studentsineurope

Cool Travel Site: The Circumference

The Circumference is travel inspiration

Students have enough on their plates without trying to decide where to travel next. And if you’re anything like me, the endless number of options for student travel in Europe can be dizzying! That’s where The Circumference comes in.

The Circumference is a spiffy new travel site that promotes “amazing experiences.” With a clean layout that includes cute cartoon graphics of some of the best known global landmarks, like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Sydney Opera House, the Alps and the Eiffel Tower, you are immediately drawn into the world of The Circumference when you land on the homepage.

The premise of the website is fairly simple: a collection of unique travel experiences set to inspire life. And inspire they do! For instance, the most recent experience listed at the top of the homepage today is about scootering around the coast of Southern Italy. Others on the front page mention watching the great wildebeast migration in Africa, road tripping down Route 66 and waterfall rope swinging in Laos.

The Circumference hosts a number of different travel writers to compile the experiences, and even offers what they call a “$10 travel rebate” to anyone who has experienced something cool and wants to write about it. So, budding travel writers: take note!

The site also has a range of pretty cool maneuverability features that help you get around and find the experiences that will inspire you most. For instance, on the right hand side of the page, a cool interactive map lets you search for experiences by geographic location. Clicking on Europe, for instance, I get a pretty comprehensive list of unique European travel ideas, such as attending the Dublin St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, visiting the Tate Modern in London, going on a ghost tour of Edinburgh, learning the art of glass blowing in Italy and riding the Viennese ferris wheel.

If you’re looking for a more specific student travel destination, you can use the search bar to find just what you want. Or alternately, check out what other people have done or want to do with the “Most Desired Experiences” box. You can also browse by theme, such as “Festivals and Celebrations”, or scan through their Top 10 Collections, which include lists of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Ancient Ruins, World Festivals, Waterfalls and more.

The thing that I like most about The Circumference is that, while many of the experiences are definitely geared toward a younger, more backpacker audience, the writing style does not condescend. I’ve done my fair share of student travel and backpacking, but I don’t want to be treated like I’m only interested in getting drunk and staying out partying until 5 AM. The Circumference doesn’t do that.

As a student in Europe, you’ve definitely got some amazing experiences under your belt, so why not take The Circumference up on their offer of cash in exchange for cool stories? Poor students definitely know the value of a quick tenner here and there and it’s also a great way to build up your writing portfolio while you go!