 seals in a small cove has evolved into a colony which now stretches all the way to beaches that run along the Pacific Coast Highway, and it truly is an unbelievable spectacle to see.
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The three tiny teardrop islands of Gili lie just Northwest of Lombok, Bali’s more rugged sister island in Indonesia. They have been growing ever more popular amongst backpackers over the last 10 years, but due to their remote location and under-developed circumstance, are still fairly unknown by other tourists.
Though it is their under-development that gives the Gili islands their charm, and cements them as three of the most beautiful paradise islands in the world!
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They were on a comfort cruise through the Amazon with International Expeditions when the unthinkable occurred, when Dave slipped and broke his back.
The world’s favorite adventure travel couple, Deb and Dave have an impressive resume of extreme adventures, so getting hurt on a cruise made for birdwatching, village visits, and daily boat rides out to explore the “calm tributaries of the Amazon River” wasn’t something any-one saw coming. But it happened.
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Standing along California’s famously scenic 17-Mile Drive in Pebble Beach, a lone Monterey Cypress stands on a granite hillside alongside one of the world’s most beautiful (and expensive) golf courses.
As one of California’s most enduring landmarks, the Lone Cypress has prevailed on its rocky perch for more than 250 years.
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A global adventurer, motivational speaker & philanthropist, Leon Logothetis is on a mission to prove that kindness is the real fuel that drives humanity. In doing so he recently returned from circumnavigating the globe on his vintage yellow motorbike ‘Kindness One’, giving life changing gifts along the way to unsuspecting good Samaritans whilst relying on the kindness of strangers two make it across two continents himself.
This interview with Leon Logothetis is about one man’s quest to ignite goodwill and transform lives around the world. His international journey will introduce you to a world of adventure, renew your faith in the bonds that connect people, and inspire you to accept and generate kindness in your own life.
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A medical emergency is something no one wants to face on a camping trip abroad. It’s often difficult to access proper medical care while so far from home, and camping in a remote location means you’re likely too far out of range to manage a call for help. Though arming yourself with the proper knowledge of first aid and an understanding of the risks involved with your specific trip, you’ll be properly equipped to resolve an emergency while camping.
The following are a few tips on how to deal with an emergency while camping abroad so that you can keep your cool if it happens to you.
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To quote Lonely Planet, “Europe is a patchwork of more than 40 compulsively individualistic countries and is a dazzling and spectacular place to explore. With an endless variety of cultures and attractions, travelers can jump in almost anywhere to join the party.”
While there are hundreds of activities across Europe to keep your adrenaline pumping, here are 6 of the most epic you should try within your lifetime.
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There is a special spot in our hearts for travel films and documentaries. They inspire our wanderlust to explore every inch of the globe, and draw us into a completely different world, even if only for a few hours at a time. They recount stories and epic tales of adventure, and motivate us to get off the couch and witness our world in living color.
Though travel films are more than merely inspiration for Nigel Allison – the editor and creator behind UnevenToast, Nigel combines his passion for both travel and film by reviewing the travel features and documentaries he holds dear, and has begun to build quite an audience who eagerly await hearing about brand new travel films.
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The power of the outdoors is indescribable. The life skills, larger perspective and appreciation of our natural surroundings cannot be replicated anywhere else.
The majority of these important experiences can happen in our youth through the guidance of our parents, and for many our dads. These experiences not only provide new perspectives and learnings but deep memories and irreplaceable bonds that have insurmountable lifelong affects.
This is our recent interview with Majesty Outdoors on the importance of outdoor adventure in the lives of at-risk youth, and the power of outdoor adventure to heal.
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One of the most well known ancient attractions on earth – Stonehenge remains a mystery to this day.
The pre-historic monument is a stone circle made of massive standing stones, built somewhere between 3000 and 1600BC. In the middle ages, they thought it was built by magic, though it has been estimated that the construction of Stonehenge required more than thirty million hours of labor.
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Enhancing your understanding of yourself and the world around you, here are 5 reasons why women who travel become better leaders.
Because excelling as a leader “does not just entail past experience or hard skills; it also involves personality, life experiences, and everything that makes you who you are.”
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For backpacking travelers like me, luxury hotels are a dream. Egyptian cotton, silk pillows, and the finest Italian Frette. It would be amazing to rest my head in luxury everywhere I go.
For right now these spectacular hotels remain active on my bucket-list, though who knows, sometimes dreams do come true! Here are 4 of the most luxurious accommodations around the world of which I would love to organize a stay if money was no object!
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Valencia was once the capital of the Valencia kingdom and is currently the third largest city in Spain. It is close to the Mediterranean Sea, right on the Rio Turia bank, in Huerta De Valencia. Visitors flock here to enjoy the bustling streets, beautiful churches, and a local climate which is milder than many expect from a town in Southern Spain.
There are plenty of amazing tourist attractions to see in Valencia, though you will want to consider the following options first, as these are the attractions not to miss.
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The United States is a country full of awe-inspiring natural wonders, and come Wednesday we take to the road to experience them all (well, those situated on West Coast anyway)! Offering travelers an incredible variety of diverse and inspiring landscapes, breathtaking locations, and powerful panoramas, America truly is the land of dreams.
As such, here are 15 spectacular west coast destinations to visit before you die. Add them to your bucket list, and why not combine them all into one epic road-trip in a drive from the bottom to the top?!
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He is an airline pilot by day, writer by night, and kid by choice. He has spent over 21,000 hours in the sky (nearly 2.5 solid years!) and is now Captain of a major US airline. He inspires other aviation enthusiasts to follow and pursue their dreams of flying, and reports and discusses aviation topics in an honest, candid way.
As a professional pilot, Captain Eric Auxier (Cap’n Aux) is living his dream, and even more impressively, is dedicated to inspiring others to achieve their own. For anyone with a passion or dream of flying, or those seeking the highest office chair in the world, this is what you can expect from a day in the life of an airline pilot.
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I was traveling through Budapest when it happened, when I collapsed and my lips turned blue. It began with a coughing which just wouldn’t stop, though as I felt my airways narrow and swell, I freaked out because I knew.
As you would expect from most 19 year old backpackers on Contiki through Europe, I had spent the better half of the evening reaching an early stage of incredibly drunk. Not too long after we got back to our campsite I was on the ground.
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Los Angeles hotels are incredible. They’re lavish, fashionable, modern, and chic, and if you’re lucky and know where to look, most modern LA hotels will even throw in a rooftop pool.
Hotel pools in Los Angeles are an art form, and the hotels which have made this list go well beyond a space for simply swimming laps.
Taking a dip is for hotel guests only, so don’t miss out on your chance to book one of these fabulous Los Angeles hotels while in town. With California’s charmed climate and year-round sun, swimming pools are a great way to spend your day no matter what time of year in which you choose to stay.
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You’re in the market for your next vacation and wondering where to go. You’re thinking forest trekking, dramatic Andean peaks, and a cobbled historic downtown. Perhaps somewhere in Colombia! If the pin on your map points to the tropical climate of Bogota, then this guide is for you.
These are the top 5 things to do in this beautiful Latin American city.
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