Plan Your Next Great Adventure: Twenty-Something Travel and Art of Backpacking Join #BingIt

Summer is just around the corner, and whether you’re looking forward to a break from school, an epic backpacking trip, or even just a week away from the daily grind, it’s time to start thinking about your next great adventure. Be it around the corner or around the world, Stephanie Yoder of Twenty-Something Travel and Mike Tieso of Art of Backpacking are experts on planning trips of a lifetime. Since leaving her job in September 2010, Stephanie has been traveling almost nonstop – keeping busy with escapades like climbing the Great Wall of China. Mike has also been traveling around the world writing, photographing and filming his journey for the past three years.

Join us this Wednesday, March 21^st from 12 – 1 pm PT to get tips direct from the source, as Stephanie and Mike join us live from their current locale of Buenos Aires. To participate, follow @Bing, @Fareologist, @20stravel and @artofbackpackin – and be sure to include the hashtag #BingIt in all tweets to follow along and contribute to the conversation. As a special bonus, we’ll give away $50 gift cards to two lucky participants.

In the meantime, here are a few tips from Stephanie and Mike to get you in the travel state of mind:

• Don't be afraid to go it alone! Traveling solo can be intimidating but it's one of the most rewarding ways to experience the world.
• Pay attention to the season where you are going – being stuck at the beach in rainy season is not so fun. Neither is being swallowed by the crowds in Italy in mid-summer.
• Eat local foods as often as you can. Food can tell you so much about a country’s culture. Don’t be scared to pick an item off of the menu with your eyes closed.
• Don't over plan: leave room for spontaneity, as it is the core of a fun travel experience!

Can’t wait until Wednesday? Start saving with Bing Travel today.

• Price Predictor: Bing Travel analyzes analyzes billions of airfare prices observations to help predict the patterns in airline ticket prices – alerting you if the price is likely to rise or fall and giving you guidance on the right time to buy. It provides five possible recommendations, ranging from “Buy Now” or “Wait,” including a confidence level and expected price increase or decrease over the next seven days.

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Hotel Rate Indicator: The Hotel Rate Indicator analyzes historical rate data from thousands of hotels to help determine whether the current price is a good deal, or not a deal at all. View a city map with details for each hotel, color coded by Rate Indicator data. Rate Indicator is available for more than 59,000 hotels in major cities around the world.

• Meta Search: Bing shows you flight and hotel results directly from suppliers and agencies, helping you save time from doing multiple searches. Just find the trip that’s right for you and select it, then buy directly on the supplier’s site.

- The #BingIt Team:

• Kari Dilloo - @karidilloo
• Ted Roduner - @roduner
• Archana Ramachandran - @archana