At EdOdyssey, we believe that travel changes people, and people change the world. We know that students experience travel differently at different points in their lives, and educators and school communities play a pivotal role in showing their students the meaning of these experiences.

Visiting a foreign country invites people to pursue new experiences and adopt different viewpoints of the world. Like students, travelers are always learning new things and pondering how their new knowledge fits into their lives.

Travel plays a pivotal role in any student’s experience. School trips add a more adventurous and interactive side to course material. As students grow older and prepare for life after graduating from high school, it is important to provide them with formative experiences that leave a lasting impact afterward and further promote their personal growth.

As avid travelers and educators ourselves, we believe that traveling to a different country can provide students with exactly these experiences, and we believe that you - teachers, parents and communities - can make them happen.

Beginners in student travel, or global student travel experts, have an opportunity to plan to expand classes into a global setting. Now is the perfect time to learn how to develop or be a part of the moment to enhance your school’s experiential learning programs abroad, and you’ll see the long term benefits of preparing and planning for student travel.

YOUTH TRAVEL STARTS EARLY

What do you imagine when you see the phrase “Youth Travel?” A group of twenty-somethings backpacking in foreign countries? College students studying abroad for a semester or two?

While a lot of people travel in their late teens and early twenties, youth travel begins before then in high school.

Young people start traveling before they head off to college and become young professionals. According to the World Youth Student and Educational Travel Confederation (WYSETC), young people make up 23% of international airports around the world!  This survey includes people as young as 15; high school students are among the millions of young people traveling abroad.

High school students also made up a majority of the young people surveyed about their interest in international experience earlier this year. According to data from Statista, over 10,000 of the 18,000 total participants stated that they wanted to experience travel abroad! From the same survey, 8,000 students also said that they were very interested in a study abroad or international exchange program.

Even during a time of travel restrictions, it is important to keep a global perspective and continue planning for international trips for the future. After thousands of students were sent home earlier this year, Ahmad Ezzeddine, the Associate Vice President of Educational Outreach and International Programs of the National Association for Foreign Student Affairs (NAFSA: Association of International Educators) said about the worldwide nature of the current situation:

“It’s a perfect example of how everything we’re dealing with has a global nature. It’s why we need to continue to invest in study abroad and the international experience.”

ADVANTAGES OF SECONDARY SCHOOL TRAVEL

The excitement of adventure does not end after the trip is over - students bring home new experiences and memories that will last a lifetime! The impact that travel has on them during the trip stays with them and can benefit their success in high school and beyond. 

Exploring a different part of the world challenges students to approach topics from new perspectives.

Travel also grants students an opportunity to develop their own viewpoints. Their experiences in a different country are perfect to make their college applications stand out! Each student interprets travel experiences differently, and their unique stories can distinguish them from other applicants and wow the college admissions officers!

Bringing students abroad in high school inspires them to keep traveling and learning on their own beyond the educational setting! A 2016 survey focusing on youth travel states “28 percent of students who travel take more than one trip per year and those traveling between ages 10 and 18 are more likely to return to the destination later in life.” (Peltier and O'Brien 5 Charts Showing Student Traveler Preferences in the U.S. and Abroad)

WHY PLAN NOW?

Just because travel is on hold doesn’t mean that planning has to be. This is the perfect time to plan a trip abroad. This fall, EdOdyssey is hosting its first-ever Global Student Program Certificate for Educators course. Teachers, administrators, and faculty will have a chance to learn skills to develop, market, and enrich school trips abroad.

You’ll have the chance to take any of your benchmarks, your learning objectives, and your content area’s curriculum to infuse them into the design of your program for almost any theme and content area(s). As educators ourselves, we’ll show you how we build a trip that also functions as an academic program that prioritizes student learning while still creating a fun, enriching program.

Pick and choose from different modules, and get certified after completing the entire program. With the right travel planning and management skills tailored for you, you will be able to make international trips a reality for you and your students.

As Matthew Wolfe, an EdOdyssey featured traveler, wrote about his experience abroad, “Being able to see the world from a completely different perspective in another country is an opportunity that you simply should never pass up.”

To explore more about the benefits of travel prep and planning now, learn more about The Four Major Benefits Of Customizable Programs!

Ready to start planning?

Sources

Duffin, Erin. “Interest among Students about International Experiences by Type U.S. 2020.” 

Statista, 13 July 2020, www.statista.com/statistics/985046/interest-among-students-international-experiences-type.

Peltier, Dan, and James O'Brien. “5 Charts Showing Student Traveler Preferences in the U.S. 

and Abroad.” Skift, 15 July 2016, https://skift.com/2016/07/15/5-charts-showing-student-traveler-preferences-in-the-u-s-and-abroad

Rifai, Taleb. “Facts and Stats.” WYSE Travel Confederation, 2020, 

www.wysetc.org/about-us/facts-and-stats/.

Toner, Mark, et al. “Internationalization, Interrupted.” NAFSA, 1 Apr. 2020, 

www.nafsa.org/ie-magazine/2020/4/1/internationalization-interrupted.