My experience traveling

Leisha Arbogast has traveled with both Smithsonian Student Travel and our international divison, EF Educational Tours.  Here she talks about her past domestic tours and what it is like to plan a tour as a parent.

 

I am always struck by the excitement Smithsonian Student Travel tours bring to students; it is what encourages me to continue offering these opportunities to them.  My previous Washington, D.C., and New York City tours were incredible, and I am happy to say that both the students and parents want to return to Washington, D.C.  So with that, I have another tour in place for next year!  I cannot wait to return for the third time to learn even more about our nation’s capital. 

 

As a parent offering these trips, it is a bit harder to reach out to the students, but I have already put up posters at the school and started encouraging students to look for summer work to pay for their trip.  Although it is harder to recruit students as a parent, I do think it is easier to lead a tour because you set the rules and boundaries.  This actually gains you respect rather than a teacher making rules that some students may find unfair because of their opinions of a teacher.

 

I’ve worked with a new tour director during each tour that I’ve taken, and I have found I like always working with someone new.  Each tour director has added a unique perspective on the trip, and I have always found their insights to be excellent.  My participants who have been to Washington, D.C., in the past on their own are astounded at how much more they learn and see when traveling with Smithsonian Student Travel.  It is a wonderful experience for me to see their faces as they walk through the White House and Capitol Building, touch the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and experience the Korean and WWII Memorials lit up at night.  I cannot wait to bring another group of students back next year! 

 

 
Leisha and her group in Wasington, D.C., in front of the Marine Corps War Memorial