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" The other day, I woke up in my own house, in my own bed, and had to take a minute to reorient myself. Although I&amp;#039;d been backpacking through Southeast Asia for the past five weeks, it felt like I&amp;#039;d never left. That&amp;#039;s the thing about travel, I guess. It exists separately, as a world apart from the place you call home. Travel forces you out of your comfort zone. It makes you try new things, like Tarzan swinging off a waterfall into a crystal clear pool in Laos or swallowing a curried fish eye inSingapore (so gross, but supposedly it brings good luck!). It allows you to meet new people and learn about new cultures. It opens your mind to new ideas. And in my experience, it can help turn you into a new person. I know what you&amp;#039;re thinking: &amp;quot;Yeah, it&amp;#039;s great that you can do all this traveling, but what about me? We&amp;#039;re in a global financial crisis here, I can&amp;#039;t afford it!&amp;quot; I hear ya, fellow recessionistas, but believe it or not, there are a ton of opportunities out there to travel for free. When I was in high school I got to go on an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii for a conference on tobacco prevention sponsored by the APPEAL organization, and I traveled to Fort Worth, Texas, for J Camp, a journalism program sponsored by the Asian American Journalists Association. Dozens of domestic and international high school summer programs offer some sort of financial aid; explore their Websites thoroughly, or write to the program director requesting information on scholarships. You can fund raise in your community or tell all your friends and family that you&amp;#039;d appreciate a trip contribution in lieu of birthday or Christmas presents. Or, go the traditional route: get a part-time job and save, save, save! Now that my travels have come to an end (for the moment, at least), this will be my last travel blog entry for CosmoGirl. It&amp;#039;s been quite a ride, and I hope you&amp;#039;ve enjoyed it! Travel is one of the most fulfilling and rewarding aspects of my life, and I hope that my adventures in Europe, Asia, and Africa have inspired a bit of wanderlust in you. Hope to meet you in a hostel or on a cross-country bus sometime soon! If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? Jess CosmoGirl Travel Blogger "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.seventeen.com/life/a11042/so-long-farewell/>