Summer is ending soon, and in the months to come you’ll spend months of mentally and emotionally taxing work guiding your students in the classroom. What can you do to keep active through the fall and recharge your batteries during Thanksgiving break or next spring break? Why not consider training for a Thanksgiving Grand Canyon hike? Build your fitness and plan an amazing trip! Today’s guest blogger, Rhoda Friend, shares how she and her friend did it, and some tips for pulling off your own Grand Canyon hike. Take it away!

There are so many different ways to travel and see the world. If you enjoy cycling, why not combine your passion for the bicycle with your passion for travel?  This summer, consider dusting off your bike and hitting the road.  In this post, our guest author outlines the benefits of bicycle touring for teachers and suggests some possible destinations. Take it away, Mike!

“Oh, you are a teacher,” my Dominican guide, Yunior, exclaimed with excitement. “There is a school up ahead, let’s pay them a visit!” Imagining how I would feel if a dozen foreign visitors dropped by unannounced in my classroom, I responded that I did not want to interrupt any ongoing lessons. “Nonsense,” Yunior replied, and we were off.

I was attending a Spanish immersion school in Mexico, learning irregular verb tenses and trying to figure out exactly what was meant by the pluperfect when this question came up. I was a bit surprised and at a loss for an immediate answer. Thinking about the many Mexicans I had met, nothing came close to the vitriol and slander so often heard on the airways (and Twittersphere) at home.

The final bell has been rung and school is out for summer. Some teachers take the summer off to catch up on sleep, work on the hobbies they couldn’t find time for during the seemingly endless school year, or work on professional development in order to move up within the school system. Some teachers are looking for something else, something more. A summer teach abroad program could be exactly what you need to gain some worldly knowledge while also helping others.

Teachers dream about summer vacation as much as their students. Unfortunately, most teachers’ parents aren’t taking them to Disneyland for an all expenses paid trip to see the world’s most famous mouse.  But what about teacher travel programs?

How would you like to expand your professional development through travel?  A teacher travel grant may be just the ticket for you!  In this guest post by Tim Wenger, learn how you can apply for a travel grant and stand apart from other applicants.  Take it away, Tim!

Greg Jackson is a teacher who loves to travel.  But how can he afford to go on trips when his only breaks happen during the high season--the most expensive times of the year to travel?  In this guest post, Greg shares one of his secrets with us.   Next time you fly, implement some of these strategies and you may end up putting some cash in your pocket!  Take it away, Greg!