Editor's note: The following guest post was written by Andy Murdock, the US digital editor for Lonely Planet.

As much as you'll miss your roomies and classmates, the next best thing to chucking your graduation cap into the air is hitting the road and watching your alma mater shrink to a blip in your rearview mirror. For at least a brief moment in time, there's nowhere you have to be, nobody telling you where to go or what to do. The only boss of you is, well, you.

With a few good friends or flying solo, the postgraduation Summer road trip requires distance, new vistas, and time — time for the experiences you set out to find, and more importantly the transformative ones you'll never see coming.

So if it's all up to you, why do what everyone else is doing? Here are a few creative ideas to get you started planning your trip:

Get Your Cross-Country Kicks Out of the Way

If you strategically went to college far away, then a slow, meandering trip back home across the country is in order . . . with the emphasis on slow and meandering. While all of the east-west interstates have their moments, they're about speed over scenery, local culture or adventure. The best of the US for the savvy traveler is on the back roads and the lesser-known north-south highways.

A road trip is a journey, not a destination. Instead of stringing together cities in a cross-country itinerary, plan your trip around the interesting roads themselves, and use the interstates to connect them as necessary. Some roads to aim for: Skyline Drive to the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Great River Road along the Mississippi, US Route 89 (a road-tripper's dream that connects more national parks than any other road in the US), US Route 395 along the eastern Sierra Nevada, or the famously scenic Pacific Coast Highway.

The scenic Pacific Coast Highway

Read on for more.

Editor's note: The following is a guest post written by journalist Lisa Ling, program ambassador for the Ikea Life Improvement Project — a program designed to inspire people to make a positive impact on their homes and the lives within. Below, Ling shares tips for turning your home into an oasis. 

When my husband and I built our house, we wanted to make it our oasis — a warm, inviting place for us to make roots and raise our family. And because I travel so much, it was important to create a space that I’m excited to come home to. We were really involved in the building and decorating process and created a space that is truly our oasis. Based on this experience, these tips, below, will help inspire you:

• Focus on You: Your home has to be a relaxing space for you, so make your space personal and a reflection of you. Since my husband and I are environmentalists, we had our home LEED Platinum certified — the highest environmental rating a home can be awarded — because that is what is important to us. If you love to read, display your favorite books on large bookshelves in your living room. If you’re a passionate cook, hang your pots and pans and display your best chef’s knives in the kitchen. The most important part of making your home an oasis is personalizing it to your own tastes.

Pictured: Ling's living room

Read on for more tips from Ling on turning your home into a peaceful abode.

The following post was written by chef Chloe Coscarelli, author of the soon-to-be-released cookbook, Chloe's Vegan Desserts. Chloe has won Food Network's Cupcake Wars and is also the author of Chloe's Kitchen.

In order to be a rock-star vegan — i.e., not live off of french fries and plain noodles — there are some essential products that you'll always want to have on hand. Whether you are baking up a storm or throwing a quick meal together, these ingredients will make your life much easier and much more delicious. Most of them can be tucked away into a drawer or your cabinet and will last a long time, too!

First off is nutritional yeast: this product, not to be confused for a replacement for actual rising yeast, offers a mock cheesy taste to all kinds of dishes (kale salads and Italian dishes, especially). Sprinkle it onto whatever food you like and instantly increase your intake of B vitamins, folic acid, selenium, zinc, and protein. Think of it as your very own parmesan cheese!

When it comes to vegan baking, don’t ever throw away superspotty or brown bananas! Freeze them instead: they are great to use for baked goods or homemade soft serve. Organic applesauce is a healthy substitute for butter and oil, and Earth Balance spread is equally satisfying. Available in both spreads and sticks, this substitute for butter is an excellent choice for baking. You'll be happy to find that it's gluten-, casein-, and trans-fat-free!

Stevia and Truvia are excellent sugar substitutes, and one should always have dark chocolate on hand, vegan or not. Walnuts are a snacking staple, high in omega-3 fatty acids and the perfect oatmeal or salad topping. Almond milk is essential for baking, smoothies, or a late-night bowl of cereal.

For an added kick of protein, vanilla-flavored hemp protein powder mixes into smoothies wonderfully. Silken tofu is another great product to use for desserts, particularly brownies or creamy avocado pudding. Keep cans of both chickpeas and black beans in your pantry at all times for an impromptu stir-fry. Lastly, avocados can, and should be, added to just about everything. Armed with these items, your vegan cooking will be incredibly easy and very enjoyable.

Editor's note: The following guest post was written by Robert Reid, the US travel editor for Lonely Planet.

The definition of what defines an "adventure" is all over the map. For some, it’s a row in the Thames or a bike ride on Prince Edward Island. For others, it’s something a bit more, well, adventurous. Like taking canoes up Amazon tributaries with a full bottle of DEET mosquito spray, running with the bulls in Pamplona, or eating live bugs. All are good. All test and reward in their own ways. At Lonely Planet, we have just released a book called Great Adventures, a gorgeous pictorial of the world’s best adventures in various categories according to interest. I thought I’d share a few classic American adventures from the book that are somewhere in between — wild yet accessible and possible to do.

Read on to find out what they are.

Editor's note: The following guest post was written by Robert Reid, the US travel editor for Lonely Planet.

I always say the things we do when traveling — going to museums, climbing a tower for a view, sitting in a park, standing below an iconic monument — are simply the way we fill time between meals. It's the food, served in first-class restaurants or on plastic-stool seats on cracked sidewalks, that gives you more of a sense of how a place lives. And anyway, we have to eat, right? If you think this way too, Lonely Planet’s new Food Lover's Guide to the World is perfect for you.

Read on for more.

Editor’s note: The following guest post was written by Robert Reid, the US travel editor for Lonely Planet.

The question Lonely Planet gets the most often — other than “How can I be a travel writer?” — is “Where can I go that’s new and interesting but won’t drain my bank account?” Luckily, each year we put out the book Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel, which includes a "Best Value Destinations" list for the year ahead. We define value as getting the most out of your dollar. We don’t necessarily suggest the cheapest destinations, but rather great value options for travelers who want rich experiences without a rich price.

Safari travelers have long booked trips to Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa, with Botswana’s Okavango Delta being the more offtrack place for unparalleled access to wildlife. Safari price tags are counted by thousands, but it’s possible to do a DIY safari for a few hundred dollars in Namibia.

Read on for more.

We're excited to present a guest post from Matthew David Hopkins, Creative Director of 360 Design Events as well as soon-to-launch Matthew David Celebrations!

When you consider the bouquet for your upcoming wedding, make sure to think about your dress, along with your profile in it. The bouquet is a big part of your fashion statement, as well as an opportunity for a fashion twist. Here are some gorgeous bouquets with an obvious nod to the dress itself; how stylish is that?

If you have an heirloom gown that you want to wear for your wedding, then you will most likely need to have the gown reshaped and resized. The leftover pieces of fabric are perfect for wrapping your bouquet. I spoke with master dressmaker and tailor Guillermo Molina of Guillermo Couture about how pieces of an updated gown can be used to wrap the stems. He noted that when a gown is updated, it often features elements that are no longer in style — like bell sleeves or a big collar. When he updates a dress and removes these elements, they become perfect pieces of satin or lace to use in wrapping the bouquet.

Maybe you don't already have a gown to harvest from? Check out the bargain section of stylish secondhand stores like Housing Works in NYC or look on the web; this shop has a bargain section with gowns for as low as $70.

I love to use fashion accessories like beaded pins, buttons, or ribbons in fun ways. Again, remember to look to your gown for inspiration; are there fabric-covered buttons? Does it feature grosgrain ribbon? Find one element and then mass it. You might sew 100 (or more) of those buttons very close together and then use that to wrap the stems. Ribbon looks fantastic when the stems are tightly overwoven with ribbon and then accented with a few streamers emerging from the bottom for length.
Where to find inspiration for the project: you, silly! Your personality and the shape of your body will inspire the dress. There is something out there for everyone. Your personality and that of your fiancé should inspire every decision about your wedding. There is a way to do just about anything for any budget. Whatever you choose, the goal is for you to be calm and present on your wedding day.