Student and teacher travel discounts!

Are you or have you recently been a student or teacher (with a valid ID)?

Then run, don't walk to STA Travel, either online or locally in person if you're lucky enough to have an STA office nearby. STA Travel is staffed with super knowledgeable folks who specialize in travel (adventure and otherwise) for people still in school -- or, sometimes, even folks who just happen to be under 26.

You'd be amazed at the incredible discounts you can get, especially on airfares... and usually with more flexibility than "normal people," too.

Make sure you pick up an ISIC card! This card will save you mucho dinero, and it's good practically all over the world.

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Get there -- Transportation Resources

Air travel (and boy are your arms tired!)

Frequent flier? Check out FrequentFlier.com to help you earn more miles and maximize the miles you already have.

Flying on the cheap? Check out Orbitz first, and then perhaps Expedia.

Broke and flexible? Visit HotWire and -- assuming you're willing to make a booking without the possibility of cancellations or changes -- definitely drop a bid on Priceline.com, slashing at least 10% or more off the lowest price you found on Orbitz and Expedia.

My priceline.com experience: Savings can be quite dramatic. In December of 1999 during peak travel season (around Christmas and New Years), the cheapest flight I could find to Germany was over $700 round trip. Via Priceline.com, I bid on -- and got! -- a round trip flight to Frankfurt for $449. Of course, they had me flying back at 10am on the first of January, 2000... so I was a rather unhappy camper, er, flier. But still... for that price, I really couldn't complain.

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Takin' the (A) Train

If you're traveling within the United States... you don't have a lot of choices. It's all Amtrak, all the time. Make sure to book as far ahead as you can, because you're likely to save quite a bit of money. Also, be aware of discounts. Your AAA card will earn you up at least a handful of bucks back, and students can get some hefty discounts from StudentAdvantage.com.

Traveling by train in Europe is definitely more of a pleasure though also more complicated than traveling within the U.S. If you plan to travel to more than a handful of places in Europe, you may want to invest in a EurailPass, which allows you to travel a certain number of days or months for a 'package' price, typically with a great deal of flexibility.

My European train experience: When I had a three month internship in Germany in '97, I got a three month EurailPass and took trains to a different European city practically every weekend... often times deciding on a destination by checking weather reports Friday morning :) I quickly learned that this didn't always work so smoothly; I soon wised up and began making reservations at least a few days in advance so I could get a place in a non-smoking section, or perhaps even a bed!

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Traveling by bus

I have never traveled by bus (well, not for any appreciable distance), so I'd be grateful if folks could let me know about some resources to post here! :)

Travel pictures

See the world without breakin' a sweat or spending a dime! :)

Though I'm biased, I think you'll enjoy the Europe, Latin America, and U.S. photos I've posted both here and here.

Browsing through the personal galleries on Fotki.com, especially aided by a geographic search term, can yield a wonderful and often non-touristy look at peoples' hometowns all around the world.

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Read about others' traveling

In BLADAM (my blithely blathering blog), check out my TRAVEL topic, in which I ruminate about various personal trips, travel tips, and more.

The beautiful and energetic Solbeam -- a former workaholic -- traded in her desk job for various creative employments around the world. Drop by Solbeam's site for her wonderful pictures as well as fascinating and heartfelt commentary.

Don't miss iGoUGo, a fascinating collection of personal journals from folks traveling around the world.

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Talk about traveling (travel forums)

One of my absolute favorite travel-related sites is Lonely Planet, which contains the entertaining and highly useful message forums known as The Thorn Tree. While not the best organized or most sophisticated board system, the wealth of info and friendly exchanges here more than make up for it.

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Travel books

[Coming soon!]

Stuff you'll need when you travel

[I'll expand upon this later! :)]

Camera, place to upload pictures, credit cards, language tapes, calling cards, photocopy of passport, alarm clock (shake awake)...

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Other great travel resources

xe.com - Check currency exchange rates for free, quickly.
onesuite.com - 2.9 cent/minute calling when you're traveling throughout the U.S.
letsgo.com - Handy tips, interesting discussions, and more!
ricksteves.com - Amazing collection of tips and resources.
smarterliving.com - Subscribe for their superb travel deals list to get city-specific deals.

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