néo: YOUTH CAPITALS

5. YOUNG SUMMER: SUMMER 2011 TRENDS

What are the trends for summer 2011? We try and identify them in this article with one certainty at least on one location: the Milan Summer School, with courses for Italians and foreigners on offer from the main universities and schools in the city together with initiatives to make the most of the city.

SUMMER 20011 TRENDS

1. ON THE ROAD

No organised tours, VIP locations or guides ready to set the pace of the day. Young people look at their finances and decide to discover their own spirit of adventure. The appeal of this kind of holiday is not the destination but the “journey”. There is something hypnotic about this kind of holiday. The landscapes blend into one and leave a beautiful, dreamy image of the world. An on the road holiday represents something different, a particular way of being free, looking for your own destination and experimenting without set plans.

Video. EUROPE BY TRAIN

A very cool description of Europe as seen on the road (duration 4 minutes)

2. FLASHPACKING

This a neologism coined to define the mix between low cost travel and high level extra activities. The new backpackers choose hostels to save money but instead of sleeping in the dormitory they prefer to have a single room and have substituted the classic large rucksack with practical trolleys full of necessary technological gadgets like an iPod and a laptop computer to stay connected always and everywhere. The hostels are upgrading their facilities to meet the needs of this new travel philosophy: it is already more common to find services such as Wi-Fi, private rooms with a bathroom and furnishings with attention to design and areas for relaxation.

Video. THE HOSTELS

The new backpackers choose hostels to save money but instead of the classic dormitory they prefer a single room. (duration 1 minute)

3. FREE TRAVEL – AUTOSTOP 2.0

This is the free travel trend by making friends over the web. This is ever more possible thanks to the creation of a series of social networks on the internet that promotes free travel which is also environmentally friendly. To start you can go to Roadsharing.com, where you can look for a place in a vehicle or where you can offer place in your own vehicle to reach the same destination. Alternatively there is Passaggio.it, with its iPhone application and its platform for GPS cell phones.

Video. ROADSHARING

RoadSharing on TG2 Rai Costume e Società (duration 57 seconds)

4. SUMMER GREEN

For an experience of this kind, inspired by "total green", you can click on wwoof.com, the World Wide Opportunities on Organic farms website: a non profit organisation that operates all over the world and creates a link between the organic farmers and holiday makers who want to work in exchange for board and lodging. The jobs on offer vary on the location: from cheese and wine production to cultivation with biodynamic techniques and fruit picking.

Video. WORK ON AN ORGANIC FARM

Explains the interest in an organic, biodynamic lifestyle by putting the agro-organic producers into contact with those that want to have an experience in an eco-village of this kind (duration 2 minutes and 20 seconds)

5. SUN BREAK ON CRUISE

You can choose an exclusively under 30s cruise or decide to rent a yacht or a motor boat and become the captain of your own vessel.

Video. SUN BREAK ON CRUISE 2010

Venture into the open sea and become just like Jack Sparrow (duration 3 minutes)

6. MILAN SUMMER SCHOOL

The summer school is a programme sponsored by an institution, an academy but more often by a university or a college that holds classes both inside and outside the campus during the summer break. The outdoor activities vary depending on how much space there is and go from trekking and kayaking, team building to the latest city sport and urban games

Milan Summer School does not only offer courses. For the students of the “summer edition” there are numerous events: the “Welcome party” every Monday to welcome the new arrivals and meet all the Community participants; weekly guided tours to the major city monuments and the artistic sights in the city; the concerts at San Siro stadium, the unbeatable musical performances at the Scala Theatre such as opera, ballet, concerts and recitals and also live music around the city; happy hour and reduced price evening events in charming, fashionable places where you can enjoy music, theatre, art and sample a few of the local Milanese specialities.

Video. Diploma presentation at the Milan Summer school

Become a fan of the summer school community milanosummerschool.ning.com

FOCUS: THE NEW SITE OF THE MILAN SUMMER SCHOOL COMMUNITY

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