Study abroad, annual field trips, huge senior trips, weeklong marching band getaways. . . let’s face it, students are traveling a lot more today than they used to. Of course, you already know that we think that is great, but the point of this blog is to tell you why we think you should think this is great.
First off, let us define educational travel. Educational travel is a successful combination of tours, site visits, and hands-on learning opportunities that meet clear and concise learning objectives. Educational travel allows students to further their learning experience by actually seeing and/or experiencing what they have learned about in the classroom, in real life.
There truly is no better way to learn something than to see or do it for yourself, and with educational travel, you get to do just that! It’s like guaranteeing your class will learn something new, and have fun while doing it.
Travel in general, however, is an educational experience in itself. High school students who take weekend vacations on the beach or on a cruise probably don’t intend on learning anything while traveling, but undoubtedly they will, as traveling somewhere new already brings a person out of their comfort zone and into a new perspective, a new place and a new self-awareness in that new place. This just automatically happens when traveling, whether a person intends on it or not.
When you add in the intentional educational part of traveling, you get an abundantly useful and memorable experience you will never, and can never, replace with any other lesson.
So plain and simple, what are the benefits of educational travel? Well, there’s probably too many to list, but here’s a start:
- Experience new cultures, gain a new perspective.
- Get out of your comfort zone. Gain courage.
- Exhibit and/or gain independence and leadership skills.
- Increase self-awareness in a new place.
- Increase intercultural knowledge, become more business savvy and understanding.
- Gain insight and appreciation.
- Get a new/better perspective on history.
- Experience a hands-on learning opportunity.
- Gain crucial language experience.
We could go on, but we probably shouldn’t. There are so many benefits to take from educational travel, even travel alone, that it is hard not to want to plan your own educational trip today. Whether you are a student or you are a teacher, or maybe you are just a curious parent, we suggest planning your own highly memorable and informational travel journey today, you won’t regret it!
Adventure Student Travel’s Top Educational Tour Suggestions: