Our Contributors make Go Girl what it is. Read about them below:

Beth (maximumbeth), aka Maximum Beth, aka Timestopper, aka B-Sizzle: Beth is like a shark: If she’s not moving, she’s dead. That’s probably why you’ll find her chomping at the bit for new experiences just about every minute of every day. Beth really caught the travel bug after living for a year in Coimbra, Portugal. Since then, she has had an unruly obsession with documenting her travels in writing and images. Well, that and espresso, of course. Beth also loves ice cream of every flavor, street art and live music. When she’s in one place for long enough, she coaches a high school crew team.

Alice (abaines): Self proclaimed ‘Queen of the Gap Year’ Alice took her first great leap into the unknown at 18, heading to East Africa to work as a hostess in a remote Kenyan Safari Camp with gap year organisation ‘The Leap’. Six wonderful months and several run-ins with Hungry Hippos later and she was hooked. After graduating in 2006 she high tailed it to South America to ‘shake her jungle coconuts’ once again, joining a team of Leap volunteers in the Amazon Rainforest and working on a mix of conservation and teaching projects with the local indigenous community. Since then her backpack has barely touched the ground! Now she’s living the dream by working for the volunteer organisation that opened her eyes to the world and spends her days planning life-changing adventures for others…and of course road testing gap years in Africa, Asia and Latin America whenever she can. It’s tough, but someone’s gotta do it! Alice manages a daily blog for Leap volunteers.

Allison (adavis): Allison has always felt like there was more out there than her little Indiana town could offer her and caught the travel bug in a major way after traveling through Europe the summer after graduating high school. While studying abroad with Semester at Sea last year she realized that a life without exploration and discovery of new places was just not worth living. Spending four months on a ship sailing around the world and stopping in 11 different countries along the way showed her how much adventure there is to be had and how much there is to learn and discover not only about the world and different cultures but also about yourself. Now she’s got the fever bad, and knows that the only cure is more! She’s currently trying to find a way to turn her 4 passions of writing, sports, travel, and adventure into a legitimate career. Time to get creative, suggestions are welcome!

Claudia (cguest): A traveler all her life, Claudia was born in Germany and raised in England. She regularly visited various countries around Europe and the Americas, but it was when she was 18 that she really discovered her own overwhelming lust for travel. As soon as she finished school, she and two girlfriends backpacked through Italy, Southern France and Spain. Five months later she was back on a plane for a two-week sailing holiday in the Caribbean and a week after returning from that she was on another plane bound for Australia, where she traveled for three months, before going to teach English in Ecuador for four months. From there, she studied at university in England, traveled to Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, and then headed to Canada on a work visa, where she is today. This summer, Claudia is working on a tourist cruise boat in Ottawa…yet constantly feels Asia calling her back. Try to keep track of where she goes- or just look up in the sky, where she’s most likely bound for somewhere new!

Emily (skarlettkittie): Emily has straddled two home states for five years now: Utah and New Hampshire. Socially and politically, these states are about as different as two states in the Union can get, which makes for nonstop adventures in culture shock. She travels more for necessity than pleasure, but years of flying across the US have taught her the ins and outs of booking cheap airfare, surviving dreadful plane rides, and transitioning between two cultures. Four years ago she spent a semester in Paris, and she’s been dying to get back to Europe ever since. She has one year left of her MFA in creative writing and can’t wait to graduate and embark on more pleasurable travel adventures. You can follow more of her antics at notanotherwave.blogspot.com.

Erica (ericalarue): Erica first set foot on a plane when she was ten months old. 23 years, 18 countries, and four continents later, the travel bug’s still strong in her veins. After living in Montreal while earning her bachelor’s degree and Philadelphia while earning her Master’s degrees, she and her partner have relocated to Germany for the foreseeable future. Between weekend trips all over Europe and the everyday adventures of life in the Rhineland, she’s constantly on her toes and on the go! You can catch her here biweekly on Fridays, or you can read more frequent stories of the ins and outs of her life abroad at http://eunid.blogspot.com.

Jessie (jessiegarber): Jessie was born into a traveling family.  After going on vacations across Europe with her family growing up, she has always had the desire to travel.  So when she got the opportunity to travel to Thailand and Cambodia with the non-profit group, Teachers Across Borders, she discovered her love of studying other cultures and hasn’t been able to let it go.  From her experiences in Cambodia, she became involved in the non-profit organization, Cambodia’s Children Education Fund, and has followed her interest in education to Morocco.  She’s.  She’s currently studying culture, Arabic, and education in Morocco, and has been fortunate to become a sister in a large family of 9 living in the Medina of Rabat.  You can follow along as she discovers Moroccan family life, culture, and a little bit about herself as she reflects upon her experiences.

Jessyca (jessydudley): Jessyca has been on the go since she got her first passport at age six. Since then she has been working, volunteering, and traveling overseas finding new adventures at every turn. Most recently Jessyca has been living in South Africa as a volunteer with the U.S. Peace Corps, and working in Ghana with the non-profit she founded, The Building Fund.

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Karissa (sailforth): Certainly a woman on the run, Karissa has lived in four countries and six states in the US.  She has traveled to over twenty countries and forty-three of America’s beautiful fifty.  And here’s to still counting.  Currently, home base is a tiny fishing village in the wilds of northern Japan where she teaches English to Junior High and Elementary students, explores the world of Japanese cuisine, reads and writes and gets outside as much as possible.  Follow Karissa’s explorations of Japan through the outdoor lens – worlds away from the Tokyo life that most people imagine.  More thoughts, adventures and photos can be found on her blog: http://sailforth.wordpress.com.

Lakia lives, breathes, and sleeps learning of other languages, cultures, and nationalities; she has lived and studied abroad at La Universidad de Guanajuato in Mexico. Although, right now, she only travels within the United States (she is working on her Doctorate degree) she still has vivid memories and experiences about her travels abroad.   From how to apply for a visa to what not to wear, she gives her readers advice, tips, and suggestions on how to have fun and safe travels. You can also check out more of her writings at: http://lakiagordon.com.

Lisa: (joanarc4) Whether she’s watching the sunrise over the hoodoos in Bryce Canyon, enjoying crepes on the Left Bank, or herding cattle on a ranch in Montana, Lisa’s travel philosophy is to embrace spontaneity, experience everything, and regret nothing.  Known in her circle as the trip mom, she’s always the one prepared for any eventuality, opening the door to countless possibilities at every turn.  After spending six weeks driving around the U.S. by herself, Lisa realized that solo travel — charting her own course and making her own adventures — is thrilling and fulfilling, and she now seeks out solo travel opportunities to new and exciting places as often as her day job will allow.  Lisa writes about solo camping and hiking over at her own blog, Her Side of the Mountain, http://hermountain.wordpress.com.

Lydia: (lspitalny) Lydia has always had a deep passion for learning about different cultures and traditions.  She followed her passion to Kenya in 2007 as a study abroad student and returned in 2009 for five months after a short trip to Ghana.  Lydia is now off to Israel to explore and learn about her own heritage and history for two months.  She will be reflecting on her spiritual journey, interactions with everyday Israelis and Palestinians, and of course, the great Falafel!

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Margaret: (mbostrom) Born in the Adirondack mountains of upstate New York, Margaret has always felt awed by the world’s most beautiful places, and driven to see as many of them as possible. Since graduating from college in 2009, she’s been reading, writing, and wandering across the world indulging in her love of long train rides, learning how to say “excuse me” in as many languages as possible, deciphering time tables and metro maps, and carrying far too many books around in her backpack.  Having traveled through parts of the US, Europe, Australia and the Middle East, she’s decided that feeling properly well-traveled is a bit like feeling truly well-read: practically impossible, but a goal well-worth pursuing anyway! At the moment, she’s spending a few months living with a friend in Paris, working toward become competently bilingual, and trying to figure out what to do (and where to go) next. Suggestions are welcome!

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Marianne (mcphee) was born in London where she lived until age 11 clocking in some early travel experiences around Europe. After that, she was off to the USA with her parents, living in New York and Maryland. Post graduation, staying in one place didn’t sound appealing, so after a summer of work back in London, she headed to Thailand to become an English teacher at secondary school in the northern Nan Province. When she finished teaching she travelled through Laos and Cambodia where she discovered her love for travel writing. In November, 2009, after getting a one way ticket for £10 through STA Travel’s Anniversary celebrations, Marianne has headed to Australia where she hopes to travel as much as she can for the next few months as she continues to write about her journey. See more of her musings at http://fillingthepages.com.

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Megan (meganaebi) suffers from a severe case of ‘wanderlust’ brought on by family vacations and a year spent living as a student/nanny in Barcelona, Spain.  Currently, she has set down roots in lovely Chicago where she spends her time singing in the Apollo Choir, riding her bicycle, and learning how to bake bread.  Future travel plans include India, Argentina, and yet to be discovered destinations.

Michaela (michaela): After studying travel and tourism at college and going on to work at a top Gap Year organisation Called The Leap, she is now living the dream, spending her days organising volunteering projects in third world countries for young adventurous Gappers and also spending plenty of time abroad road testing the projects. Her adventures began this year with a life changing trip to Africa, where she started a love affair with the continent. After being truly touched by her experience, she is now on a fundraising and a travel mission, and even planning a wedding in South Africa next year! But she won’t stop there….Latin America and Asia also await!

Sarah (sgardiner)’s first trip out of the United States was to Sierra Leone in 2008. Much to her parent’s chagrin, her travels have continued to have a post-conflict theme and she keeps looking for ways to get back to Africa. She is currently researching radio as a tool of peacebuilding in Cote d’Ivoire. Immediately before that, she spent a semester studying in Yaounde, Cameroon. When she’s not off gallavanting internationally, she is a broke student in Washington, DC, an expensive city with a lot of soul.

Wendy (westernwendy): Admittedly a bit green when it comes to travel, Wendy is ready to change that in a big way. Only dabbling in exploration in her life so far, visiting Italy, Mexico, St. Lucia, and everywhere up and down the East Coast, she and her husband are planning the ultimate American Road Trip. Starting in early 2010, they will camp and drive cross-country to the West Coast, working their way from New Mexico to Washington State and everywhere in between. Join them on this year-long journey as they make mistakes, work on organic farms, meet different people, experience things for the first time, and learn about themselves. All with 2 dogs in tow!

Yaffa is a self-described caffeine addict. In fact, she almost never went abroad for fear of encountering a Starbucks-deprived country. After discovering the joys of European cafes, however, she quickly succumbed to her senses and embarked on a ten-month adventure through Western Europe, using Oxford, England as her base. Now a senior at Wellesley College, she is spending her every waking hour working on travel grants to take her to any country except the 19 she has already visited. And yes, Yaffa is relying on caffeine as a source of fellowship application fuel. You can follow her through the mind-numbing travel grant process at: http://thegreenstraw.wordpress.com.

Want to see some of our early Go Girls? See our Past Contributors.

Want to contribute stories, photography, advice or anything else? Email us at team@travelgogirl.com.