{"id":8201,"date":"2018-08-30T13:32:11","date_gmt":"2018-08-30T17:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/?p=8201"},"modified":"2018-08-30T13:32:11","modified_gmt":"2018-08-30T17:32:11","slug":"choose-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/choose-tour","title":{"rendered":"From a teacher’s desk: How to choose an educational tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Michael Nickerson is a Spanish Teacher at Winthrop High School near Boston, MA. Sharing his love of travel with students has been a big part of his almost 20-year teaching career: Michael \u201cSe<\/span><\/i>\u00f1<\/span><\/i>or\u201d Nickerson has taken several tours with Explorica, beginning with a trip to Spain before venturing to other countries. Here are his tips for choosing an educational tour:<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cHey Se\u00f1or, where is the next trip going?\u201d<\/span> <\/b><\/p>\n

For a teacher who loves to travel overseas with students, this is my favorite question. It shows me that the students in Winthrop, MA have come to share my passion for traveling abroad. <\/span><\/p>\n

A common question for teachers looking to take their first trip is \u201cWhere should we go?\u201d Here are a few tips that can help you choose a trip:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Touring for the first time? Go where you know!<\/i><\/strong>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a1Viva Espa\u00f1a! I have been teaching Spanish for 20 years, I studied abroad in Spain, and Real Madrid and F.C. Barcelona are two of my all-time favorite sports teams. Therefore, for me, all roads lead to Espa\u00f1a. <\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, the majority of students at my high school take Spanish, so it is a logical trip for them. Seeing my students <\/span>put their language skills to use<\/span><\/a> makes the trip so worthwhile for me. <\/span><\/p>\n

Spain is a country I know very well and I have been there about 20 times, so I feel at home there. That level of comfort helps put parents at ease when I am planning the trip, and the students see my excitement when it comes to Espa\u00f1a. <\/span><\/p>\n

For me, the best trip to Spain is <\/span>Barcelona, Madrid, and Andaluc\u00eda<\/span><\/a>. I am always amazed at how much the kids get to see in a mere ten days. Just imagine seeing two of Gaud\u00ed’s masterpieces of Gothic architecture, touring the opulent baroque rooms of the largest palace in Europe, and walking through the lush gardens and mosaic-covered rooms of a Moorish palace, all in one trip! I love that Explorica packs so many sights into one journey.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Have a bit of experience? Go where you want.<\/i><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a1Ciao Italia! Good food, friendly people, and rich history \u2014 What\u2019s not to love?! Although I don\u2019t speak Italian, I never pass up a chance to <\/span>visit beautiful Italy<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Italian is another language taught at my school, so it\u2019s great to have students on the trip that can share their language skills and become trip leaders, in a way. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some highlights from past trips include shopping for italian leather, riding a gondola, and eating our weight in gelato. It\u2019s definitely not tough to sell this trip to students! <\/span><\/p>\n

Since we always travel in April, it\u2019s nice to spend the cold Boston winter dreaming about the warmth of Italy and the Amalfi coast and then finally getting to experience it as we walk through the lemon tree-lined streets of Sorrento. This is a trip your students will treasure for the rest of their lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Already have a popular travel program? Let the students lead the way.<\/i><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Brilliant! This past year, when some students came to me expressing interest in a <\/span>trip to Ireland and the UK<\/span><\/a>, I was thrilled! <\/span><\/p>\n

Although I had travelled to London, I was happy to go back. As a bonus, I had always wanted to see Ireland as my mom always spoke very highly of a trip she had taken.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, Scotland had never even been on my radar, but it quickly became one of the highlights of the trip and I can\u2019t wait to return, as Edinburgh is a truly gorgeous city. The Edinburgh Castle is a sight that I cannot wait to explore again. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It was exciting to get a chance to see St. George\u2019s Chapel at Windsor Castle ahead of the Royal Wedding. And, as luck would have it, we visited on the Queen\u2019s birthday and ran into Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb, who graciously posed for selfies and a group picture! <\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, as a passionate soccer fan, having the chance to see Manchester United defeat Tottenham at the FA Cup Semi-Final at Wembley stadium was a major check off of my bucket list. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Ready to try something new? Go for it!<\/i><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s all Greek to me! As much as I enjoy visiting some of my favorite countries, when the opportunity came to visit a new destination, I did not hesitate to get on board. Literally! \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our <\/span>trip to Greece<\/span><\/a> involved a lot of new experiences for me, including a cruise component. In addition, my students and I had many new adventures including new foods to try, a brand new language to attempt, and gorgeous land and seascapes to take in. <\/span><\/p>\n

This trip will always be memorable for me because of the amazing connection we made with our tour guide, Kostas, and the other school we traveled with. It\u2019s always fun to see my students bonding with students from another school as a trip progresses. The cruise was a new and eye-opening experience and a great way to island-hop across this beautiful country. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As you can see, there are a myriad of options when it comes to choosing a trip. You can\u2019t go wrong! <\/span><\/p>\n

What is most important is that once the selection is made, you jump in with both feet. Getting excited for a trip and sharing that excitement is key. I\u2019m fired up for next April\u2019s <\/span>trip to Spain and Portugal<\/span><\/a>, which combines the comfort of an old favorite and the intrigue of a new location. <\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t yet know where we are going in 2020, but I can\u2019t wait to choose!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael Nickerson is a Spanish Teacher at Winthrop High School near Boston, MA. Sharing his love of travel with students has been a big part of his almost 20-year teaching career: Michael \u201cSe\u00f1or\u201d Nickerson has taken several tours with Explorica, beginning with a trip to Spain before venturing to other countries. Here are his tips Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,173,63,172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-explorica-news","category-parents","category-students","category-teachers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8201"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8227,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8201\/revisions\/8227"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}