Ever wonder what it would be like to learn a second language while sunbathing on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea?

Stephanie Mary Margaret Oxford, author of a new book titled &Study Abroad Travel and Vacation in College,& which gives students an opportunity to learn how to make studying overseas possible.

&My intention & was to keep it simple, so that students don&t feel overwhelmed at the prospect of participating in an overseas learning adventure,& said Oxford in a letter sent to the editor about her book.

Oxford is confident her book has started helping students.

&It is the newest and most popular book on the market,& she said in the same letter.

Her book features many different tools for guiding students through an overseas educational experience.

The first chapter discusses how to define objectives and establish goals for studying outside the country.

Oxford&s seven other chapters involve resources for researching international programs, facts on program costs, trip preparation tools, tips on how to spend time in a foreign country and a discussion on how to adjust to the return home.

She said her own experience studying in another country inspired her to write the book.

&The one thing in my life that I have been most proud of was studying abroad,& she said.

Oxford studied German in West Germany for two years.

While there, she summer vacationed in Spain, France and England, traveled to Austria and the Czech Republic during holidays and weekends, skied in Switzerland for her winter breaks and visited Vatican City in Rome, Italy.

&Traveling overseas gave me confidence to write and start my own publishing business,& Oxford said.

Several students at Sacramento State said they haven&t read Oxford&s book, but said studying abroad was something they were interested in.

&I think it&s a cool experience to get a different perspective,& said Dave Harmon, senior and government major with a minor in Middle East studies.

He said he looked into studying overseas in Australia during his sophomore year in college, but didn&t pursue the adventure.

Brittany Chord, junior and government/journalism major, said she also skipped her chance to study in another country.

She said she wanted to fly to Germany to study, but transferred to Sac State.

&Time has gone by and it just never happened,& she said.

Chord said she thinks the real reason she didn&t go was because she&d be too far from family and friends.

Senior and liberal studies major Chantelle Cafferata said she wanted to study abroad but missed the application deadline and now doesn&t have time since she is preparing for graduate school.

She said she was planning to go to Australia, England or Denmark and wasn&t really concerned about money except for the flight cost, which she would have asked her parents to help her pay for or taken money out of her savings account.

Oxford said money shouldn&t be a major concern when considering traveling to another country.

She said that when she studied overseas, she actually paid less than what she would have paid in tuition costs at a local state college in the United States.

Now, she said, she hopes students take advantage of her book.

Leonard Valdez, director of the Multi-Cultural Center, said he also hopes students consider traveling overseas, to experience different cultures outside of the classroom.

&It&s a very different world outside the U.S. borders, and not enough students are interested in other countries,& he said.

Valdez said that not only would students benefit from studying outside the country, but the foreigners they&re around would learn about the United States, as well.

&Everything from trade to the art world impacts us and people from other countries,& he said.

He also said that he thinks studying abroad is more important than ever, with events like the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the tsunami in South east Asia and the election of a new pope.

Her new study abroad book can make international studies easier to plan, Oxford said.

She said she spent two years writing and researching before her book was published and, for now, she considers the book a community service venture.

Her book hasn&t hit the shelves of local bookstores yet, but students can find it at her publishing company&s Web site: http://www.studyabroadbooks.com and also at www.amazon.com.