Join a National Geographic on-assignment photographer in the Australian Outback! World Nomads and the National Geographic Channel have teamed up to send one student on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join renowned wildlife and remote landscape photographer, Jason Edwards. The winner will also receive an Olympus E3 digital camera and Lenovo Ideapad. Applications close on June 30th, 2008. WorldNomads.com offer four scholarships each year for students, including travel writing, podcast journalism, photography and film documentary.
Visit www.worldnomads.com to read more, and to apply for one of the scholarships.
Some students are abusing travel grants
Colleges are giving away L150,000 a year in travel grants but have no way of monitoring how the money is being used. An investigation has revealed that colleges are failing to check how recipients are using the funds, and in many cases, students are not being required to provide ticket receipts or reports on their return. This has led to some students taking their grants and using them for leisure, rather than for academic purposes. Some students have admitted to keeping money intended for travel for academic study.
Gap year ends in tragedy
Five British women taking part in a 15-week South American adventure trip died in a bus crash as they travelled between the Ecuadorian capital, Quito, and the small Pacific-coast village of Puerto Lopez. Guide Sarah Howard, 26, Rebecca Logie, 19, Indira Swann, 18, Elizabeth Pincock, 19, and Emily Sadler, 19, were killed in April when their bus collided with a lorry near the town of Jipijapa. Reports said the truck collided with the bus after 6.30pm local time, when daylight was fading. The left side of the bus bore the impact and at least some of the five victims were thought to have been killed instantly.
Countdown to your holiday
Lonely Planet has launched a brand new desktop countdown which will show you the days, hours and minutes until your next trip. Themed around Lonely Planet's Encounter city-guidebook series, you can choose from one of the 26 cities which the range covers. As well as counting down the days until you visit the city, the countdown also tells you the current weather in the destination and gives you a daily snippet of information from the relevant Encounter guide.
Lonely Planet has launched Seize the Days, a weekly email designed to inspire people to make the most of their free time. The email will give people ideas on how to spend this time, with topical suggestions on everything from festivals and sporting events to exhibitions. It features Here and Now: what to do in your area this weekend; Explore the UK: ideas on great things to do around Britain; and Think Ahead: Up-coming international events and activities.
Travel photography scholarship