I'm back, fellow travelers. It's been since April since I last updated College Destination Destiny. But as I'm sure all of you are doing, I've been enjoying my summer.
Maybe readers reading this are wondering, when's my next post?
Well, aside from this, my next post might not really be one at all.
This is because my plan is to let visuals do the talking. Photos and videos, essentially.
I have 10 days till I embark on a road trip from Illinois with some of my best friends. A trip that we have had planned since last December. And that's taking our talents to Central Florida for eight nights before school starts.
So it's not going overseas, but this is a trip I had been waiting for longer than just nine months. Try 13 years.
I had been to Florida -- Orlando, to be specific -- back in 2000; but I was seven years old, so I didn't really understand the significance of the trip till later.
It's been a longtime coming, and I'm as anxious as a kid on Christmas morning.
Sorry to keep this short, even though I want to tell what my photos and videos will pertain to. I'll let it be a secret.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
Women should be careful when couchsurfing
Couchsurfing -- to stay in another individual’s home while traveling -- is cost-effective. Couchsurfing can be fun. But couchsurfing can also be dangerous, especially if you’re a female traveler or hostess.
CEO of travAlliancemedia Mark Murphy said if a traveler were conflicted to couchsurf, he would encourage them to. But Murphy would advise proceeding with discretion.
“I would caution people to do their homework because you’re traveling as a single solo traveler; you're ending up in a place you might not be familiar with, staying in someone's place,” Murphy said.
“You just wanna make sure that you aren't going to run into any issues, and I think I'd be more concerned as a woman traveling alone than a man traveling alone, naturally, in that situation.”
Sherry BonDurant, marketing researcher for the Illinois Housing Development Authority and freelance writer for the Chicago Tribune, is a female couchsurfer.
BonDurant has been actively involved in couchsurfing, with most of her activity as a couchsurfing host, or allowing people into her home.
BonDurant moved away from her hometown of Madison, Wis. to Chicago in 2006.
She said she enjoyed big cities, and found that there were more cultural things and different things to do. Not to mention, Chicago wasn’t too far from her family.
When she moved to the Windy City, she saw an advertisement in the RedEye about couchsurfing and decided to join to meet people.
Since then, BonDurant has been couchsurfing dating back to 2007, hosting over 100 people in that timespan. Although, she hasn’t been hosting or surfing for about a year.
But BonDurant agrees that concern for female couchsurfers is warranted.
“Well, I do -- since I am a female -- I do find it more of a concern for women. However, like I said, I just have to get past that to enjoy hosting males,” BonDurant said.
But here’s a twist.
She was caught in a bad situation, but it came from hosting a female.
“The worst experience I had was a female thing with me; she was crazy,” BonDurant said.
"It didn't take me long to figure out that she had some serious psychological issues. Just the way she was talking, and she was obviously making up stories because they were outrageous things that I knew just weren't true,” BonDurant said.
BonDurant says she didn’t want to kick her out, because she knew her guest had nowhere to go. So she let her spend the night.
But one day, the woman went out and didn’t return.
BonDurant said she waited all night, called her phone, and didn’t get a trace of her.
She returned late the next day and acted nonchalant about her whereabouts.
Therefore, that prompted BonDurant to dismiss the individual from her apartment.
That wasn’t the end of it, though.
“She came back to my apartment; she was trying to get into my security-locked building,” BonDurant said.
”So I had to put a photo up of her face, and tell the doorman that she wasn't allowed in the building.”
The woman proceeded to call BonDurant, which she ignored.
The calling finally stopped, and the woman’s actions led BonDurant to conclude that she was the most outrageous person she ever encountered. That she wouldn’t just say trouble in couchsurfing is a strictly a male ordeal.
But with couchsurfing, there is always a potential threat for robbery, harassment or sexual assault, especially with men.
BonDurant says that sexual assault by a man would be most concerning for females; considering she has read that assault is problematic for women, and that issues like this removes the joy of the cultural exchange of couchsurfing.
Even though her bad experience wasn’t with a male, BonDurant suggests that to avoid being in a situation like hers, women need to communicate with men in advance and make sure he has a plethora of positive female references before hosting or being hosted.
She said to become friends with that male on Facebook. Find out their expectations and what type of person they are.
If you would like to get advice or tips for traveling, or just want to follow on her "quest to travel," like BonDurant's Facebook page of Global Hidden Gems.
CEO of travAlliancemedia Mark Murphy said if a traveler were conflicted to couchsurf, he would encourage them to. But Murphy would advise proceeding with discretion.
“I would caution people to do their homework because you’re traveling as a single solo traveler; you're ending up in a place you might not be familiar with, staying in someone's place,” Murphy said.
“You just wanna make sure that you aren't going to run into any issues, and I think I'd be more concerned as a woman traveling alone than a man traveling alone, naturally, in that situation.”
Sherry BonDurant, marketing researcher for the Illinois Housing Development Authority and freelance writer for the Chicago Tribune, is a female couchsurfer.
BonDurant has been actively involved in couchsurfing, with most of her activity as a couchsurfing host, or allowing people into her home.
BonDurant moved away from her hometown of Madison, Wis. to Chicago in 2006.
She said she enjoyed big cities, and found that there were more cultural things and different things to do. Not to mention, Chicago wasn’t too far from her family.
When she moved to the Windy City, she saw an advertisement in the RedEye about couchsurfing and decided to join to meet people.
 |
| Photo: Nothing like home sweet home on a couch. Credit: Lamar Colyer III. |
Since then, BonDurant has been couchsurfing dating back to 2007, hosting over 100 people in that timespan. Although, she hasn’t been hosting or surfing for about a year.
But BonDurant agrees that concern for female couchsurfers is warranted.
“Well, I do -- since I am a female -- I do find it more of a concern for women. However, like I said, I just have to get past that to enjoy hosting males,” BonDurant said.
But here’s a twist.
She was caught in a bad situation, but it came from hosting a female.
“The worst experience I had was a female thing with me; she was crazy,” BonDurant said.
"It didn't take me long to figure out that she had some serious psychological issues. Just the way she was talking, and she was obviously making up stories because they were outrageous things that I knew just weren't true,” BonDurant said.
BonDurant says she didn’t want to kick her out, because she knew her guest had nowhere to go. So she let her spend the night.
But one day, the woman went out and didn’t return.
BonDurant said she waited all night, called her phone, and didn’t get a trace of her.
She returned late the next day and acted nonchalant about her whereabouts.
Therefore, that prompted BonDurant to dismiss the individual from her apartment.
That wasn’t the end of it, though.
“She came back to my apartment; she was trying to get into my security-locked building,” BonDurant said.
”So I had to put a photo up of her face, and tell the doorman that she wasn't allowed in the building.”
The woman proceeded to call BonDurant, which she ignored.
The calling finally stopped, and the woman’s actions led BonDurant to conclude that she was the most outrageous person she ever encountered. That she wouldn’t just say trouble in couchsurfing is a strictly a male ordeal.
But with couchsurfing, there is always a potential threat for robbery, harassment or sexual assault, especially with men.
BonDurant says that sexual assault by a man would be most concerning for females; considering she has read that assault is problematic for women, and that issues like this removes the joy of the cultural exchange of couchsurfing.
Even though her bad experience wasn’t with a male, BonDurant suggests that to avoid being in a situation like hers, women need to communicate with men in advance and make sure he has a plethora of positive female references before hosting or being hosted.
She said to become friends with that male on Facebook. Find out their expectations and what type of person they are.
If you would like to get advice or tips for traveling, or just want to follow on her "quest to travel," like BonDurant's Facebook page of Global Hidden Gems.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Director of student travel website has evidence in proving Chicago as a top travel spot for students
Chicago is a popular tourist destination. Groups -- whether it be families or a clique of friends -- from all over visit. But do college students? Is Chicago a popular place of interest for students when traveling?
Typically, when students travel, places that may come to other people’s minds are Cancun, Miami, Daytona Beach, etc. In fact, the U.S. News Travel website has a list of top travel destinations.
But missing from that list is the Windy City, itself.
Evan Becker, director of partner development of StudentUniverse – which is a site providing students with exclusive deals and experiences for travel – says that Chicago is a popular destination for students, and provided stats in proving so.
“Chicago is definitely one of our more popular destinations here in the U.S. It's actually within our top 10 globally, even,” Becker said.
Becker’s metrics become more specific. He mentions about rankings for hotel bookings for students traveling to Chicago.
“On the hotel side, if we're looking domestically, we see Chicago in our top five,” Becker said.
“It's certainly a popular destination for students to travel. I mean, it's central in the U.S., so it's kind of equidistant from a lot of points around the country. Fairly cheap for students to get to.”
Becker goes onto to say that Chicago is one of those cites that people have been to and seen, comparing it to other known travel spots.
“It's essentially the Midwest version of New York or LA,” Becker said.
“It's driving distance from a lot of the East Coast cities; maybe it takes you a day-and-a-half-to-get-there kind of thing, but students are able to do that.”
Now while that list from U.S. Travel News is geared toward spring break, it’s still pertaining to college students traveling.
Either way, Chicago happens to be, after all, a popular student travel spot.
Typically, when students travel, places that may come to other people’s minds are Cancun, Miami, Daytona Beach, etc. In fact, the U.S. News Travel website has a list of top travel destinations.
But missing from that list is the Windy City, itself.
Evan Becker, director of partner development of StudentUniverse – which is a site providing students with exclusive deals and experiences for travel – says that Chicago is a popular destination for students, and provided stats in proving so.
“Chicago is definitely one of our more popular destinations here in the U.S. It's actually within our top 10 globally, even,” Becker said.
Becker’s metrics become more specific. He mentions about rankings for hotel bookings for students traveling to Chicago.
“On the hotel side, if we're looking domestically, we see Chicago in our top five,” Becker said.
“It's certainly a popular destination for students to travel. I mean, it's central in the U.S., so it's kind of equidistant from a lot of points around the country. Fairly cheap for students to get to.”
Becker goes onto to say that Chicago is one of those cites that people have been to and seen, comparing it to other known travel spots.
“It's essentially the Midwest version of New York or LA,” Becker said.
“It's driving distance from a lot of the East Coast cities; maybe it takes you a day-and-a-half-to-get-there kind of thing, but students are able to do that.”
Now while that list from U.S. Travel News is geared toward spring break, it’s still pertaining to college students traveling.
Either way, Chicago happens to be, after all, a popular student travel spot.
Couchsurfing among the many options of lodging for travelers
Travelers need to stay somewhere when traveling, whether it is at a hotel, motel or hostel. Another method of lodging is called couchsurfing.
According to the About.com's Student Travel section, couchsurfing is defined as an interesting outfit seeking to unite world travelers with a couch on which to flop.
In other words, couchsurfing is when travelers are staying in someone else’s place of residence.
So what does a traveler do when they want to couchsurf? Entrepreneur, adventurer and CEO of travAlliancemedia Mark Murphy talks about the process of couchsurfing.
“If you go couchsurfing ... you would ideally do some research, look at some reviews from some of the sites out there like couchsurfing.com,” Murphy said.
Murphy says to make sure the person a traveler chooses to stay with has a positive reputation, mentioning that his biggest concern of being a couchsurfer is putting himself at risk because of being in a private environment.
But Murphy says what he likes about couchsurfing is experiencing a destination through the eyes of a local, as well as simply obtaining connections. Although, he says the experience a traveler gets depends on the owner of that property, and how engaged they are going to be with them.
When asked if he would recommend if a traveler was deciding to experience couchsurfing, Murphy’s reply was “absolutely.”
“I think it's a neat option, and it's a great way to get places, and save a bundle of money," Murphy continues to say.
“If I was a student, I would absolutely look at it.”
When emailing veteran travel writer Alan Solomon about the topic of couchsurfing, his response was, “I have no idea what you mean by "couch" surfing, in terms of travel (or anything else). What is that?”
Hopefully, through reading this article, his question has been answered.
According to the About.com's Student Travel section, couchsurfing is defined as an interesting outfit seeking to unite world travelers with a couch on which to flop.
In other words, couchsurfing is when travelers are staying in someone else’s place of residence.
So what does a traveler do when they want to couchsurf? Entrepreneur, adventurer and CEO of travAlliancemedia Mark Murphy talks about the process of couchsurfing.
“If you go couchsurfing ... you would ideally do some research, look at some reviews from some of the sites out there like couchsurfing.com,” Murphy said.
Murphy says to make sure the person a traveler chooses to stay with has a positive reputation, mentioning that his biggest concern of being a couchsurfer is putting himself at risk because of being in a private environment.
But Murphy says what he likes about couchsurfing is experiencing a destination through the eyes of a local, as well as simply obtaining connections. Although, he says the experience a traveler gets depends on the owner of that property, and how engaged they are going to be with them.
When asked if he would recommend if a traveler was deciding to experience couchsurfing, Murphy’s reply was “absolutely.”
“I think it's a neat option, and it's a great way to get places, and save a bundle of money," Murphy continues to say.
“If I was a student, I would absolutely look at it.”
When emailing veteran travel writer Alan Solomon about the topic of couchsurfing, his response was, “I have no idea what you mean by "couch" surfing, in terms of travel (or anything else). What is that?”
Hopefully, through reading this article, his question has been answered.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Studying abroad's dreaming process sets the tone
Students choose to study abroad for a variety of reasons. It could be out of sheer boredom or wanting to branch out and learn of another culture. Either way, it’s a growing fad.
A fall 2011 survey by the Institute of International Education found 53 percent of campuses indicated an increase in students studying abroad. Only 30 percent reported a decrease, and 27 percent reported no change. In the year before, 55 percent noticed an increase while 32 percent said there was a decline.
Joanne Canyon-Heller, Roosevelt University assistant provost for international academic programs and summer session, talks about a "dreaming" process for studying abroad.
“When I start talking to students -- usually at orientation in their freshman year, or when they go to the orientation for transfer, or when I do a study abroad fair -- I start saying to them, ‘I need to see you now.’” Canyon-Heller said.
“And I see them, now; I mean, I have appointments almost all the time seeing students, because we have to go through the dreaming stage.”
During this stage, a student has to look at all the possibilities. For example: where you want to go, looking at paperwork, seeing if the student qualifies to go abroad, and searching for scholarship money opportunities. In short, will it all be possible? Because the process of getting the opportunity to study abroad gets more strenuous.
“I mean this is a job; this (trying to study abroad) becomes a job for them.” Canyon-Heller said.
She says she doesn't want students to be late in missing out on the opportunity to go abroad, because thereafter, they have to actually apply, get letters of recommendation, transcripts -- all of which are need to be completed in a 10-day window -- and then meet with an academic adviser, work with the financial aid department, and get a visa.
Roosevelt University junior Kristin Ramirez is planning to study abroad in the fall.
As far as the dreaming process went, it was "hectic" but "doable," she says, because she was looking for a school abroad that offered what she needed in her major. Ramirez said that was "definitely" the hardest part for her.
As Canyon-Heller puts it, “After you get through the dreaming, the action (application process) part is really important, and when you don’t take action, it means you don’t get to go; and that’s the key.”
A fall 2011 survey by the Institute of International Education found 53 percent of campuses indicated an increase in students studying abroad. Only 30 percent reported a decrease, and 27 percent reported no change. In the year before, 55 percent noticed an increase while 32 percent said there was a decline.
Joanne Canyon-Heller, Roosevelt University assistant provost for international academic programs and summer session, talks about a "dreaming" process for studying abroad.
“When I start talking to students -- usually at orientation in their freshman year, or when they go to the orientation for transfer, or when I do a study abroad fair -- I start saying to them, ‘I need to see you now.’” Canyon-Heller said.
“And I see them, now; I mean, I have appointments almost all the time seeing students, because we have to go through the dreaming stage.”
During this stage, a student has to look at all the possibilities. For example: where you want to go, looking at paperwork, seeing if the student qualifies to go abroad, and searching for scholarship money opportunities. In short, will it all be possible? Because the process of getting the opportunity to study abroad gets more strenuous.
“I mean this is a job; this (trying to study abroad) becomes a job for them.” Canyon-Heller said.
She says she doesn't want students to be late in missing out on the opportunity to go abroad, because thereafter, they have to actually apply, get letters of recommendation, transcripts -- all of which are need to be completed in a 10-day window -- and then meet with an academic adviser, work with the financial aid department, and get a visa.
Roosevelt University junior Kristin Ramirez is planning to study abroad in the fall.
As far as the dreaming process went, it was "hectic" but "doable," she says, because she was looking for a school abroad that offered what she needed in her major. Ramirez said that was "definitely" the hardest part for her.
As Canyon-Heller puts it, “After you get through the dreaming, the action (application process) part is really important, and when you don’t take action, it means you don’t get to go; and that’s the key.”
Friday, April 5, 2013
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Solo travelers benefit from hostels says road trip expert
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| Huckleberry Finn Youth Hostel, Image credit to wheany (Flickr) |
Hostels is just one method of lodging for travelers, but one road trip expert believes it benefits an individual who’s going solo.
Professional road tripper and founder and managing editor of RoadTripAmerica.com Mark Sedenquist has been a road tripper for 30 years -- 17 of which was devoted to RoadTrip America -- and he mentioned how hostels are on the rise.
“Hostels ... they’re big in Europe,” Sedenquist said. “They’re starting to be much bigger here in the United States. There’s probably, at this point, one or two really nice hostels in every state.”
But when asked whether hostels benefit college student groups, couples or families, Sedenquist gave a different response.
“Hostels were kind of created for solo travelers,” Sedenquist said. “Certainly couples like hostels. Several of our enthusiasts groups that are the most active people on RoadTrip America use hostels when they travel."
He went on to say on the site's Great American RoadTrip forum, there were discussions about which hostels they liked, and why they liked them, and all the good times they’ve had in one.
Sedenquist said that benefits were meeting people and having an opportunity to get your own room -- that being “relatively inexpensive” to top-of-the-line in the same hostel.
To check out hostels, visit hostels.com.
College students don't just think partying when traveling
College students travel whether it be during spring and summer break or studying abroad. What a student might travel for? Partying might be an option. But that's not all a college student should consider when traveling.
Joshua Pramis, a former social media editor for Travel + Leisure and current DigitalTrends.com freelance contributor, says any person -- not just a college student -- should travel without the sole intent of partying.
Pramis uses an example of when he went on a school trip to Spain when he was 18.
"I went to Spain on a school trip when I was 18, and there was a group of younger students that traveled, Pramis said. "And their sole intention of going to Spain was because they were of age to drink legally. Whereas I went with a small group of my friends, and our intent was mostly to experience the country, experience the food."
Pramis goes onto say that he thinks experiencing a new culture and new destination are reasons that come to mind, and that there are tons more. He is just unsure how often students do so.
When asking Laura O'Brien, college student at Roosevelt University, she said work, family and appointments are reasons she believes a student would travel.
Joshua Pramis, a former social media editor for Travel + Leisure and current DigitalTrends.com freelance contributor, says any person -- not just a college student -- should travel without the sole intent of partying.
Pramis uses an example of when he went on a school trip to Spain when he was 18.
"I went to Spain on a school trip when I was 18, and there was a group of younger students that traveled, Pramis said. "And their sole intention of going to Spain was because they were of age to drink legally. Whereas I went with a small group of my friends, and our intent was mostly to experience the country, experience the food."
Pramis goes onto say that he thinks experiencing a new culture and new destination are reasons that come to mind, and that there are tons more. He is just unsure how often students do so.
When asking Laura O'Brien, college student at Roosevelt University, she said work, family and appointments are reasons she believes a student would travel.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Traveler's cheques not gone or forgotten
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| Image Credit to Thoth, God of Knowledge (Flickr) |
If you were born in the 1990s or 2000s, chances are traveler’s cheques will sound like ancient history. One tipoff is just in the way “cheque” is spelled. But to those who were born prior to, a traveler’s cheque is not rocket science.
According to Merriam-Webster’s website, a traveler’s cheque is a draft purchased from a bank or express company, signed by the purchaser at the time or purchase, and again at time of cashing as a precaution against forgery.
Still not clear?
Here’s clarification: It's used instead of money. The thing is, unlike money, if cheques get lost or stolen, they can be replaced.
DigitalTrends.com freelance contributor Joshua Pramis talked about whether he recalled traveler’s cheques.
“I think the last time I heard about traveler’s cheques was when I was in high school, which was 10 years ago,” Pramis said. “I have not heard about them for awhile.”
Pramis, a former social media editor for Travel + Leisure, says that, in his six-and-a-half years there, the magazine never printed anything about these cheques.
He says that, during his time with the magazine, debit cards were more popular than traveler’s cheques.
“I think they were at their height of their popularity before the debit card became popular,” Pramis said. “People had ATM cards, but not necessarily debit cards. …They have the same kind of bank protection that -- against fraud -- a credit card has, so I think that is really the way most people go nowadays.”
That’s just it. Credit and debit cards have come into such widespread use, why bother with a traveler’s cheque?
Roosevelt University senior and reporter for Roosevelt’s Torch student newspaper Mary Ruscitti didn’t hear about these cheques till her parents mentioned them. She said they told her they were going on vacation, and that they had them.
But while not knowing much about traveler's cheques, she still would use them.
“I would use a traveler’s cheque because you can use it now; you can use it when you go to Canada two years from now,” Ruscitti said.
What she means is that they do not expire. Beneficial, isn’t it?
While traveler’s cheques may seem prehistoric, you can still get your hands on some.
According to Nicole Vulcan, in an article for USAToday.com, options are American Express, AAA, MasterCard, and of course, your bank. These can be bought at other financial institutions, like a credit union, but they might charge a higher fee to non-customers -- not to mention, cash may need to be provided instead of a check to acquire them.
Traveler’s cheques are just another option -- and a forgotten one. You may wonder can they still be used in places. According to the website of American Express, their traveler's cheque FAQ page provided insight.
They can be used at retail locations, hotels and restaurants. If you’re new to cashing them in, simply present the cheque at the merchant’s location. Be mindful in making sure the acceptor watches while you countersign. They are to be signed in the upper left-hand corner, especially if you need them to be reimbursable if lost or stolen.
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