Ever since the age of two, I’ve gone overseas at least once a year. Granted, that isn’t a very difficult thing to do — I live in Singapore, where it takes about an hour to travel from one side of the country to the other. Beyond this, I’m bound to find myself crossing a national boundary. But maybe it’s the small size of my home city that gave my family the impetus for travel, something that always occurred during the long months of summer.

I’ve always been glad for that and, more recently, even more so. As I think about what comes after university — the daily grind, the short few weeks of leave, high blood pressure and work even as you try to holiday in the Bahamas with x number of clients calling you on your multiple Blackberries — it seems like there’s no better time to traverse the world than now.

Finding A Middleman

As broke college students, there are a few places to get cheap flights. Domestically, there’s the well-known Expedia, which can list flights according to prices, duration and departure or arrival times. For international flights, however, STA Travel is probably the best option. STA has an office in Palo Alto, and they have rather innovative travel packages, ranging from “Tours-n-Treks” to itineraries that allow you to travel and volunteer at the same time. Examples include “Surf and Save Sea Turtles” in Costa Rica. You can also work with orphans or elephants in Argentina and Namibia, respectively. Though I haven’t tried any of these packages, the range of possibilities present does reflect the popularity of these projects.

Getting There

Depending on your budget, you have a host of airlines to choose from. If you’re scrimping, I’d suggest picking the cheapest airline options on Expedia or STA. You might have three-hour-long layovers, but bring a book, a laptop and a mobile phone, and time will pass in a hurry. For those not on a budget, however, I’d recommend sampling some good airlines polled from Skytrax (http://www.airlinequality.com). I don’t mean to plug them shamelessly, but Singapore Airlines does come in tops — and that’s objectively speaking. I just booked my flight home and was quite surprised to see an option that allowed me to pick a meal preference among the broad categories of “child, dietary, oriental and seafood, religious, vegetarian,” within which there were further subsets. On the flights, there are also entertainment systems that include a range of recently released movies (on last count, 25, from all continents), tens of CDs, games, etc. And for the record, I personally also dig Cathay Pacific and Emirates.

Deciding Where To Go

Europe

Traveling in Europe is, to put it succinctly, bloody expensive. For example, in 2005, the last time I was in Great Britain, I couldn’t get a decent meal for less than £6 (11.67 USD), much less anything delicious. Still, trips to Europe are worth it for the 18th-century snobby culture that we’d like to believe we absorb. Assuming limitless amounts of cash, I would probably live there.

Getting around, however, is easier. Eurorailways provided great service when I commuted between Germany and France, and there are hosts of low-cost airlines with special offers that are often a steal. A friend of mine reports having traveled from London to Madrid and back for a total of £15 (29.14 USD).

Of the Western European countries I’ve visited, I enjoyed Italy the most. I don’t think Venice can ever be overrated, however much praise it already receives, while Assisi, I believe, is the most serene place I have ever visited. Even though I had arrived in the midst of a wet September, and even though I resembled, for the most part, a drowned rat, everything around me still remained quite beautiful and glistening, touched by light.

So if cathedrals, museums and architecture are your thing, bust that wallet out — Europe’s for you.

Australia/New Zealand

I still remember visiting Australia when I was six, being slobbered over by a llama and a couple of sheep and driving around in a car with my parents on a long road trip to eat oysters. New Zealand was all about the ferry, the blue waters and more sheep. I don’t think there is much else to say because it’s difficult to describe scenery without it all sounding the same. As much as I loved the bustle of the cities (Sydney being my favorite — sorry, Melbourners!), there is something about this region that’s deeply moving and also markedly different — and definitely for the nature people.

Asia

An Asia-obsessed friend once said that part of his fixation came from the region’s affordability. I’ve bought jeans for 150 baht (4.64 USD), jackets for a third of the price and food for a fraction in Bangkok, Thailand. There are markets in Shanghai with street after street of incredible food, from 5 RMB (0.71 USD) boba tea to an amazing Chinese meals for 10 RMB (1.42 USD). Hong Kong too has the small coffee shops where you squeeze shoulder-to-shoulder as you slurp tossed noodles and drink a porcelain cup of hot coffee.

Part of the thrill is going to a place so unlike anything you will ever see in the West. There are certainly complications associated with the language barrier, especially in countries like China, Japan and northern Southeast Asia, so it will help if you go with a friend who speaks the native tongue.

Asia, I think, is for people who like to try new things, to step out of boundaries, and to shop and eat.

For the undecided

There are still continents that I haven’t been to (Africa, South America, Antarctica) and have no room to write about. But perhaps you can just pick up a NatGeo magazine. Read some travel books. Close your eyes and jab a world map at random. Or perhaps you can find the nearest international student and hide in his suitcase as summer nears and see where you end up. Whichever way you pick, remember to live it up.