Traveling has always been a passion of Laura Victorelli’s, a senior political science major at the University of Pittsburgh. She credits that traveling has guided many aspects of her life. Originally born in Roanoke, Virginia but moved to Pittsburgh when she was four years old, Laura has always known that she wanted to learn about the world around her as much as possible. She’s traveled to southern Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Lichtenstein, and Jordan. In addition, she studied abroad in Cyprus, Greece.

My name is Emily Johnson and I've been living abroad for the past ten years. I started my journey in Poland where I studied for my M.A. in Eastern and Central European Studies at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. Being passionate about culture and the study of societies, after the completion of my degree I moved south, to Istanbul, Turkey, where I still reside and teach at university.

Hello! My name is Danielle Weber and I am currently a student at Grand Valley State University through the University Center in Traverse City, Michigan. I am 25 years old and I feel I am finally discovering my passions. I had always dreamed of traveling abroad, but never thought I would have the chance due to my financial situation. My life was changed by attending an event at Grand Valley and one of the many discussions was studying abroad.

Truth: international experiences change your life. That's why we do it - why we travel, learn new languages, try different foods, fall in love with colors and textiles, walk beaches and ancient paths, explore, make new friends, and keep traveling. International experiences can come in a plethora of forms - study abroad, gap year, weekend travel, year-long RTW trips, cooking classes, couchsurfing, sporting events - the list is endless, which is exciting!

Linda Moore lives in Philadelphia and writes fiction. Six months a year she travels the world. She writes about her experiences in a blog: www.lovearttravel.com

What motivated your decision to go abroad? How/why did you choose where to go? 

Thormodur Simonarson (1978) was born on a farm in Snaefellsnes, rural Iceland. His parents gave up farming soon after and built a guesthouse. At age 22 he ventured abroad and began to explore Europe on his own. For the next eight years he traveled to various places, both in and out of Iceland. Among his various jobs, he was a speed boner (title on the hiring contract) in the Falkland Islands as well as a crew member on a shrimping trawler in Arctic winter storms north of Iceland.