Young, Restless and Traveling

Couchsurfing.org is fast becoming a hit with young globetrotters looking to share experiences, cultures, and their couch. Since it got off the ground six years ago, the social networking site which makes it possible to stay in a local’s home in just about any country in the world, has attracted almost two million members. This free travel network opens up a world of opportunity for “surfers”, but will it affect the billion dollar backpacker industry? The Couchsurfing Project g...

It was once known as the "gap year," a year of independent travel and volunteerism abroad between high school and college. The concept became popular following World War II, when youth travel and cultural exchange were considered useful tools to promote global understanding. Recently, Wood River High School (Idaho) graduate Julia Bowman raised money locally – and spent some of her own – to fund a gap-year journey to the island of Bali in Indonesia. She returned this month after sp...

When a German tourist lost his wallet in Beijing, the police managed to track down the owner by the only form of identification within an International Student Identity Card (ISIC), with an emergency help hotline printed on the back. Along with the ISIC in the wallet was a short note: please, write my paper for me. As related on BTV's Law Online program, this occurred in Beijing during the Olympics, at a time when ISICs were carried by very few in China. In fact, it took police quite a whi...

Youth travelers are a group of distinct people. Different cultures have defined them, if at all, in many different ways in terms of age, socioeconomic status and personal rights. For most, youth is a life cycle stage that precedes full incorporation into the adult world. Modern industrial societies tend to locate it between the beginning of puberty and completion of high school and/or college, that is, the time span between 13 and 23-25 years of age, that precedes full legal capacity and entry ...