My Two Cents: Traveling with Kids

While trying to decide what to post this week, I perused some old photo albums looking for ideas. If you read my post on Binders, you know that my photo albums are neatly organized by year and trip. I soon got lost in reminiscing and found myself wanting to write about so many little things: a particular museum, monument, afternoon, or excursion. Instead, I decided to write about the feelings evoked while traveling with students.

I led four trips abroad with high school students in four consecutive years from 2006 - 2009. We covered 3 continents, 10 countries and 1 territory. Next summer I will lead my fifth tour and add 4 more countries to this list. There was an interruption in time from my fourth tour to the one planned for next summer due to our 25^th wedding anniversary. We decided to go to Italy for two weeks without students, ours or anyone else’s. While the kids were disappointed, the parents understood.

Ironically, when in Sorrento, I spotted a group of EF backpacks heading to the docks. EF is the company with whom I travel. I found myself rushing to catch up with the group to see where they were from and what their itinerary was. I noticed that although I loved sleeping late and doing things at my own pace, there was something I missed about traveling without the kids.

The next three summers found me hosting my family from Italy and recovering from knee surgery. So it will be four years from the last student trip in 2009 to the next one planned in 2013. Some friends and colleagues were surprised to hear that I am resuming my plans to travel with students. But those who know me well know how much I enjoy traveling with students.

It is true that there are certainly challenges entailed with having someone else’s teenagers with you while in another country. Getting them to sleep at night and subsequently waking up for breakfast the next morning is the biggest daily challenge. But to me, that just says that they are having a great time socializing with each other, making or deepening friendships, and being teens. Making sure they stay healthy and safe is of course the most important challenge of all. I find myself being a mother to 12-15 kids, asking questions ranging from “Are you drinking enough water?” to “Where is your passport?” Some people count sheep at night; I count kids all day long at each corner to make sure one of the ‘sheep’ did not stray from our flock.

Careful planning and organization diminishes problems that can happen with any trip and student trips are no exception. I am extremely organized and thorough and err on the side of caution. I also carefully pick good parent chaperones to travel with us who will be competent and helpful additions to the flock.

The advantages of student travel however must overtake its challenges or I would not be a repeat leader. As a teacher, my instincts are to teach, to show, to inspire, to open a child’s eyes to new experiences and possibilities. As a parent, I have instincts to help my children past their fears and to help them grow to be responsible, considerate members of society. I teach them that in addition to being a citizen of a country, they are citizens of the world. People in London don’t drive on the wrong side of the road, just a different side.

We have visited some of the most amazing landscapes, museums, monuments, and cathedrals in the world. Sometimes I point out or give additional information to the kids to look closer at a certain detail; other times they cause me to stop and look at an item I may have missed. The curiosity and wonder they have when they are young does not go away when they are teenagers. Being with their peers seeing the Rosetta Stone, Mona Lisa, or Sistene Chapel is so amazing that they revel in the experience together, making connections to what they have learned or what they already know. Remembering the experience of seeing the Acropolis, climbing Mt. Vesuvius, or shopping at a market in Morocco with friends is something they will never forget.

Going shopping with students can be quite amusing. Whether it is shopping for clothes or souvenirs, they are literally like kids in a candy store. One time my own son came out of a candy store with 75 euro worth of candy. Needless to say he was the most popular one in the group for several days, not only amongst his peers, but amongst the chaperones as well. Everyone knew whom to go to for his or her ‘fix’.

Sometimes students have choices; go back to the hotel to swim or relax with Chaperone A or come see this particular site or museum with Chaperone B. It is more of a social decision for some kids; making their choice based on who is doing what. But others always choose the latter choice to take advantage of everything there is to see. It is with these smaller groups that the details of a museum really get taken in.

I am looking forward to traveling to Prague, Budapest, Vienna, and Munich next summer, not just because all four of these cities will be new to me, but also because I will be amongst another flock of sheep. If you know of any sheep looking to join our flock, just let me know.