We love hearing from travelers, so we’re starting a new series on Cheap Ticket Links in which we’ll talk to one budget traveler each week. If you know someone – or are someone – we should talk to, please let us know!

This week’s budget traveler is Diana Edelman. Diana is a travel blogger who resides in Las Vegas. In 2010, she decided to take a career-break and quit her job, put her life in storage and headed across the Atlantic for seven months of solo backpacking through Europe and Africa. You can follow her on Twitter or check out her blog, where she documented her backpacking experiences and continues to provide readers with tips and travel notes on her popular site, The Adventures of D. When she isn’t traveling, or planning to travel, she works in PR for a restaurant group in Las Vegas.

Ask a random group of travel nuts their favorite month to spend in their favorite place and it’s almost a guarantee that several will say “September.” It’s a great month to travel in many destinations, for many of the same reasons – when summer ends in August, the high season prices and crowds usually go away, but the weather often stays beautiful through September. It’s the ideal mix.

The trouble is that more recently in popular destinations around the world the high season doesn’t end in August, with high season prices and crowds now spreading into September. The shoulder seasons are getting shorter, which means anyone who still wants to travel during the glorious month of September needs to work a little harder to find the best deals to the most popular places.

The list below of where to go in September includes both places that are genuinely in an “off-season” or “shoulder season” by September, and others that are at the tail end of their high season. If you have a specific destination in mind, you’ll need to adjust your budget to fit – if, on the other hand, you’ve got a budget you need to stick to, you’ll need to be more flexible on your destination.

>> And don’t forget, if you’re traveling for an event or holiday, check out these articles on finding Labor Day travel deals, Oktoberfest travel deals, and Bumbershoot festival travel deals.

Washington State music lovers kick off the summer with the Sasquatch Music Festival in the Columbia Gorge each May, and they zip up to Seattle for the summer-ending Bumbershoot music-and-arts festival to bookend the season. Summers in the Pacific Northwest are all about enjoying as much of the nice weather as possible, since it doesn’t last long, so it’s a great excuse for people outside the state to come visit, too.

Bumbershoot started in Seattle in 1971, and has been a Labor Day weekend fixture since 1977. Festival-goers are regularly treated to local talent on the stage, but Bumbershoot has grown enough in stature over the decades to also attract big acts from all over the world. The “arts” part of the festival includes things like independent films, dance performances, poetry slams, and street performers, and there are plenty of vendors selling a variety of foods and arty souvenirs.

Incidentally, the word “bumbershoot” means “umbrella,” and that’s worth noting. Labor Day weekend in Seattle is usually perfectly lovely – but this is the Pacific Northwest, so anything could happen. People in this part of the world don’t let a little rain keep them from enjoying their festivals, however, so the show will most certainly go on – rain or shine.

>> Bumbershoot takes place each yer over Labor Day weekend 

For a limited time, connect with any Hawaiian island on Hawaiian Airlines with no connection fees. Also, flights from US mainland to the Hawaiian Islands start at $402 RT if you book your ticket by August 19, 2011.

The following routes can be booked during this sale:

• Honolulu to Las Vegas $616
• Honolulu to Los Angeles $548
• Honolulu to Oakland, San Jose $568
• Honolulu to Phoenix $620
• Honolulu to Portland $456
• Honolulu to Sacramento $618
• Honolulu to San Diego $668
• Honolulu to San Francisco $578
• Honolulu to Seattle $428
• Maui to Portland $418
• Maui to Seattle $402
• Maui to Las Vegas $512

Read more details on the airline’s Official website.

Read more Hawaiian Airlines Flight Deals

There are few annual parties more famous than Oktoberfest in Munich. It’s a (roughly) two-week festival that spans the end of September and the start of October, and although party-goers these days have little to no understanding of the history of the holiday there are plenty of traditional elements to it.

Today’s Oktoberfest is as much about the carnival rides as it is about the traditional food and dress, and unlike many world famous parties this one remains a favorite of the locals even though the city of Munich is inundated each year with foreigners who are (for the most part) just looking forward to getting falling-down drunk for two straight weeks.

Oktoberfest in Munich is the “bucket list” holiday, but there are lots of other places on the planet that celebrate Oktoberfest, too. No matter where you’re planning to don your dirndl this year, the articles below are here to help you save money on the trip.

>> Oktoberfest in Munich is from September 22 to October 7 in 2012
>> Learn more about going to the festival with this Munich Oktoberfest guide
>> If you’re really on a budget, there are some hostels near Oktoberfest in Munich to choose from

The early bird gets the worm. The travelers who book their flights early , get the cheap fares. So, take advantage of the latest sale from Frontier Airlines and book cheap flights to various destinations within the US.

Book your ticket by August 22, 2011 for the following travel periods:

• January 6 to February 15, 2012: to/from Florida cities
• December 1 to 15, 2011 and January 6 to February 15, 2012: to/from Little Rock and Palm Springs

The routes on sale are:

• Denver to/from Little Rock $99
• Denver to/from Palm Springs $79
• Des Moines to/from Orlando, Tampa $99
• Madison to/from Orlando $99
• Omaha to/from Orlando, Tampa $119

Fares are each way.

Read more details on the airline’s official site. And make sure to check out the airline’s Twitter account as well.

Read more Frontier Airlines Flight Deals.

We love hearing from travelers, so we’re starting a new series on Cheap Ticket Links in which we’ll talk to one budget traveler each week. If you know someone – or are someone – we should talk to, please let us know!

This week’s budget traveler is James Clark. James is a travel writer, photographer and editor of numerous travel websites (including Nomadic Notes), working in the online travel business since 2002. James is currently homeless and travelling full time.