Over the last few weeks I have been approached by many teachers and parents asking the same question but for very different reasons. The question is "Why are you planning to travel internationally during a pandemic?" Most of the time my response is the same. I want to connect students to the world and give them an experience that is unique. While I have been planning these upcoming trips since 2017-2018 my motivations have not changed. Many people feel that I should wait for the pandemic to end. I did
pause my planning in 2020 as my trips were postponed with no known departure date. We hoped everything would be under control over the summer of 2020 and we could depart in October of 2020, October became June 2021 that became June of 2022. Our 2nd tour was June 2021 which became October 2021 and now March 2022. My original group of 36 students became 15 and is now 4 (1 confirmed for June) and 15 became 3 for March.
Our travel partner, EF Tours, has been excellent at providing options for travelers who are concerned with pandemic travel. Some students who graduated were unsure if their schedules would match up and all of this has been a challenge from an organizational and planning perspective. My key to keeping students engaged is that I send them updates. For my March 2022 travelers I have had virtual meetings through the surges and got their feedback to make sure they still felt comfortable. I probably do more than many others who rely solely on the EF or their travel partner to stay updated on what is happening in the countries they are going to and wait for guidance. I keep up with entry requirements and local mandates in our destination countries to make sure we are making the best decisions to ensure the students get the best possible experience. I also, send updates about what might be in place when we go. For my March tour those updates have been more frequent in preparation for departure.
I know of many teachers who wanted to do this type of experience with students before the pandemic are discouraged right now to try and plan. They feel that parents will be hesitant due to the inherent risk of traveling with active infections occurring. I get that. I have put off selecting and announcing any new destinations and dates because people are still hesitant. I have had some information sessions to introduce students and parents to our program and give them an idea of what we are trying to do, but the turnout has been low.
My focus during this pandemic is to keep informed so that I can give the best advise to any parents or students. I have chosen to postpone each time to make sure we make the best decision for the safety of our students. At the beginning it was difficult because the virus was new and there wasn't much known. Keeping up with advisories and getting the information was difficult. We waited as long as we could and prepared the best we could with the information that was available. In the end we made the right decision to postpone our trip the day before we were set to depart for Europe. It was hard and many of the students were disappointed but that week the situation exploded and many borders and countries closed down. My team and I felt we made the correct call and unfortunately many of our students are going to miss out on the great opportunity. I hope that they all get the opportunity to see the world and experience the connection to culture, history, and diversity that our world offers.
We teach our students to persevere in the classroom and to keep fighting for their dreams. We want our program to be successful. So I think for our success to become a reality, the key is to keep the idea in the minds of the students so that when we get out of the pandemic there is something for them to look forward to. I figure we can try to let students and parents know our program is out there and when they feel more comfortable traveling this is a great opportunity that exists and we are here to connect you to the world.
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