Amazing Adventures: How and Why to Travel with Students

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

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Some of the greatest memories of my life have been taking students to new places. Qatar. India. China. The UAE. Hawaii. Even just up the road in Atlanta, Georgia. Over the past twenty years, I’ve taken students literally all over the world — and they’ve expanded my world, too. Sometimes it’s about seeing the world through their eyes and watching the wonder light up their faces.

Sponsored by EF Tours STEM and CTE and Career Readiness Tours. All opinions my own and that of the individual teachers interviewed.

“Dubai, I’ll Be Back!”

I will never forget a boy who wanted to go to Dubai more than anything. He fundraised. He had barbecue after barbecue. He raised every dollar himself so he could make the trip. When we finally stood on the beach, dipping our toes in the Arabian Gulf, he stretched out his arms and shouted to the sky: “Dubai! I’ll be back!”

His whole life was forever changed. I saw it in the way he walked through the Dubai Mall, the way he engaged at the conference where he was a co-speaker with me. My students have traveled to present at conferences around the world, and they’ve done an exceptional job. But that moment on the beach — arms wide, face full of possibility — that’s the moment that reminds me why student travel matters.

Angela Cannava, a high school science and CTE biomedical sciences teacher in Denver, Colorado, told me about a student of hers who had barely spoken ten words to her in three years of class. Then she took him on EF’s Health Sciences in Great Britain tour.

“After we went on that trip, he just hit it off with me — telling me all about his weekends, about his baseball games, about how he wants to travel the world now, and about how I inspired him. Moments like that are just so incredible and so touching that it’s worth it all.”

— Angela Cannava, Denver, Colorado

Travel Transforms Lives in Ways Nothing Else Can

When students travel, they learn about different cultures and different languages. They figure out how to use Google Translate to communicate with people from other countries. They come back with a different respect for others — even if they’re just traveling across the country. They learn that other places aren’t like where they’re from, and that people everywhere are both the same and wonderfully different.

Miranda Grabowski, a high school biology teacher in Austin, Texas, has led five international trips with students — including a recent Panama wetlands conservation trip where eleventh graders worked with local NGOs to plant mangroves.

“I get to sit back and watch my students learn in real time how science happens in the real world. They’re actually doing the science on their own, not just sitting back and letting someone talk to them. That’s why I like traveling with kids — to see them actually experience things, as opposed to just read about them.”

— Miranda Grabowski, Austin, Texas

And Edith Cortez, an eighth grade social studies teacher in Laredo, Texas, has watched her students come home genuinely changed.

“They came back super different. They had to handle their own money, they had to pick up after themselves, they had to set their own alarms. It’s exposure and accountability. And they don’t even come back with souvenirs — they come back with things from those museums of, ‘this is where I came from.’”

— Edith Cortez, Laredo, Texas about the Washington, DC STEM Trip

Traveling gives you an opportunity to transform lives in ways that no other activity can. And when you integrate experiential learning with science, history, or math, it truly changes the world for those students.

The Trip That Changed Me

I remember going to Washington, D.C., when I was in middle school. Standing on the National Mall and hearing the stories of the people who had gone before — people who gave their lives so that we could have the freedoms we enjoy. Years later, when I was in college, I jumped at the chance to intern for a U.S. senator. I knew the richness of serving in our nation’s capital because I had been there. I had experienced it. That school trip planted a seed.

But the trip that truly changed my life came in eighth grade, when my grandmother took me to Alaska. She had decided to take each of her grandchildren on a trip, and I was the oldest. Her health declined soon after, so I was one of the only grandchildren who got to go.

We stayed awake late, and she told me stories. But the thing she told me that I carry to this day was this: “Vicki, you live in a small town, but it’s a big world. You need to have a big mind. You need to know that there are people all over the world who are different from you — and you need to think with a world in mind.”

Megan Philbrook, 2026 New Hampshire Teacher of the Year and a 5th–8th grade social studies teacher at Andover Elementary Middle School in rural New Hampshire, put this feeling into words for me:

“All adults can look back on their time in schools and think about a couple lessons that really stuck out. These kinds of experiences transform teaching into something our learners will never forget into adulthood.”

— Megan Philbrook, 2026 New Hampshire Teacher of the Year

Not every child has a grandmother or parent who can take them places. But I wish every teacher and school could help facilitate these experiences for their students!

Why I Recommend EF Tours

I’ll admit, I probably did student travel the hard way for many years. I planned the trips myself. I booked the plane tickets and hotels. I even put a lot of it on my own credit card and waited to be reimbursed by parents. (Truly a terrible idea.) That approach worked for me for a season, but it’s not something I’d recommend for most teachers.

As I’ve talked to teacher friends who have traveled with EF Tours, I’ve realized this is the better way. Edith Cortez says it simply:

“EF handles everything, really. My consultant — bless her heart — sends me email templates, social media posts, posters for campus, handouts for families. They do the itinerary. EF handles most of the work, and it is pretty much amazing.”

— Edith Cortez, 8th grade social studies, Laredo, Texas

Angela Cannava, who now leads international tours every year, echoed the same thing:

“EF makes it so easy. They make my flyers, my PowerPoints, everything. Then it’s just ready to go for my promotion nights. They give me deadlines, a website to help kids raise money. We’re so busy as teachers — EF makes it doable for our workload.”

— Angela Cannava, high school science, Denver, Colorado

EF Tours also offers global scholarships to help students who otherwise couldn’t afford to travel. And when something comes up that’s not on the itinerary, they pivot. Karen Spencer, principal at Parkview Baptist School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, told me about a last-minute detour on a recent Boston trip:

“The Museum of Ice Cream was a spur-of-the-moment thing. One of the parents mentioned it in passing at lunch and I said, ‘Wait, what?’ I called EF and said, ‘How can we make this work?’ They were like, ‘We’re on it.’ Three hours later, we were there. That’s one of the reasons I like EF so much — they want to make it a great experience.”

— Karen Spencer, Principal, Parkview Baptist School, Baton Rouge, Louisiana about her Boston STEM Trip

If you’re worried about the stress of leading your first trip, Miranda Grabowski’s advice is encouraging:

“It’s okay to be stressed the first time you do it — but it’s only the first time that’s stressful.”

— Miranda Grabowski, high school biology, Austin, Texas

EF Tours works with teachers one-on-one to find the perfect itinerary, and their tours are curated by world travelers and subject matter experts who understand that great itineraries should be full of experiential learning opportunities. They handle all the things that come with traveling with children and teenagers — so you can focus on the teaching moments instead of the logistics.

Popular Tours to Explore

Here are some of EF Tours’ most popular experiences to get you started:

• London, Paris & Rome — One of EF’s most beloved tours, this classic European itinerary takes students through world-class art, medieval architecture, and centuries of history across three iconic cities.
• Health Sciences in Great Britain — Angela Cannava took her CTE health sciences students to Scotland and England for nine days. They visited anatomical museums, rode the London Eye at sunset, and did real DNA fingerprinting in a working forensics lab. One of her students told her, “Oh my gosh, Ms. Cannava, everything you taught me is actually what they do in the real lab.”
• Washington, D.C.: The Capital Tour — Bring history to life through monuments, museums, and the heart of American democracy. Perfect for bringing social studies off the textbook page. And in 2026, EF is offering special America’s 250th Anniversary tours to celebrate our nation’s heritage. Edith Cortez took her eighth graders on EF’s Washington STEM version: “Everyone thinks Washington and monuments — but the museums were so hands-on. My kids were competing with one another through scenarios. It was very, very interactive.”
• Boston STEM & History — Karen Spencer’s seventh graders at Parkview Baptist School have been taking this trip for years. They tour MIT and Harvard, visit the Museum of Science and the Museum of Fine Arts, walk the Freedom Trail, do a duck boat tour, and get hands-on with FIRST Robotics.
• Discover Costa Rica — Thundering waterfalls, active volcanoes, and lush rainforests become the classroom. Students develop environmental awareness and explore ecotourism practices with local experts.
• Belize Ridge to Reef — Angela Cannava’s STEM conservation trip to Belize had students doing a nighttime bat-tagging workshop, beach cleanups to study microplastics, and snorkeling with local marine biologists. One of her students is going back this summer to work at the NGO that ran the bat workshop.
• Agriculture in Ireland — For ag, FFA, and rural teachers, this is a powerful option.
  
  

  “The most fun our kids had was talking with the farmers. They got to hook up all the milking machinery — and then they got to drink fresh milk. In the United States, that doesn’t happen at any dairy very often. The kids really put agriculture in perspective.”

  — Nolan Payne, ag education teacher & FFA advisor, Miami Yoder School, Rush, Colorado

• Panama Wetlands Conservation — Miranda Grabowski’s eleventh graders in Austin work alongside Panamanian NGOs to plant mangroves and help conserve wetlands.
  
  

  “They’re actually out there in the boots, picking up the mangroves, getting on a boat, getting sunburned.”

  — Miranda Grabowski, high school biology, Austin, Texas

• London, Paris, Venice & Rome — For teachers who want to go deeper into European history and culture, this expanded itinerary adds the canals and architecture of Venice to the classic route.
• Language Immersion Through Costa Rica — Each day is built around a different theme, tying together daily language lessons, cultural activities, and meaningful interactions with locals. A beautiful option for world language teachers.

EF also offers middle school tours designed specifically for younger students, STEM-focused tours, performing arts tours, and service learning trips. Whatever your subject area, there’s an itinerary that fits.

Give Your Students the World

Every spring, I do a project with my eighth graders called the Personal Trip Project. It’s a spreadsheet project where they plan a dream trip. They might “plan” to go to Bora Bora or Venice or even just one state over to a place they’ve always dreamed of going. A wonderful outcome is they realize these are places they can actually go. Some of them go home and talk to their parents. Recently, a student got to go to Venice after planning the trip in my class.

But I want this experience for every student. Angela Cannava’s Belize story captures why:

“One of the students who went on that trip is actually going to work at the NGO this summer — the one that did the bat workshop. So not just classroom connections, but connections beyond that for life. He could end up working there.”

— Angela Cannava

And Karen Spencer, from the principal’s chair, sees something I see in my own classroom:

“My favorite thing is getting to know the students on a different level and having them see me in a different light. I just got home yesterday from our Boston trip, and I saw a child who sometimes gets in trouble in such a different light. I have such a new love and respect for him that was different than what I had before.”

— Karen Spencer

Traveling with students is one of those things that changes their life — and changes yours. You become closer to those kids, and they truly become your legacy. I see former students years later, and they’ll tell me how that trip was a pivotal moment. Whether they were in India on Elephant Island, riding a rickshaw in Beijing, walking on the Great Wall of China, or standing on a beach in Dubai with their arms outstretched — these are the moments they talk about twenty years later.

Edith Cortez said something to me I want to leave you with:

“There’s a whole world outside of Laredo, Texas — and we need to take advantage of seeing it. We really need to see what’s out there and the opportunities that the world has for us.”

— Edith Cortez

Replace “Laredo” with wherever you teach. The line still works.

Not every child will have this opportunity, but we need to make the opportunities for more. I hope you’ll check out what EF Tours does and find out that it might be a lot easier than you think to plan a trip that opens up your students’ lives and changes them forever.

You’ll be glad you did.

The post Amazing Adventures: How and Why to Travel with Students appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

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