You know that unsettling feeling when you look around and you feel your stomach drop as you realize something doesn’t feel right. You start to look around and you feel out of place and you get frustrated. Your mind races and you get overwhelmed because you come to a realization that your trip isn’t going 100% according to plan.

Now what do you do about it in that moment? At EdOdyssey, we want that you embrace that uncomfortable moment and explore it with us.

As both travelers and educators, we plan out the details of our trips abroad as best as possible, but unexpected changes happen along the way. The weather changes or there’s an expected delay. There’s nothing that anyone can do in those moments except be patient. No one can foresee these moments, but all of us can adjust our mindset to take in these beautiful and teachable instances if we have the right mindset going into our trips.

When the train makes us wait, or the weather slows us down, all we can do is manage our reaction. No traveler wants to leave a country with bad memories and we don’t want anyone on our trips to not leave satisfied either so we need to see the splendor in everything!

Therefore, we want to share three of our beautiful realizations that come from changes.

The Beauty of Cultural Differences

In general, we can have lofty expectations and standards from back home that we unjustly communicate onto other cultures. When we travel, we have an idea that buildings and places will look different but at some point all of us struggle with how aspects of other cultures feel different. For example, at restaurants in Europe, the service tends to be slower and less individualized than in the United States.

All of us feel this slower pace, and we can either feel frustrated or take a moment of introspection to see the bigger picture. We’re all getting more time to spend with friends in an amazing place about to eat some delicious food. The drinks might take a couple more minutes, but take a step back, and ask yourself if you’ll remember that as being the moment that ruined your trip.

In those moments, we have to take a second to understand that our frustration comes from feeling something different and we have to ask why it feels different. At EdOdyssey, we understand these frustrations and these differences and we want you to understand these feelings because ultimately it helps us understand...  

The Beauty of Reflection

When you’re at home, you have your own individual routines and your own structure that gives you a sense of comfort that disappears quickly when traveling. When you travel abroad with us, we do our best to customize the best trip for you and prepare for everything, but even still there might be unexpected changes.

Ultimately, we can’t control long lines and unexpected waits, but we can manage our attitudes and how we roll these changes as individuals and as a group.

In those unexpected moments, we ask that you take a second to reflect on the beauty of the moment. You’re with your friends, you’re trying new foods and seeing unbelievable things. In a few weeks and moments from now, do you think that you’ll remember a little rain?

If I learned anything during my time abroad, I understood how to let go of my expectations and embrace mistakes and confusion.

During your time with us, we plan our trips as air tight as possible but sometimes life happens and reality gets in the way. There’s an unexpected delay or a last second modification. Take a second, look around, and embrace the moment.

Talk with your classmates and friends about what you’ve done or what you’re about to do!

The Beauty of Help

We’ve all had these incredible moments in our lives when we find ourselves lost and we don’t know what to do. We’re with a group one second, we look away or get distracted, and then we can’t find them.

As little kids, teenagers or grown adults, we’ve all lost track of our friends and family at some point. As humans, we share this truth and we have to stay optimistic and understand that people will be there to help you.

We are there to help and we hope that you’ll come along and join the ride with us so we can share the beautiful experience of traveling abroad together!