User:MastWhittaker2

Too old to travel with your Parents - Too young to travel on your own? international student exchange program - You are 14 - 18 years old, prepared to discover the world, too old to still travel with your dad and mom, too young to journey on your own. Now you like to plan your up-coming next vacation, but you are not sure how to go about it. Basically you have 3 options: 1. you may join a youth group / summer camp 2. you and your best close friend could go youth hosteling in a country of your liking 3. you go on a private vacation vacation student exchange

Let's go over advantages and disadvantages:

Youth Group / Summer Camp: best exchange student programs - Advantages: Almost everything is planned for, supervisors are in charge, you are joined with other teenagers speaking your language, likely you will not get bored stiff, even though there might not be very much time to surf the web Disadvantages: mostly activities are all outdoors and planned around sports, those organized holidays are rather expensive (here 1.000 USD or more USD can easily be spent), and you are tied to the time-frames given by the organizer

Youth Hostel Vacation: Advantages: you can opt for the country or even countries you prefer, if you are on a lower spending budget you can be sure that with approx 300USD per week you will survive, also you will connect many folks from all over the world foreign student exchange programs - Disadvantages: bedrooms sleep often 6 - 12 people and in many European countries men and women often have to sleep in the very same bedroom. You might not get very much sleep during the night at all, because of people coming and going all night long

Private Vacation Exchange Student Program: Advantages: a private foreign exchange student program is extremely reasonably priced and the very best alternative of all when it comes to pricing (you can be a foreign exchange student for as little as 50 EURO per year), you stay with a host family who will do their best to make you feel welcome, you get to really see how natives live and you will be included in local actions, a private student exchange has the additional advantage that you can arrange as many exchanges you like, any duration you like and even multi country visits within one long summer are possible (family-hopping-option). A private exchange leaves you the option if you want to go to school or not, because there is no rule that you have to go to school. Another advantage is, that the exchange is mutual, following the concept: "I visit you - you visit me", which allows you to share your home with an exchange student from abroad. International student exchange is one of the most well-liked ideas nowadays, because it combines lowest cost with highest flexibility.

Disadvantages: you must take initiative yourself to get in touch with your host families directly through an exchange student portal and you have to arrange your own health insurance, flight tickets etc.