Ever since I was quite young, I had always enjoyed traveling. Growing up in rural Maine, much of the world seemed to live a far different life than the one I had come to know. Encountering new sights, smells, people and customs: it was all quite enthralling for me. Although I had traveled somewhat when I was younger, comparatively it wasn’t much. Despite being so close to Canada, I had never left the United States before, and had only flown once in my life, when I was in third grade. Now, at the ripe age of 18, having just completed my first year of college, I find myself in the odd predicament of having the aspiration to travel the world, but lacking any real travel experience. Young travelers who find themselves in a similar situation to mine should fear not, as I can assure you it is quite possible to begin seeing the world on your own as I shall outline below.
In high school, I had chosen French as my foreign language of choice and over the years, had grown quite fond of the subject. Naturally, this mean I wanted to stay in France for a summer. Having stumbled upon the InterExchange Working Abroad Teach English in France – Conversation Coach program, I knew that I had found the right program, which is something every traveler must keep in mind.
The next week, I had sent in my passport application, and began looking at the prices for flights online. When it comes to finding a good flight at a decent price, the best piece of advice I can give, is look at different airport combinations, and look often. By the time I had picked out the flight for my trip, I had been searching online for almost a year! Also, don’t feel as though you have to fly out of the airport closest to you. Bus tickets are relatively cheap, and you can sometimes get a better deal if you fly out of an airport farther away from home. I chose to fly out of Canada as it was much cheaper than flying out of any U.S. airport.
