There is a story on page 2E of Sunday’s print and e-editions of The Monroe Evening News with the headline “Teens skipping summer camp for world travel.”

If you have a high-school student at home who’s been looking at the youth travel brochures or a service and educational program overseas, this article has a lot of good information about the popularity and benefits of such travel and some questions you need to ask ahead of time from the sponsoring agency or organization.

But these overseas student trips can cost several thousand dollars. A snippet from the story:

Often parents write checks for the trips, but some students raise money, especially with school-sponsored trips where kids work together on community fundraising events. (Teachers who agree to chaperone typically travel free.)

Sometimes travel organizations offer scholarships for low-income students; others provide advice on finding sponsors — everything from asking local merchants for donations to sending a form letter to everyone you know with a request for $25.

I’ve talked about this topic before. My daughter went to Japan in summer 2006 with the Monroe International Friendship Association’s sister city program. But we’re a family on a budget. We did not have money sitting around in a bank account waiting for an excuse to be spent. How did she come up with the funds?

From my previous post Study abroad programs: do your homework before signing up. (Please note what I have put in boldface because the local economy has since become an even more important issue to consider):

Now, how will you pay for this experience? Every year, it seems, at least one student or high school club in Monroe County holds a fundraiser dinner to help raise money for a trip overseas. (Yes, those notices can be sent to my attention at paula@monroenews.com for publication in The Monroe Evening News.) But with the competition for non-profit funds so tight in our community these days, you cannot rely on getting a significant amount of money through donations and fundraisers. The reality is … if the trip you want to take will cost $6,000 (or whatever the quote is); you have to come up with that money yourself.

For example, my family spent a year planning for my daughter’s student ambassador trip to Japan. She worked part-time at fast food and saved up her birthday and Christmas money. The grandparents pitched in more than they usually would for gifts, because we all knew she really wanted to go to Japan. And she did.