Spain, Australia and Germany are some of the countries visited through the T.R.A.V.E.L. program.
The plan was for the students involved to plan the theme of the trip, where they would stay, what they would do and how to fundraise for themselves. They were going to learn the culture of their location all while getting closer to each other through the year-long process. This program began five years ago. Since then, the numbers have grown immensely, not only in number of trips but in students engaging in them, faculty and staff becoming facilitators, money being raised and countries being visited. Throughout the 2018-2019 academic year, more than 130 students will travel to 14 different countries, going to places such as Spain, Australia and Germany, thanks to the T.R.A.V.E.L. program. This year will be the first trip to South Africa for the program. Trips vary from $1,500-$3,000, but on average students only pay
around $1,390. T.R.A.V.E.L. offers students the chance to see the world, develop language skills, discover new interests, make lifelong friends, create leadership qualities and gain meaningful life experience. For me, the T.R.A.V.E.L. program has surpassed all expectations. When I first applied for the program it felt like fate. One night in August 2017, my friend and I agreed that we would apply for the Australia T.R.A.V.E.L. trip in the spring. As if the administration was listening to us right then and there, the next morning there was an email sent out saying there were extra spaces on some of the trips and Australia was the first one. We applied and got those few spots. I’m happy we did, because the next year of planning the trip, fundraising and bonding with our group were some of my favorite times. I could write for days about the trip itself: the animals we saw, the food we ate,
the people we met and the Sydney Harbor Bridge that we climbed. It was all I could talk about this summer. So, when one of my golf teammates told me that there was an opening on the Spain/Portugal trip, I emailed Becky Perry (the woman in charge of the T.R.A.V.E.L. program) immediately and asked to join. Now I’m brushing up on my Spanish and getting ready to travel once again. After that, who knows where I’ll go next. The T.R.A.V.E.L. program has grown so much in just five years, but there are so many other countries to explore, and the program is ready to reach more of them. Up next for the program is sending a T.R.A.V.E.L. group to South America and continuing to find ways for the program to be a possibility for all Gannon Students.
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