The Tranquilo Traveler
The Tranquilo Traveler is a celebration of voluntourism, slow travel, and other interesting ways to see the world. Travel writer and award- winning Moon Handbooks author Joshua Berman created The Tranquilo Travel as a resource for world trippers and international volunteers, a window to the author’s travels in Nicaragua, Belize, and beyond, and an update of his books and articles.
Living abroad: life changing AND a nice resume liner
By Joshua | April 7th, 2008 | 
1 Comment » 
“Young people who study abroad for a year often come back with a newfound passion for social change, a fresh worldview and even different career interests.” So begins Seth Green’s article, “The Gap Year: Passion for Social Change.” Top universities, he reports, are encouraging students to spend a year abroad before matriculating. “Harvard encourages students to take a ‘gap year’ between high school and college and travel the world. Princeton will soon even be offering financial aid to students who want to participate in a year of global service before coming to college.”
I say do one gap year before college, one or two after you graduate, then see if you don’t get addicted. (thanks L-Boogie)
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BY JOSHUA BERMAN
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Ultimately, you will get addicted to being abroad. You will inherit what they call the “travel bug”, where studying new languages, learning about new cultures, and experiencing various forms of culture shock, all abroad, will seem like typical activities.
Taking a gap year or a gap month or even a gap WEEK abroad will completely change the way you view your life, and may lead you into learning more about yourself than you thought possible, while opening up many opportunities for you, whether be it personal, friendship, or career.
As the number of Americans holding a passport slightly increases, so does the number of Americans studying abroad. It is an important, and rewarding decision for students to study abroad, because it will prepare them for the future (helps develop independence, confidence, interpersonal and intrapersonal skills), and helps to create a global perspective.
In some colleges/universities, studying abroad is a requirement in order to graduate with honors distinction. It is a valuable experience for students of all majors, and should definitely be a consideration!