Travel journals are a must-have for me -- though I pen plenty for public consumption about my travels (that would be because I'm a travel writer), I also think some thoughts and see some things that are for my memory banks only, and those go in my beloved, battered travel journals: actual 3D things that live on a shelf when their pages have been filled with the dust of a distant desert, the sound of Indian Ocean surf, the guy in that Belgian train station... yeah, you get the drift.

You'll find the same is true for your own travel: blogging and emailing are all good, but sometimes paper and pen are the private preservation of the present you want for your future. And they're the place to scribble hostel recommendations and new friends' emails, and certainly where you'll tuck in those little bits of stuff that make a memory: concert ticket stubs, the map to the casbah...

Ask for a travel journal as a graduation gift and you'll be ready to record this summer's travels. Some ideas:

• Travel Journals as Graduation Gifts
• Review: Nomad Travel Journal

Photo courtesy Nomad | Student Travel blog home

Chances are that your parents didn't travel after graduation (the majority of US citizens don't have passports), and maybe don't think you need to, either. And after you graduate from college, it's implied that you'll go straight to work for the rest of your young-enough-to-travel life. Why shouldn't you? A million reasons you'll never regret... here are just five:

• Top Five Reasons to Travel After Graduation

Student Travel Blog Home

Spring break is so over that it's time to start thinking about summer, and road trips are a time honored way for students to get summer's motor running. Where do you want to go? What do you want to do? Get some ideas, get out the maps, and get ready -- how about a test ride this weekend? You don't need to go far to head out on the highway or do some back road crawling -- and even stay for free.

• Road Trip Planning 101

  ^{How to ready -- or buy -- a road trip-worthy car • Hit the city - favorite US cities • Hit the beach - best US beaches • Car camping - stay and play on the cheap • Stay safe on the road • How to meet people and find fun, free US lodging • Where to find wifi on the road}

Related Reading:

• Top Money Saving Road Trip Tips
• US Road Atlases
• Real Road Food
• Road Trip Photos: States Less Traveled and Western Colorado Road Trip
• How to Calculate Gas Mileage
• AAA

Photo: Nick Crislip | Student Travel Blog Home

Couchsurfing, Hospitality Club, and GlobalFreeloaders are the biggest examples of hospitality networks (with Couchsurfing being the true behemoth), and each has its own fans -- and non-fans. We've only Couchsurfed, and want to know: which is best -- Couchsurfing, Hospitality Club or GlobalFreeloaders? (Or, of course, something altogether different.) And why? Give us your opinion:

• Readers Respond: Couchsurfing, Hospitality Club or GlobalFreeloaders?

Related reading: About Couchsurfing | Traveler Feedback Have You Tried Couchsurfing? | Couchsurfing Safety | Hostels 101 | Travel Websites for Great Deals, Part One | Travel Websites for Great Deals, Part Two

Photo © Jim Stone | Student Travel Blog Home