As students return to school, it’s the perfect moment to think about how learning extends far beyond textbooks and classrooms. Travel has the power to spark curiosity, build confidence, and create connections that last a lifetime.
And that’s exactly what Laura, our Educational Tour Specialist in the Middle East, has seen again and again with her years of teaching experience. In this blog, Laura shares why travel is such a transformative experience for students, and how curiosity, courage, and community can turn any journey into a life-changing adventure.
Having been a teacher for the last 12 years, I can confidently say that some of the best learning happens outside the classroom. Whether students are hiking up a mountain, helping in a local school or conservation project, or exploring a coral reef, travel can completely change how they see the world and themselves.
For school students, these kinds of experiences go way beyond school trips. They fuel curiosity, build courage, and connect you to a global community in ways that students will never forget.
Curiosity: Turns Questions into Exploration
Have you ever wondered what it feels like to walk through a rainforest? Or how communities live sustainably in different parts of the world? Travel takes those questions and turns them into first-hand experiences.
Instead of just reading about the world in a classroom, travel allows students to collect data in a real scientific manner, explore ecosystems, cities, and cultures and ask burning questions and get answers from experts.
Science, geography, culture, and history all come alive when you’re in the middle of it. I have never heard a student say “this is boring” when on a trip and immersed in a subject.
Courage: Step Outside Your Comfort Zone
Travel is full of unknowns, and that’s what makes it exciting. Whether it’s learning and then using phrases in a new language, trying unfamiliar food, or leading your team through a challenge, students can grow in ways they never expected. Travel allows students to be brave in unfamiliar situations without their guardians to rely on. Often, it’s the students you least expect who step up and take on new roles and responsibilities, which is always amazing to see. Solving problems when things don’t go as planned is one of the best life lessons a student can have inside or outside of the classroom.
Courage isn’t about having no fear, it’s about showing up anyway! Students always surprise me with their ability to over come fears and have the best time doing it!
Community: Connect With People and Purpose
One of the most powerful things about travel is the people you meet along the way. From new friendships to cross-cultural teamwork, students (and teachers) learn what community really means when travelling. This can be as a class or school and the connections that are built while travelling but also working with local service projects, conservation groups and learning side by side with people from other cultures.
One of my favourite school trip memories is when I took a group of IB students on a CAS trip to Thailand and we spent the day in a local school helping to teach English and PE. From planning engaging lessons and then adapting them as the day went on, eating lunch with the students and then playing games all afternoon everybody involved had the most fun and didn’t want the day to end. My students asked if they could work in the school everyday for the entire trip and it was a highlight spoken about for the rest of the year.
These connections remind us that we’re all part of something bigger, and that small actions can have a big impact.
CAS : Creativity, Activity, and Service
If your students are doing the IB Diploma, travel is an amazing way to complete your CAS requirements with purpose and adventure.
Here’s how CAS fits naturally into travel:
- Creativity: Capture your journey through writing, photos, video, or art
- Activity: Take on physical challenges like hiking, kayaking, or trail building
- Service: Volunteer with communities or environmental projects
Even if they’re not doing IB, these kinds of experiences help students grow into a more thoughtful, capable, and compassionate person. They also create real and impactful experiences to discuss in future university application essays!
Why Travel Matters
Travel doesn’t just take you somewhere new; it helps you discover what excites you, unlocks skills you never knew you had, lets you push past your self-imposed limits and build real-world skills you’ll use for life. You come home with more than photos. You come back with stories, confidence, friendships, and a whole new perspective.
Transformative travel is where learning becomes real, raw, and unforgettable. It’s about curiosity that takes you further, courage that helps you grow, and community that reminds you we’re all connected.
If you’d like to learn more about our tours, you can view a selection of our standard itineraries here. Alternatively, you can reach out to our team by form, phone, live chat, or email.
