Party Under the Full Moon in Australia

The first Full Moon Party took place on the beach of Ko Pha Ngan, Thailand back in 1987. Over the past 20 years it’s grown from a few dozen revelers to more than 10,000 celebrants each month. It’s a destination for many backpackers, and has spawned several other Full Moon events around the world.

If Thailand isn’t on your agenda, but you’re still headed south for the winter, check out the happenings on Magnetic Island, just off the coast of Queensland, Australia. Every month there’s a new Full Moon party at base backpackers. Plan ahead for these dates:

• Friday 15th August 2008
• Friday 12th September 2008
• Friday 10th October 2008
• Friday 14th November 2008
• Friday 12th December 2008
• Wednesday 31st December 2008
• Friday 6th February 2009
• Friday 13th March 2009

Magnetic Island is a popular destination for diving, kayaking, touring the Reef, jetskiing, and just kicking back as well, so when you’re bored with Sydney (is that possible?), and looking for something further off the beaten backpacker track than Byron Bay or the Whitsundays, hop on a ferry and forget about civilization for a while.

And ladies, if you want to get away from it all, but not so far away that you can’t find a hair dryer, try base’s Sanctuary – girls-only accommodation that includes niceties you don’t usually find in other hostels. Co-ed dorms can be fun, but sometimes it’s nice to get away from the snoring and smelly shoes and things that go ‘burp’ in the night.

As always, get your ISIC before you go to take advantage of the great discounts. The more you save, the longer you can play.

Spend New Year’s In New York!

It doesn’t matter if you’re still busy with back-to-school shopping and haven’t even thought about your Halloween costume yet. New Year’s is one of those things that sneaks up on you. Procrastinate now and before you know it you’re scrambling for a date, a party, a ticket to a concert, anything you can get your hands on to keep you out of the house and away from Dick Clark’s shabby replacement.

One of the easiest things to do is get a friend or two together now and book a trip to New York where you can greet 2009 in style – screaming at the top of your lungs in Times Square.

Contiki is offering just such a trip with a package that includes twin-share accommodations, a metro pass, tour guide and some meals. They’ll get you settled with a place to stay, basic sightseeing and some other student travelers that you might hit it off with, and then you can personalize the trip by planning your own must-sees around that. The package is reasonably priced at USD $845 for five days and can be booked right now.

Will the Naked Cowboy be around for a New Year’s kiss? That I don’t know. But there will be plenty of other lips around for you to meet and greet. Book this now so that you can cross it off your To Do list and start putting your real planning efforts into Spring Break 🙂

Exiled! To a Student Traveler’s Dream Location!

Oh MTV, how you spice up our lives and drive us crazy with tales of losers, princesses, and princesses who don’t realize what losers they are.

Mostly, I think MTV does a good job of encouraging young people to get involved in the world around them. They’ve run some excellent election coverage in the past, interviewed candidates and talked about issues in a way that shows young people how their votes count and the impact they can have. They’ve also been vocal about environmental issues, education, and safe sex.

Then there’s “My Super Sweet 16”. Ugly from top to bottom, whiny inside and out, the show demonstrates everything that makes people around the world hate Americans. Not in a political way, just in a culturally vacant, greedy, self-righteous, indignant way. I cringe at the waste and expense and arrogance that useless people go to just to celebrate themselves, when they’ve never done anything worth celebrating.

However, if there’s one thing that people all over the world love to watch, it’s someone who is pompous and selfish being dragged off the pedestal they had custom made and bedazzled. So now MTV is giving their party girls and boys the comeuppance we all knew they deserved… which also happens to be the holiday of my dreams.

In “Exiled”, MTV’s former Super Snotty 16s are sent to live in remote parts of Thailand, Kenya, Peru, and other places that most of us would have to save up lots of cash and vacation time to get to. They are placed with locals (no tour buses or hostels for these kids), given insight to local culture, and immersed in the daily tasks and traditions of their hosts.

Isn’t this the kind of experience most travelers would kill for? It’s not like these teens are being sent to a really bad part of Chicago or L.A. They aren’t being asked to tutor death row inmates or work 12-hour days with a dry cleaner in Chinatown. They’re being sent to gorgeous locations, given privileges and adventures that would take other travelers weeks to arrange, and they’re crying about it. Why? Because they won’t have any cell phone reception, and there isn’t a mall or nail salon anywhere. Daddy, come get me!

To MTV’s credit, this is more than just a show where people have to eat bugs and make fools of themselves. There are lessons to be learned, a bigger world to understand. MTV even has a whole “Think” campaign that provides more detailed information about the issues these unwilling travelers discover, like the importance of clean drinking water in Africa.

And I suppose the premise that some people have to be told that travel is good for them isn’t so far-fetched. I remember the first People to People Student Ambassador trip I did in high school, where somewhere between Geneva and Paris one of the girls on the trip decided that she was sick of this foreign stuff, she couldn’t possibly be away from her boyfriend for another 10 whole days, and since the whole thing was her parents’ dumb idea, she called and harassed them until they agreed she could fly home early.

Meanwhile, many of the kids on the trip had spent months working part-time jobs, holding fundraisers, washing neighborhood cars and dogs and mowing lawns to be able to afford the experience. They appreciated every moment of it, probably more than those whose parents just cut a check.

Is travel better when you want it enough to work for it, or can you unexpectedly, spontaneously develop an appreciation for it? I don’t know. I’ll have to watch a few more episodes to decide.

Food, Folks and Fun at the Big Mac Museum

Did they? Did they really? Did McDonald’s create a Big Mac Museum? Yeah, they did, and it celebrates its one-year anniversary this weekend.

Thank you, RoadsideAmerica.com, for finding these treasures and sharing them with us.

If you find yourself near North Huntingdon, PA, stop in for a bite to eat at this working McDonald’s and take a picture with the giant hamburger in the window. Why? Because people like to take pictures of giant things. It kitchy and silly and for years after your trip you can look at it and say, “Remember the Big Mac Museum? That place was so weird.”

Most travel is driven by things we want to see, experiences we want to have. But sometimes curiosity or the fact that something seems bizarre or repellent is just as good a reason to get in your car and go. Why else would circuses have moustached women, albino alligators or two-headed goats?

Two all beef patties special sauce lettuce cheese pickles onions on a sesame seed bun…

Another Travel Photo Contest

National Geographic Traveler has extended the deadline for its World in Focus photo contest to September 8, 2008. That gives you all of Labor Day weekend to get out, shoot a few dozen frames and then choose a favorite to enter for a chance to win a 15-day trip for two to Antarctica aboard the National Geographic Endeavour or one of the other great prizes.

If you don’t enter, you’re guaranteed not to win, so why not take a shot? So to speak.

Good luck and happy clicking!

Take a Sweet Holiday in Connecticut

Here’s a quick vacation idea that’s cheap in dollars although maybe costly in calories.

Mystic Country in Connecticut has put together a trail of 35 ice cream shops which they have creatively called “Sundae Drives”. Get it? Get it? Sundae?

Many of the shops offer homemade treats, and you might even see a real cow or two. Get more details at www.mysticcountry.com.

It may not be as exotic as you’d like a vacation destination to be, but the happiness factor with ice cream is high, and any journey that makes you smile is a journey worth making.

Connect With the World Down Under

I had no intention of switching from Myspace to Facebook. Everyone I knew was on Myspace, I was all set up there, and it’s blue hues felt cozy and homey compared to the stark whiteness of Facebook.

About a year ago though I found out that Canadian Chris, who I met in Sydney, was on Facebook. If I wanted to swap messages and links and YouTube videos with him, I would have to join. Ditto English Chris, who I met in a Sydney nightclub. Also, Sparky (real name Chris, but there are already too many of them).

Pretty soon Facebook helped me to reconnect with lots of the people I met traveling, some of whom I hadn’t talked to in two or three years. I met dozens of wonderful people while traveling Australia – more people than I’ve ever met on any other trip anywhere. Why? I think it’s because the whole country caters to backpackers and student travelers. There’s an entire industry in place to help you move city to city, adventure to adventure.

Australia Zoo

That (back)pack mentality may make it harder for you to get off the beaten path, but it also makes it much easier to meet likeminded travelers, to socialize with large groups of people who are enjoying the same experiences, and to find great deals. After all, the larger the market, the more options you have, and the more power you have when choosing where to spend your travel dollars.

Two of the best ways to see Australia with limited fuss and maximum enjoyment are a Contiki tour and the Oz Experience bus. Contiki provides tours with set schedules and activities. If you have a set amount of days and specific sights you want to see, Contiki can get you around and hit the highlights with almost no independent planning required on your part.

Oz Experience gives you more control over your schedule. It’s an open bus pass – you hop on and off buses when it suits you. You can choose to stay in one place for two days, two weeks or two months. There are some restrictions, and the buses may not always fit your schedule as precisely as you’d like, but you are guaranteed to meet a ridiculous number of other backpackers as you go.

Learn more about both of these options from Travel CUTS, or call an agent for more details.

Attend a Travel Talk in Canada

If you’re a student in Canada, check out this list of free Travel Talks for a city near you. The talks take place all through Fall 2008 and are hosted by Travel CUTS. Topics include:

Europe On a Budget

Australia On A Budget

Costa Rica

The Galápagos Islands

Riding the Trans-Mongolian Railway

Southeast Asia

SWAP Talk – Student Work Abroad Program

The talks are co-sponsored by Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, so you’re sure to get the most relevant, up-to-date travel details possible. If you’re deciding where your next big trip will take you, these talks will help you explore your possibilities and see how far you can get, and for how long, on a budget that works for you.

And if you’ve decided where you want to go, but your parents still need convincing, showing them that you’ve done your travel homework can’t hurt.

Send a Little Piece of Somewhere Else

Palm Springs

I used to have at least five or six pen pals when I was in high school and junior high. Sadly, I have lost touch with all of them, although sometimes I think about sticking a few postcards in the mail to see if any of them write back.

With the end of the pen pal era came the end of fancy packages and envelopes marked with shiny foreign stamps of birds and crowns and mountains I’d never heard of. The older I got, the more mundane the contents of my mailbox seemed to be. Rory Gilmore was right, postcard writing is a dying art. I’ll send a dozen out to friends from everywhere I go, even if it’s just for lunch in San Francisco, and I’m lucky to get back two or three a year. Sad, really.

Over the weekend though, my mailman brought me a flat, square envelope, wrapped liberally in packing tape and decorated with five different stamps – two of birds, two of mountains, and one with some old dead guy. After much peeling and careful cutting, it turned out to be a CD and letter from my English friend Luke, who I met in Australia five years ago, and who is now in Japan. He’s an international jet-setter, in a starving student sort of way. It wasn’t my birthday or a holiday or any kind of special occasion. He just thought it would be fun to send me something and say a quick “toodle pip”. Because that’s how all English people talk. At least it is on PBS and in my head.

If you’re trying to make a small outing or staycation seem a little more glamourous, sending a few postcards can’t hurt. You’ll feel more like an international correspondent, the recipients will get the thrill of real mail, and if you send postcards to yourself, you can build up a fun collection of all the day trips, road trips, jaunts, meanderings and spontaneous acts of travel you commit.

An afternoon at the Palm Springs Desert Museum, for example, may not seem like a big deal while you’re there looking over Frido Kahlo’s work, but a note to yourself about the heat, the lizards outside, or the crazy thing your friends said or did will be fun to read 20 or 30 years from now.

Have you licked a stamp lately?

Curious About Traveling China?

Hostel Xi'an

My favorite part of the Olympics are all the stories they tell in between events. I like to learn more about the althletes, where they’re from, and about the host country.

The stories about Beijing have mostly centered around politics and smog, but there have also been some beautiful glimpses of the country outside Beijing. It may seem even more foreign to you than other international destinations you’ve visited (you’d be hard pressed to get a seahorse kebab in Paris or Rome), in many ways China is just as easily negotiated as Europe or Australia.

For starters, China does offer backpacker hostels. The Hostel Xi’an in the Shaanxi province has a bar, offers movie nights, Internet access and bike rentals, and also happens to be set in a neighborhood that dates back to the Tang Dynasty.  

Shanghai offers several hostels, including the Le Tour Youth Hostel which has a small gym, a cafe, air conditioning and more. The best part about these hostels? Most cost around US$5 a night. You could stay a week at these places for less than what a night in New Zealand, Germany or New York could cost you.

Enjoy the Olympics on TV, and start thinking about how you can see some of the sights in person.