Deciding to go on a trip to another part of the world can be terrifying. What if I miss my flights? What if I don't find good transportation wherever I am? What if there's a language barrier when trying to communicate with the people in the country I'm visiting? What if I get sick? What if I get lost? I can go on and on. We do not have to worry about these "What if ... ?" questions when we partner with a company like Education First (EF). When first exploring the world, it is an amazing option to have a company like EF who plans for literally everything.
My Training Tour
When I went to Portugal for my group leader training tour, the only thing I had to worry about was getting enough sleep at night. I had to have enough energy for everything we had planned each day! Another thing that was nice on this trip was not having to keep track of the scheduled events and activities while on the trip. Our tour guide led the way and handled the logistics of everything with a smile on his face the entire time. He communicated with our group leaders (which will be me on the student trips) and they all made sure everything ran as flawless as possible. I think this is a good place to note that I will not be the only group leader on our tour! Since we will have a smaller group, we will be teaming up with other students groups who are going on the same tour as us. I love this because our kids will get to meet so many other travelers their age. I met so many people on my Portugal trip, and I am so excited to see our students form unique friendships as well.
Key Takeaway from Portugal
I learned so much on my training tour in Portugal, but my main focus was how I can best keep our student travelers safe and healthy while on tour. This not only means keeping a close eye on them the entire time so they don't get lost, but also making sure they are staying well fed, hydrated, and rested. My small group of students and I will become a little travel family while on tour. We will be with each other all the time (besides when they're sleeping in their hotel rooms). I know that I will become a mama bear to my traveling kiddos and will do everything in my power to keep them safe.
Student Blog Posts on Tour
One thing I am SO EXCITED for is to have my students switch off writing a blog post each day about what we did on the tour. They will be tasked with taking pictures and taking notes either in a notebook or in their notes app on their phone during the day's activities. They will draft their own blog post each evening and I will get it posted for their families to see. In addition to this, I will be in contact with families each day to let them know how students are doing and how the tour is going!
You can email me anytime at teachertraveler22@gmail.com if you have any questions. I look forward to hearing from you!
♡ Ms. Champlin
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