Want to know what it's really like to spend time in a particular place abroad?

Check out these blogs written by young Americans who are studying, working or volunteering in other countries!

•Maggie Doyne has a story to share.  The beginning might sound familiar to you:

"My senior year of high school I was like any other soccer-playing-college-bound-New-Jersey-girl: consumed with SAT scores, grades, college applications, and my football star boyfriend. To say I was obsessed with getting into the perfect college would be, well, an understatement. I’ll never forget the morning—after having been up all night cramming for an exam—that I stumbled downstairs in my pajamas, and announced to my parents my wish to take a year off. Little did I know how much this one singular decision would mean to my future."

Maggie decided to follow her heart and take a gap year between high school and college in order to travel around the world.  She ended up doing something extraordinary. 

Read her blog at maggiedoyne.squarespace.com and don't miss the "About Maggie" section with a great video! What would happen if ALL students followed their hearts the way that Maggie did? 

Maggie went abroad through LeapNow--a good program for those who want a structured plan.  However, you need to know that it's not necessary to go through any specific program in order to have a great gap year experience and get college credit for it! In fact, you can save thousands of dollars and get a completely unique and personalized experience by simply sending a few emails yourself.  More on that in the book....

•If you're a student at an Oregon public university and want to go abroad for an internship while getting credit for it, there's a great program that can help you!  It's called IE3 Global (education, experience, employment) and they help you set up 10-week internships abroad with various non-profits or businesses.  Most cost about $3,000 for a semester (plus airfare).  Check out the site (and their blog) at http://ie3global.ous.edu

•Evan Kubitschek is a 23-year-old traveler making his way around Argentina at the moment.  Check out his Expedition Evan blog, and don't miss this post on the benefits of long-term travel!

•One of my favorite travel sites is Brave New Traveler. It's got lots of great articles on various aspects of traveling around the world, and it's also a good way to see what travel writers are submitting (and what's getting accepted) since the site features offerings from a number of young writers doing the backpack thing.

•Check out the various student blogs listed on the StudyAbroad.com website here.

•Mike Goldstein is my cousin--but don't hold that against him!  Each year for the past seven years, Mike and his girlfriend Azure have taken off for three months to travel.  How do they do this?  Well, they each own a business.  Mike washes windows.  (That's the name of his company and website:  www.MikeWashesWindows.com) Azure details boats. And they figured out that they didn't have that much work during the drizzling cold winters in Seattle, so they started to plan for a yearly trip abroad.  They've been all over the world, most recently in Colombia.  But they went through a that's-enough-backpacking-for-us stage and now they're in France, checking out their options for living and working there. Read all about their adventures here.

•Just for fun, check out Teal's blog (that's daughter number three) about her life as an events coordinator aboard a cruise ship. 

More blogs coming soon!  Have one to suggest?  Send it to me at

Maya (at) MayaFrost (dot) com