Travel - the Greatest Educator of All!

"One World - One heart - Lets get together and feel alright!"

Educational travel for youth is one of the fastest growing segments of the tourism industry. This at a time when our world and societies are changing faster than ever before. Fortunately, the new learning opportunities educational travel presents are helping students face our rapidly changing world.

Students need such opportunity. Consider the rate of change in technical knowledge. It is estimated that it will double within the next 5 years! This means that for a university student in the first year of a four-year engineer program, much of what they learn today will be out-of-date by the time they graduate.

Fordham University students assist community development project in rural Thailand

How then do we prepare students for jobs that do not yet exist, using technology still to be invented through knowledge waiting to be discovered?

Graham Harper, North by North East Communications Facilitator and Trustee of EON Education Foundation (www.eonfoundation.org), sees part of the solution in calming the mind to see life through the eyes of another.

“Buddhist philosophy teaches that a calm mind is better able to achieve peace and happiness. Happiness is not achieved through the technical world but through a mindfulness of others” Graham says. “Technology though is changing how we communicate and experience our world. Even in small communities along the Mekong River, G3 mobiles and high speed Internet are available. The Internet is wonderful – but we still need to live and learn with others.”

When we travel in a meaningful way we see life through the eyes of others!

Seeing life from another’s perspective while creating a strong foundation for coping with change is very much what Educational Travel Projects achieve. These hands-on, results-oriented, youth service programs bring learning to life by allowing international students to live, learn and interact with youth in rural Mekong communities! They combine sightseeing, volunteer work, academic field studies, leadership training, outdoor education, cultural exchange and more!

Erin Pedersen, a Canadian high school student in a Global Perspectives program experienced this! She writes of her travels to northern Laos with her classmates to build a one-room school “I truly felt blessed and grateful that these wonderful people had allowed us into their lives and culture so freely. Although we left them with a school and some washrooms, they left us with so much more in our hearts. I could not believe that these wonderful people were thanking me; I felt as though I should be thanking them for everything they'd given me.”

What at first may seem strange and even a little scary we learn to understand and respect in new ways.

Experiencing life from a different perspective through cultural exchange and community-service is now an integral part of school curricula the world over. At a time when the pace of technical change is pushing students to adapt faster than ever before, educators are increasingly reminded, it is the human contact and mindfulness of others that brings our deepest satisfaction and most powerful learning.

It is no small wonder then, that when all else seems to change, meaningful travel remains constant as the greatest educator of all.

For more information on educational travel opportunities in the mighty Mekong River region please contact:

North by North East Travel Services
Tel: +66 (0) 4251 3572
Fax:+66 (0) 4251 3573
e-mail: info@ north-by-north-east.com
Web site: www.north-by-north-east.com