Doing the conga with a line of polar bears or rafting down the Nile on a truck tire can sound like the stuff of fantasy.
But this summer, there’s nothing left to do but make your travel dreams a glorious reality. You don’t have to be flush with cash, either, to have a good time. Plan well, and “roughing it” in Europe, Latin America or even Toronto can lead to a whole range of experiences that go beyond your typical tourist photo-ops.
Toronto, Montreal, New York and Boston are all simply a train or bus ride away. If you’re up for Boston, slumming it on the over-night bus, finding new friends to stay with and taking advantage of local grub, free museum nights and lunches provided with public lectures – it’s a city chock full of universities and colleges – means you can have a wicked, and wickedly cheap, weekend trip.
Seek out locals and students to tour you around the city, give you tips for cheap places to visit and even provide you with a place to stay. Just be prepared to reciprocate when they visit. Or find new people to travel with – travelling isn’t just the places you go, but the people you meet.
Go see a favourite band play in a different city, hang out in the park and see the city like a local. Students are well known to have a serious case of wanderlust, and if you look, you’ll always find people who can share the experience.
So, if travel is what you love – don’t wait. If a job, school or money is the constraint, enjoy weekend or day trips, or welcome other travellers into your apartment on Friday night and show them what your city is all about. And then, make plans to one day visit them.