Traveling Teens

I was so excited and amazed when I saw this website that I just had to share it. Teen Travel Talk is a website entirely dedicated to teens who travel to tell their stories.

I would have loved to travel at this age! I'm so glad there are teens out there who are benefitting from the expanded world view offered through travel and hope more teens (especially those who may not have parents that can finance it) have the opportunity to do so. Here's a blurb from the website:

Here you can read what other teenagers have to say about travel – from day trips to journeys abroad, shopping, eating, coasting, and other activities on vacation. Also, parents can read what teenagers like and dislike about family vacations and destinations so that they can plan a family trip that YOU will enjoy.

Teen Travel Talk is also interested in YOUR travel experiences. If you want to become a paid blogger and publish your travel stories on Teen Travel Talk, click “contact us” on the left hand side, fill out your contact information and tell us why you’d be a great teen travel blogger.

Find out more here: http://www.teentraveltalk.com/ 

Mochilera, Married Lady

In my search for an article unrelated to travel, I happened upon a fantastic Latina travel blog called Mochileras y Viajeras (Women Backpackers & Travelers). It would be on a Latina website that I would find my home planet for my feelings about travel. From the intro post by the creator of the blog, Julie Sie, I was sold. Julie's description about her initial fears of travel mirrored mine so closely when I started that she felt like a kindred spirit: 

[My translation] "Many years ago I got into the mind, heart and body fascination for travel: short, long, planned, aimlessly, in groups or alone ... and I needed some time to make the decision to start.Gradually I discovered that what kept me from traveling was FEAR . Yes, well capitalized and bold because they were countless fears!, tiny concerns that wreak havoc on your mind and paralyze you without you noticing.I worked through the concerns back and forth in my mind: What will I do with my life?, Is it worth spending my savings on a trip?, Where will I go, and how do I save money?, Is traveling alone a good idea?, What if I get sick, and I get injured or something happens to me?, How much money is enough?, What will happen when I return?, What if I don't ever return? .... there were several concerns and not a single answer in sight. I realized then that these fears were based primarily on the NEED for control, comfort and safety most women have been taught growing up . These three ideas that society, our parents, teachers and even strangers have made us see as an indispensable part of life and that we (without realizing it) have accepted as absolute truths. " J.S. 

I can't tell you how often I've read things about how women shouldn't travel alone or that it's too dangerous for women to travel without men. As Julie points out, the lessons many women learn from a young age prime them to fear travel or to believe travel is irresponsible. I've even recently experienced new gender related backlash to travel now that I'm married. I recently went to NOLA with my best friend for a couple of days, and the most common question in connection to the trip was "You went without Jesse (my husband)?" Even my mother's aunt, who has travelled the world alone for decades and never married, told my mom I couldn't travel anymore now that I needed to worry about my esposo. I will say that my husband does support my love for travel and is very supportive, but I definitely feel the pressure from others to essentially stay in the domestic space. It relates back to Julie's note on control and safety. Now that I have a husband, he is my protector, so why would I ever choose to travel without him? There is also this strange belief that I need to be with him 24-7 now to take care of him?1? I married my husband b/c he is a fantastic, intelligent, and independent man—he doesn't need me to take care of him. 

I actually love to travel with my husband. He taught me to travel and was the one who helped me overcome my fears, but I also want to the experiences that come from traveling with friends or traveling alone. I have trouble understanding why this is a problem to folks? It's interesting to see how uncomfortable it makes people and I often wonder if this is why some marriages fail. Couples choose, with people in their life supporting this model, to meld into each other. I have been with this man for almost 10 years and he is my best friend and the person I always prefer to spend my time with, but I feel that way b/c I have never lost my independence in this relationship. We each have our own interests, friends, and activities—making our time together all the more special. 

I think this is what I love the most about the Mochilera website. If you look through the posts, it's not just young, single women describing their travel experiences. It has several posts by mothers, older women, and basically the "non-traditional" female world traveler. It reminded me yet again that it's okay to travel alone, with my husband, with friends, or even with my children one day if we choose to have them. It's about getting over those fears (and always doing research of course) and taking the leap despite peoples discomfort, unsolicited advice, and judgment. 

Go Girl Magazine

Want to read stories of women who travel? Check out this cool travel blog I found! http://www.travelgogirl.com/

From the "About Us"section of the blog:

"Go Girl Magazine (http://www.travelgogirl.com) is a fresh new take on the global perspective of adventurous, independent women. We officially launched on October 1, 2009. We first began as a travel blog to document the stories of women that travel independently. Not only is it difficult to travel alone in many countries as a woman, but it is nearly impossible in others. Social and cultural norms make a woman’s experience different wherever she goes and Go Girl wanted to document that. We advocated for the bus hoppers, the backpackers, the fruit cart-riders and the women who weren’t afraid to experience the world first-hand.Though our beginnings focused almost exclusively on travel, Go Girl has naturally blossomed into a community of globally engaged women. Some of us travel; others do not. Yet one thing still holds true- wherever we are in the world, our experiences and our perspectives as women are unique" -- Beth Santos

Enjoy!