Transitions Abroad Magazine July/August 2000 Vol. XXIV, No. 1

Feature

Take a Serious Vacation!
Planning a Year Off from Work and Family
Most people only dream of taking a year off, but Bonnie Michaels - consultant, author, and small business owner-is doing it. Find out how she and her husband are making a dream come true on a year-long voyage around the world.

Best Resources
Overseas Travel Planner

Living Abroad
Volker Poelzl, who's experienced at living abroad, has selected the most useful information available on making your move, settling in, and even coming home.

Karin Gallagher adds 10 ways to prepare for an overseas move.

Immersion Travel
The editors describe the leading hospitality exchanges, homestays, home exchanges, and inexpensive rentals.
Kari Bodnarchuk gives the lowdown on hospitality stays
Isabel Bearman Bucher learns to live Irish by exchanging her home.

Family Travel
Traveling with your teen . . . or tot . . . or both? The editors' annual selection of the best resources for families traveling abroad makes it easier and more rewarding.

Teen Travel and Study
The essential resources, accompanied by over 30 Teen Travel Programs, offer the best opportunities for teens to travel overseas.

Senior Travel
The most useful organizations, publications, and websites for senior travelers includes Dorothy Dworkin's report on Semester at Sea for seniors.

Disability Travel
Susan Sygall and Tracy Scharn name the best resources for travelers with disabilities. Also: Disability Travel Programs.

Directory

Educational Travel Programs
Country-by-Country Listing of Educational Travel Programs Noncredit programs for all interests, from a pilgrimage in Bhutan to Latin dance in Costa Rica to cooking schools in Provence. Plus:

• Learn to cook Thai authentically as Steven van Yoder did in Bangkok.
• The Fulbright Memorial Fund in Japan selects 600 educators a year to travel to Japan by Linda Higgins Spoleti reports on her experiences on the trip.
• Ever considered taking a photography tour? Kim Lipker tells you how to choose one.

Departments

Information Exchange

Travel News to Use

Worldwide Travel Bargains

• Sweden: Swedish Hostels by Mait Juhlin
• Europe: Volunteer Farm Vacations by Erin E. Aas
• Turkey: An Istanbul Deal By Thomas Barthel
• Guatemala: Low-Cost Living by James Bulnes
• England: Beating London Prices By Gary Loach

Back Door Travel

Travels with Children Bring Leashes and Plenty of Valium: By Rick Steves

Travel Abroad

Transitions Abroad Q & A

Senior Travel

Families Together: Seniors Take the Whole Gang Along by Arline Wills

Education Abroad

• Point:Counterpoint
  Virtual Advising: Is Face-to-Face Student Contact Now Obsolete? by Tina M. Cassler
• Work Abroad Adviser
  Arranged Volunteerism: Why Pay to Volunteer? by Le Ann Joy Adam
• Student to Student
  Abroad with a Disability: Prepare Yourself for the Unexpected by Jennifer Kettler

Program News and Notes

Classifieds

Endpage

Thank You for Eating My Food by Volker Poelzl

From the Publisher

What are the most enriching and rewarding kinds of overseas travel and living opportunities and how do you find them? In this first issue of our 24th year we again bring together in one place our editors' selections of the best current sources of planning information for independent travel and living abroad — the most important information you need to get started planning exactly the kind of overseas journey you've always dreamed of, whatever your age and interests.

Our editors and writers draw on their own experience to encourage undecided readers to go ahead and make their plans. In this issue's feature Bonnie Michaels describes how she and her husband are taking a year off from work and family to travel around the world — it isn't always easy to do without the comforts and the security of home, but it is do-able and it is worth it! All it takes to see the world is some guts and a little planning.

After this issue, Nicole Rosenleaf Ritter, our current managing editor, is moving to Prague, where she has another editing job lined up (though Transitions Abroad, of course). We salute Nicole and her husband Chip for making the leap forward to their reports.

Until next time and our annual work abroad issue, happy transitions abroad!

— Clay Hubbs