Transitions Abroad Magazine July/August 2001

Feature

Around the World Travel
Back of Beyond. . .
The fleet of passenger-carrying cargo ships that sail among the island groups in the South Pacific and Micronesia are largely unknown to travel agents writes Thomas H. Booth. Yet they lie ready and willing to transport passengers into the “back of beyond.” To hitch a ride, just walk on board and ask the captain. Read the story here...

Best Resources

Overseas Travel Planner
Living Abroad
Volker Poelzl has selected the most useful information for living abroad.
Plus: Keri Kubokawa on Trailing Partners
Mary Emslie on Choosing an Overseas School for Your Child
Joanna Parfitt on Coming Home
Laura Martz on Finding Expat Compatriots.

Family Travel
Cynthia Harriman tells all you need to know for a successful family vacation abroad.
Plus: Ann McDuffie on Travel with Children
Ayako Hotchi on Homestays.

Teen Travel
The best organizations and information sources for teenagers who want to travel and learn abroad.
Plus: Carol Dalton Sebilia on Can My Child Travel Solo?
Pamela S. Turner on Creating School-to-School Exchange Programs.

Senior Travel
Arnie Wills says today’s senior travelers are adventurous and independent. The editors provide the information needed to do it on their own.
Plus: Arnie Wills on Seniors Travel Solo and Solo Travel Resources.

Disability Travel
Susan Sygall and Pamela Houston show how every person with a disabilitity can share in the opportunities in Transitions Abroad.
Plus: Pamela Houston on Young Adults with Disabilities Explore the World; Pamela Houston on Tips for Outreach to Youth with Disabilities

Directory

Special Interest Programs Country-by-Country Listing
Prakash A. Raj on Tibetan Buddhism in Nepal
Mark Diorio on Mountain Biking in the Alps
Raju Bist on Trekking Tours in India.

Departments

Information Exchange

The Independent Traveler

Interview
Plus: Ed Readicker-Henderson on Choosing a Guidebook and What Guidebooks Tell Us

Travel Consultant
Kent St. John picks the best websites for international travelers: Best Portals, Airfares, Sleeps, Information. Kent also lists his Car Rental Rules.

Itineraries
Jennifer Colvin on Swiss Alp Vacations.
Letter from London: Gary Loach on Getting Out of Town.
Plus Carla Waldemar on England's Unvisited City.

Best Bargains
Michael McGinty on Syria's Independent Hotels
Kelly Vincent on Britain's Heritage Societies.

Travel to Eat
Rion Klawinski on The Bouchons of Lyon.

Back Door Travel
Rick Steves on the Best Train Deals in Europe.

Special Interest Travel
The Educated Traveler
Ann Waigand on how study abroad doesn’t stop with adulthood, with examples of her favorite programs.
Catherine Thomas on Tango and Spanish in Buenos Aires

Education Abroad

Point:Counterpoint
Tamula Drumm on Mixed Marriages: Why Expats Marry Foreigners and Then What Happens
Mary Natali on International Marriages.

Participant Stories
Peter Burnside on Teaching in Australia
Carool Kersten on University Study in Thailand

Program News and Notes

Classifieds

Endpage
Horror in the Bathhouse by Marzena Adriana Czarnecka

From The Publisher

This issue marks the beginning of our 25th year — time for a brief retrospective. Looking back over all the thousands of pages of first-hand examples of “immersion travel” recorded in these pages, all seem to combine travel and at least one other element:

Travel and work — either volunteer work on a worthwhile project or paid work to cover the cost of travel; travel and learning — living abroad for a time as a student, either in an informal situation like a Language Learning homestay or in formal classes; travel and a special interest — planning a vacation abroad around the activities or hobbies you enjoy most at home; and, finally, travel and living — exchanging homes for a comparable home abroad or renting or buying a vacation home on your own or with others.

Out of the magazine have come two directories, both of which have gone through highly praised multiple editions, that cover these subjects in depth: Alternative Travel Directory for travel, living, and study, and Work Abroad.

And then there’s the website, where the data on travel, work, living, and study is stored and updated on a daily basis. Our web audience just took a big jump when we agreed to provide content to America Online’s 30 million subscribers (from AOL’s home page click “Travel,” then “Tips and Resources,” then “Special Interests”).

Finally, the magazine itself has recently experienced a big spike in newsstand circulation: Look for it in every major bookstore in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Italy, Singapore...

Write us or email us at Editor@TransitionsAbroad.com.
— Clay Hubbs