Osaka. Paris. Madrid. Once the destination has been named, students wait with bated breath for the day of arrival. There is an air of spectacular rawness to even an excursion to a place you may have visited countless times, simply because you know it will all be different with your class by your side.
The final place can loom so large that the passage there holds microscopic importance by comparison. Greece, Turkey, South Africa – how can the journey mean more than the destination when these exotic places await? Yet, whether you travel by rail, air, road, water, or a combination of these, it is vital to heed travel trips so when you arrive, you can make the most of your time.
Pack well
Some people are naturally meticulous, while others are frenzied. Students, when packing for school trips, could be either! But whether you pack days before departure or at the last minute, it is important to make sure that all your belongings not only match your eventual destination but also your means of conveyance. Students need to be aware of weight restrictions to luggage, various customs rules at borders, and the dangers of damaging or losing valuable items on the way.
Understand the distance
Faraway places look and sound exotic on the map, but this distance can be far less thrilling when you are stuck in a stuffy train carriage, swaying on tumultuous seas or enduring a headache on a long flight. Students on school trips need to be realistic about the demands on the route, especially if they are not expert travellers. They need to be made aware of the importance of rest and hydration during the course of their voyage so that they arrive without too great a degree of exhaustion.
Prepare for sickness
A sobering cousin of exhaustion is travel sickness. Jet lag, seasickness, travel bugs, and the like can be the bugbear of those on school trips. It is routine to consider the health risks of your exotic destination, but have you measured up the problems that can arise when you are on the plane to New York, the train to Normandy or the bus to York? Students need to not only pack the adequate medication to prepare for potential travel sickness, they need also be aware of their personal weaknesses and make sure in their excitement they do not forgo proper precautionary rest.
Don’t lag behind
No matter how organised teachers and supervisors may be, there may well be moments on school trips when travel becomes a rushed and breakneck time. Bags will be frantically pawed through in search of elusive tickets, lines will be hastily formed, students who were accounted for just seconds ago will drift away from wide-eyed and desperate teachers. It can seem like a game to students, but there is a need to understand that lagging behind can have serious consequence if departure times are missed.