After months with their noses to the grindstone, students of all ages need a break. However, with little time for research or planning, students often flock to the same locations year after year, sacrificing creativity, originality, and (often) any real sense of having vacationed.
If you want a unique vacation, you will need to look for it. No vacation worth having is going to conveniently fall into your lap. In addition, you'll need to tailor your vacation to suit your specific needs and interests. A trip to Cancun is not only inappropriate for someone interested in a cultural tour, it's foolish. To start your research, use the Internet to find websites that are geared toward students and offer student discounts. (A general search engine can aid you here: "student travel" or "student vacation discounts" will yield ample results). Currently, one such site is studentuniverse.com. The site always has discounted travel arrangements available, including air and rail fares. The site also has unique travel packages designed for students. With little or no effort, a student can organize their air travel, hotel stay, and daily activities with the click of a single button.
For some, even these student-oriented trips are too unoriginal. There's something unattractive about package deals that require you to pay for everything with a single swipe of the credit card. More adventurous students prefer to make their travel arrangements entirely by themselves, to ensure that no one else on the entire planet will have the same vacation.
A few interesting vacations not often considered by students going abroad include Dublin, Ireland; Cadiz, Spain; and Kiev, Ukraine. Why these cities above others? Well, all three are somewhat unexploited as of yet by the western world. If you're looking for a unique experience, a legitimate "escape" into another culture without the typical annoyance of constantly encountering other tourists on the street, one of these cities might be the perfect destination for you.
Dublin isn't exactly unheard of. In fact, you might have considered venturing to Ireland before. You may have pictured green hillsides, Guiness beer, and small leprochauns dancing to Celtic music. However, the Dublin of reality is far more substantial and, surprisingly, far less explored than many believe. Dublin is for the soulful adventurer, the poet or poetess with a craving for backwood culture. It's also for the cheapskate. Flights to Dublin from London can total as little as £30 with a bargain airfare site. Youth hostels in Dublin, as well, offer entirely affordable private and dormitory-style rooms (the latter starting at $13 per night). So, once you're there, what do you do? Dublin takes full advantage of its position as the largest city in Ireland, offering tourists museums featuring everything from "Irish literature" to "Guiness Storehouse." And speaking of the beer- Irish pub visits are must during your trip, if for nothing else than for the cultural experience. Even just a walk to the outskirts of the city can be an experience in Dublin.
In Cadiz, the atmosphere is much more laid-back. The city is just as inexpensive as Dublin (though airfare, even into the nearby city of Jerez, can be more expensive). You can easily feed yourself for 8-10€ each day with enough change left over to take advantage of the local artisans lining the back streets with their wares. Also like Dublin, there is a multitude of cathedrals, churches, and towers for you (as a tourist) to venture inside. Cadiz is considered the oldest city in Spain, and some claim it to be the oldest in all of Europe, settled by the Moors coming from Morocco thousands of years ago. However, you could easily shut out the historical worth if you chose and simply lie on one of the several tourist-friendly beaches. The one closest to the city center, La Playa de la Caleta, features a large white beachhouse with bathrooms and benches. Cadiz is the ideal balance between mindless sunbathing and cultural digging.
Finally, Kiev, Ukraine is a worthwhile destination. Tickets to Kiev from London should cost you no more than $250 unless it's high season (the summer). However, what you'd most appreciate about Kiev doesn't require any hot weather whatsoever. Kiev is the birthplace of not only Ukraine, but of Russia and Belarus as well. From Kiev came the entire Russian culture, and so the museums and cathedrals found within city limits have tremendous cultural significance. Also, you get the additional bonus of seeing the slightly less "travelled" side of eastern Europe.
Of course, whether you decide to go to one of these three places or somewhere altogether different, assess your interests. Do you like cooking? Consider a culinary tour in a country famous for their exotic cuisine, like France or Japan. If you enjoy expeditions and animals, you might consider a safari in Africa. The key is organization and detail, both of which do not require tremendous budgets or blocks of time. It can be difficult to coordinate everything while you're studying for your midterms, but all the effort will be well worth it ultimately. You need set aside no more than two hours a week a few months in advance to provide ample time for the planning.
If you're going abroad, search the Internet for information about the entry requirements specific to the country you've decided to visit. As an American citizen, you need nothing but your passport to travel to Norway, but you will need a visa to travel somewhere like Iraq. Much of the necessary paperwork requires considerable advanced planning.
It's up to you. Do you want an exciting, unique vacation? Or do you want to move with the rest of your peers to a Mexican beach or resort town for your time off? No choice is less legitimate than the other, but they are obviously quite different. Consider what you enjoy most and, above all, have fun.
