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Helping others motivates family travelers and earns scholarships for writers ages 13-18 in Family Travel Forum's 2008 Teen Travel Writing contest.

(New York, November 11, 2008) - Family Travel Forum (FTF), the award-winning publisher of family vacation information on the web, is proud to announce the winners of its second annual Teen Travel Essay Scholarship competition. More than 6,000 students ages 13 to 18 applied for this merit scholarship through FTF's youth travel networking site, www.travelBIGO.com.

A common theme in many of this year's diverse adventures was a passion for making positive change in places visited and -- fortunately for parents footing the bill -- a renewed appreciation for those who supported teens' global travels. “Topics ranged from visiting grandparents in Poland and Puerto Rico and touring the art treasures of Europe to working in the slums of Tijuana, Nairobi and San Francisco,” notes judge Laura Sutherland. “Stories were remarkably well crafted, vivid, insightful, funny and probably worthy of admission to Harvard. I expect we’ll be reading more from many of the winning writers over the years to come, as they have distinct voices and the ability to bring travel destinations and experiences to life in refreshing new ways.”

Congratulations to the recipients of Family Travel Forum’s 2008 Teen Travel Writing Scholarships.

2008 Scholarship Winners:

1st Place ($1,000):
"Blue Knob, Clay County, West Virginia" by Chelsea Knights; Long Beach, California

2nd Place ($500):
"1884 Miles on a Smokin’ Rock" by Isaiah Cornelius; Arvada, Colorado

3rd Place ($200):

"Most Cars Don’t Come Back: A Final Trip to Croatia" by Connor de Bruler; Greenville, South Carolina