Where New Grads Can Go Backpacking, Other Than in Europe

The dollar’s low and somebody’s losing out: college students. The American dollar is worth about half a British pound and a little more than half a Euro. Does this mean this year’s crop of recent college grads will go Eurail-less?

Not necessarily. Though student travel in Asia and South American has seen an “uptick,” says Amanda Webb, spokeswoman for STA Travel, “Europe is still our number one seller for summer. Students are finding alternative methods to make their money go further.”

One way to pinch your penny is to plan ahead. Five or ten years ago, “it was just go and explore along the way,” Webb says, but now students are booking their cheap hostels and boarder-crossing bus rides in advance, rather than leaving it to chance.

But if single-engine planes and hostels like Hostel (SNE) are too much for you, kiss Europe “auf weidersen” and try South America and Asia. We asked travel writer extraordinaire Jeff Koyen, as well as Lonely Planet’s staff, for the best places a young sprout can satisfy her wanderlust on the winning side of the exchange rate and for some wallet-friendly travel tips.

CAMBODIA
Who needs beaches in the South of France? Cambodia has its own coastline and big cities to boot. Angkor Wat is “heavily touristed for a reason,” says Koyen, because it’s a “stunning place,” he says. Phnom Penh, a “Wild West kind of city.” Both places are easy to get by on for $20 a day. You can find $1 meals and “a cheap but dirty room” for $5, Koyen suggests.