FTF Scholarships
At Family Travel Forum, we recommend the best places to go and help you pay for it, by giving out cash stipends to encourage everyone to write about their experiences. Many of FTF's writing, photo and video contests are held in conjunction with the prestigious Society of American Travel Writers. Awards are distributed each fall for the Teen Travel Writing Scholarship open to students ages 13-18, and each spring for FTF's Young Travel Writers Scholarship for ages 18-26.
Meet the winners of the 2011 FTF Teen Travel Writing Scholarship and check out their great work. You can also see what's happening now in our BIGO community for those who want to travel B.efore I. G.et O.ld.
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Nature's PowerThere’s a point, high in the northern Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming, where the smooth asphalt gives way to the crunch of a gravel road. The evidence of isolation is evident here in the fallen trees that have settled into resting across the passageway. Watching my father climb down from the... Category: Scholarship |
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Wealthy OrphansIt was just like the cliché way that fiction writers describe their magical fantasies. The green mountains were blanketed by a thin layer of silvery clouds. The lush valley was fed by numerous rivers that ran through it. A cool breeze brushed against my cheek. Birds sang sweetly in the air.... Category: Scholarship |
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New York With A South Asian TwistWomen in brightly colored and patterned salvar kameez with dupattas draped around their heads bustled across the streets clutching bags of vegetables. An elderly lady walked slowly accompanied by a walking stick, but incredibly did not trip over her pink sari, the long strip of cloth that covered... Category: Scholarship |
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No Shoes But Big DreamsThe class looked exactly like I had imagined. It was small, no place for a claustrophobic person. There were five rows of tables, and each table had six worn down chairs. The walls were old and wearied not only by years but by abuse. When I walked in, the atmosphere thickened with an uneasy,... Category: Scholarship |
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My Hut Is Your HutPitch dark, ten degrees hotter than outside, a stench of manure. I can barely make out the outline of a woman, or rather a girl of twenty, who sits in silence as she feeds her baby. My arms are constricted and my back is hunched. The domed composition of the structure allows for abundant ground... Category: Scholarship |
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Fly AwayIn the summer of 2011, I left home to return home. My destination was Changchun, China, the capital of Jilin Province and my hometown. I stayed at my aunt’s apartment on Yatai Street, a place I ashamedly couldn’t recall from childhood. My aunt burst into ecstatic exclamations the moment... Category: Scholarship |
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Who Can Get The Closest?It was reckless. It was reckless, stupid, and dangerous. But, it was just the rush I was looking for in my Yellowstone vacation. Standing outside of the Gardiner, Montana Gateway inn, I inched closer to the very large, very intimidating bull elk. The setting sun made silhouettes of the rest of his... Category: Scholarship |
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You Can Kill The Dreamer, But Not The DreamMy family and I traveled to Memphis Tennessee. While we were in Memphis we went to the Civil Rights Museum. The museum and the Lorraine Hotel both had a profound impact on me. At first I was reading the history of the hotel with a certain sense of detachment. I knew what had happened there, it was... Category: Scholarship |
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Road to LonavalaMumbai has two temperatures; hot and hotter. Especially during the summer months, the city can be nearly unbearable. The traffic, the incessant push of humanity, and the raw poverty that fill the muddy, trash-ridden streets is enough to make the exhausted traveler search for the first plane back to... Category: Scholarship |
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South African Bush: An Untouched and Invisible WorldI awoke to clamoring sounds on the rowdy bus. It became increasingly evident we were approaching our intended destination, as the scenery was devoid of familiar architecture. We were surrounded by a landscape of barren, brown trees. Despite their appearance, leafless branches... Category: Scholarship |
