Get Up And GO

A big part of traveling, and traveling well, is being able to be flexible, changing your plans at a moment's notice. Sometimes it's wonderful to be caught between two great options. Other times, flexibility is unavoidable. You're forced to make quick decisions and can't waste any time. It's tough when things are out of your control. About a year ago I was in Prague with two very good friends of mine, a plucky Irish lass and an equally resilient Australian gent. Of course, out of the three, I was the poor unsuspecting American who had her bag stolen: wallet, passport, favorite green pen, not to mention my sturdy camera bag that I had trekked around for years, among other possessions, all never to be seen again.

My story isn't unusual; things get stolen all the time and it was just my bad luck. However, our plans to travel southward from Prague to Budapest and beyond were put on hold. We had to make some quick changes. Once my passport situation was sorted out (many MANY thanks to the wonderful people at the US Embassy of Prague as well as my cheerfully adaptable companions), we headed east to Poland. I have no regrets (except for that bit about losing my identity for a while ... could've done without that, really) and made the most of a messy situation.

In order to experience the world, you need to be able to get-up-and-go at a moment's notice. Now I am, by no means, the perfect traveling partner, as I have perfected pouting to a high art form. But it's wonderful when you have an opportunity you can latch onto and take some risks.. That's why I love this website I'm linking to so much. Without further ado ...

StudentUniverse.com GO Deals

A few months ago, the good folks at StudentUniverse.com decided to be even better to their faithful followers. StudentUniverse is an enormous site, chock-full of great information on all things student-travel-related. From it, you can search for a plethora of travel options: flights, rail, hostels, trips, study abroad programs, et cetera. Now there is a fantastic resource called "Go Deals." On this page, they give one deal, good for 24 hours, to one city. You book the flight and enter in the promo code provided, getting discounts sometimes upwards of 100 USD.

I wholeheartedly recommend bookmarking this page, especially if you have one of those places you just have to see before you die. And if you don't have places to see before you do, I wholeheartedly recommend you think of some. You'll learn more about yourself in two days in a foreign place than you could ever imagine, so why not get started as soon as possible? Get up and go.