Authentic Travel: Making Connection A Priority
“Authentic travel” is a core value here at EdOdyssey. It’s a thread that runs through each program we stitch together for your students.
It’s a phrase we’ve mulled over, reflected on, and discussed in depth as a team to shake it free from the grasp of cliché.
But what exactly is authentic travel and what does it look like in practice when you create a program with us?
Let’s dig in…
Defining Authentic Travel
“To me, the main point of authentic travel is that it goes beyond the typical tourist attractions and involves deep, genuine cultural engagement,” shared Kyle Simmons, Director of Institutional Partnerships here at EdOdyssey.
Authentic travel is about connection. It’s about intentionally seeking out opportunities to talk with locals, to discover what makes their everyday existence similar and different to our own, and to listen to their insights and stories.
We’re constantly asking ourselves: What does it mean to be human for those who live in this specific place? How can we explore this respectfully and engage with this on a level that deepens our understanding?
Our work is relationship-driven to maintain strong networks across our host countries, and we lean into these connections (and our connections’ networks too) with each program we design. “We're not simply going to the ‘right’ places and seeing the ‘right’ things related to your curriculum,” Kyle said. “We're helping students engage with the people and places they're visiting in a way that is meaningful and impactful.”
One thing most people agree on when defining an authentic travel experience is what it’s not: staring up at a famous monument with hordes of other tourists. “The idea of sharing our experience with other foreigners somehow made it ‘less authentic’,” Bobby McGee wrote in his blog post ‘The Authenticity Dilemma’. “The busiest tourist destinations tend to feel the least culturally authentic, mainly because when you go there you are surrounded by foreigners.”
But that doesn’t mean we need to avoid these places to travel authentically. We might just approach them a little bit differently; for example, with a local guide who forms a genuine connection with our students, or at a different time of day, or while learning more about the cultural and historical significance of certain places rather than just shooting a quick TikTok video and moving on.
Authentic Travel Ethos
Authentic travel goes hand-in-hand with the Slow Travel movement, defined by “Thrillist” as “having a deeper and more meaningful approach to local culture, people, and traditions that aims to respect, appreciate, and preserve the locality.”
Authentic travel supports local communities and businesses and respects the environment. When we travel, we aim to leave no physical trace of our existence there as foreigners.
Authentic Travel: A Pre-Departure Conversation
Reflecting on authentic travel with students is a worthwhile topic for a pre-departure conversation. After all, a certain degree of our ability to pursue an authentic travel experience involves mindset.
Here are a few questions to generate discussion with your student travelers:
What does “authentic travel” mean to you?
What is it that determines if an experience is “authentic” or not? How will you know?
What does this mean for your expectations of an experience?
Ultimately, what do you want to learn from or gain from traveling in an intentionally authentic way?
Encourage your group to think critically, lean into self-discovery and awareness while they travel, be open-minded, and remember that our own personal biases and perspectives (which we all have) influence the way we perceive our new surroundings, the people we come across, and their beliefs and ways of living.
So how do we approach travel with a goal of authenticity in mind?
10 Ways to Embrace Authentic Travel with Your Students
RESEARCH FIRST. We have a mind-boggling amount of information at our fingertips. Encourage your students to dive in and find out what they can from local bloggers, forums, and Instagram accounts. Watch documentaries, and listen to local podcasts and music. Learn about etiquette, local customs, currency, and other basics before you travel.
LEARN THE LANGUAGE. We work in certain countries where different languages are spoken—mainly Spanish, Italian, or Japanese—so even if you’re traveling with your students to a city where people likely will speak some English, they should take time to learn a few key words and phrases. Hello. Please. Thank you. You’re welcome. My name is… Yes/No. Sorry. Where is…? How much? I don’t understand. Do you speak English? The effort will be appreciated.
VISIT MARKETS. Visit local markets, specifically—not markets designed for tourists. These can offer some amazing cultural immersion experiences, an understanding of what local people eat, how they shop, and opportunities for interaction. Your group can support local vendors and small business owners here, soak in the lively atmosphere, and sometimes listen to the sounds of bargaining. Though not quite the same, it can also be insightful to walk around the supermarket or visit a pharmacy.
EAT LOCAL FOOD. If there’s an opportunity to sit down and eat a meal or a snack with locals, don’t pass it up. Food is central to so many cultures when it comes to social interaction. We can learn so much from the conversations around us and likely taste foods we may never have tried before. If there’s no direct invitation, look for restaurants away from tourist areas, ideally crowded with locals! Even better if what you’re eating is locally grown or made from locally sourced ingredients.
EXPLORE MORE. One activity that we build into nearly all of our travel experiences is walking! We can observe so much more when we’re on our feet. Sometimes this is a city stroll; sometimes it’s a hike. Spending time in nature is another way to have an authentic travel experience. Students learn about local plants and wildlife, have a chance to think and reflect, and engage with all of their senses to smell, hear, and observe the natural world around them.
USE LOCAL GUIDES. We work with local guides as much as possible so our students can learn while we’re out and about on group walks. Apart from elaborating on the finer points of whatever it is that we intentionally set out to see, guides can point out small details in our surroundings that would be easy to miss and they can take us away from the tourist trail to other areas that they know well.
USE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION. There’s hardly a better local experience than getting to grips with the bus system or the trains! This is a great way to learn skills like how to purchase a ticket in another language, how to navigate a bus route and find the right stop to get on and off, how to read a train or subway map, what the local behavioral etiquette is like on the journey, how to signal that your stop is approaching, and more. There are also potential opportunities here for conversation with locals.
INTERACT. True authentic travel is found among people: in those unexpected interactions, the serendipitous connections, the genuine curiosity in your questions, the decision to be your authentic self in your responses. It is in conversations with locals that students find out about their daily lives, their families, their restaurant recommendations, their worries, their joys, their frustrations, and their experience of living in their country from their personal perspective.
EVENTS & FESTIVALS. If your travel dates allow for the opportunity to join in on a particular celebration, special event, or festival, don’t skip it! This is a wonderful way for students to experience true immersion in local traditions and another place where impromptu conversations can take place.
RESPECT & REFLECT. Opinions across cultures (and even very much within cultures) are likely to differ. Students may notice or hear something that comes as a shock or a surprise. As travelers, our job is to respect the culture we are in, be open-minded, allow space for differences, and then sit back and reflect. We can ask ourselves: What did we learn from this experience? Why do we do or think things differently? Is there a takeaway from this discovery that we can apply to our own lives back home?
Building Authentic Travel Experiences for Your Students
In our globalized world, travel can be one of the most powerful forms of education, especially at a time when—in the words of EdOdyssey President and Founder Peter McGovern—“cross-cultural dialogues are no longer a good idea, but critical…” and “early exposure to travel is important. It teaches students to identify cultural differences, appreciate languages, and—through true immersion in diverse cultures—start to build the confidence and maturity necessary to navigate our interconnected world.”
When we work with you to create custom travel programs—including powerful first year experiences—authenticity is always top of mind. It’s right up there with listening intently to your vision and ideas, and working in line with your academic objectives and overall curriculum. We build in opportunities for genuine interactions and connections with locals instead of focusing on checking off a location’s superlatives (e.g. – must see the tallest tower!). We love to help your students get to grips with what daily life is actually like when you live somewhere else (e.g. - learning to take the bus and tasting foods that people eat regularly).
“Taking a bus tour and snapping photos of monuments, nature, or pretty streets likely won't change your worldview. Barely leaving your hotel or going only to restaurants where you can order in English won't help you better understand the contexts of why some cultures do things a certain way or indeed reflect on why you do things differently back home,” Kyle said. “This is why we place such importance on cultural immersion and experiential learning. We want students not only to travel but to engage.”
There’s enormous value in understanding each other and appreciating different ways of life. “Our programs are designed to go beyond the surface, providing meaningful interactions that inspire lifelong learning and personal growth,” Peter said. “We hope that these experiences instill a mindset of authentic engagement well beyond their study abroad experience, encouraging students to continue exploring and connecting with communities—whether across the globe or in their own neighborhoods. After all, 'travel changes people, people change the world.'
Start a conversation with us to learn more about our process:
