By Rachel Lipko / Staff writer

Spring break is over, and while I’m still two semesters away from graduation myself, I’m starting to plan my senior trip. Of course being travel savvy, I’m looking to spend half the price and get twice the experience.

There are a ton of different options for students looking to travel, but travel on a budget is always a different story. One of my favorite best-kept secrets is a travel site called Gate1Travel.com. It literally offers just about any destination and different ways of experiencing them. From anywhere in Europe, Asia and Central or South America, the site offers many different ranges of trip lengths. It mostly specializes in shorter trips lasting no more than ten days.

This is also a site that offers the option of a cruise, which most sites don’t do. The cruises, of course, are a bit pricier, but a lot is included in the price. A 14-day cruise through Asia runs $2,459, but includes a round-trip flight, and with recent gas prices, flights to Asia cost more than the price of the whole trip. American Airlines retails a flight from Pittsburgh to Tokyo for $3,805. Five star rooms and all meals are included in the $2,459 price. Also, sightseeing and English-tour guides are included. It’s quite a deal.

As for their other options, most land trips don’t cost any more than $1,500. Again, that is for a 14-day trip and meals, flights, excursions, tour guides and accommodations. Gate One Travel is my top pick for traveling and having a great experience. The staff is knowledgeable and very helpful at all times, no matter where you are in the world.

If you’re looking for a more laid back, but spontaneous trip with a group of strangers from all over the world, then you should definitely check out Contiki.com. They don’t offer options of cruises and their trips to Asia are few and far between, only offering a trip to their Bali resort. However, they offer an extensive list of options for Europe, New Zealand, Australia, The US and Canada and North Africa.

This is my top pick for travelers going solo. The company specializes in group travel and this is how they keep costs down. They set dates and then as many people as would like to go sign up, while most trips have about 25 to 30 people. The site caters to 18 to 35-year-olds and you have the option of experiencing things as a large group or going out on your own.

What I also love about this site is you can pick trips from 8 days to 47 days. They also offer camping trips for the backpacker at heart, making this option perfect for the person who is looking to experience Europe while backpacking, but is scared of the unknown. I personally love picking up and going, but at the chance that I’d not be able to find a place to stay or get lost and not make it back to the airport in time to get home makes me double think doing something like backpacking through Europe.

With this option you still get the same experience as you would normally, but it has all the tricky details taken care of, which is very nice. The price tag is around $5,319 and for the length of time an amazing deal. If you’re looking for a shorter trip, they have trips from Amsterdam to London costing no more than $400 for four days.

Now the bad news - none of the vacations offered on this site include flights and of course that’s where you’re spending a good chunk of your cash. They do, however, include all accommodations, meals, sightseeing and transportation around your destination, which make up for the large flight bills that can occur.

As much as I love meeting new people from all around though, for my senior trip I am definitely using Gate1travel.com. Their prices are unbelievable and their destination options are fantastic. Yeah, I maybe planning a little prematurely, but hey…it’s my senior trip and in my opinion every college student’s rite of passage into the world of adulthood.