Travel, Etc. Links of the Week – 12/21/12

If you’re reading this, then it means that the world hasn’t ended… so YAY! I’m home at my parents’ house in New York. I’ll be eating, dogsitting, cookie-baking, present-wrapping, peppermint-schnapps-drinking and all sorts of other festive activities.

Here are some articles to keep you occupied at the airport this weekend. Have a wonderful holiday, and safe travels!

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Inspiring Travelers says to be very careful where you volunteer abroad. (Luckily, I think the organization I’m volunteering with in Nicaragua checks out okay.)

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Yummy. In a guest post at The Hairpin, Jodi of Legal Nomads offers super kick-ass advice about eating good cheap food abroad.

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For your feel-good-I’m-so-happy-the-world-didn’t-end post of the week, here is Ryan of Pause the Moment’s video of a baby sea turtle release in Mexico.

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Even (especially?) during the holiday season, it’s important to remember that material things are never the most important. Here are the five best gifts you can give (hint: they’re all free).

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Loved this post from Jenna at This Is My Happiness listing 10 ways to give back for the holidays. (Giving blood is always free and easy!)

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Lastly, here’s a few places I was featured around the web this week:

• From last year, but still totes appropes: 10 perfect gifts for travelers (and the world they love to explore). Donate to a charity for the traveler on your list. You’ll get a tax write-off, they won’t have to carry anything, and you’ll help someone in need. Win-win-win!

• Over on Grown-Up Gap Year, I was featured in “If We Can Do It, So Can You.” Ain’t that the truth!

• I’m pretty proud of this guest post at Twenty-Something Travel, in which I discuss the time I went to a party island and didn’t party. Remember that travel isn’t about the musts and the shoulds — it’s about the memories.