Classic Europe Experience

The Classic Europe trip is a great way to see the sites of cities such as London, Paris, Rome, and Athens and also get a taste of what the different cultures of the four countries have to offer. It's ideal for those who have never traveled abroad and for those who are seasoned travelers.

I went on the Classic Europe trip in 2005, when I was a sophomore at the University of Iowa. Our group was a great mixture of students from the University of Iowa (about 23 or so), Penn State University, and other colleges with one or two travelers. Our total travel group was about 60 people. We had so many people that we were technically two groups traveling together. This was nice because we had two wonderful tour guides, Karin and Freidel. Another great thing about the group was the range of ages. The majority of the group were seniors who had just graduated from college but there was also a mixture of current students and younger alumni who took the trip. Overall the group was very friendly and inviting. Even though we were a large group, being in a foreign country and having the common background of being (mostly) students or past students from a Big Ten University was a great bonding opportunity. I traveled without a roommate and was matched with another traveler. This worked out great and I would recommend to anyone who wants to go, but doesn't have any friends who can go on the trip, to register as a single traveler and request the tour company to match you with a roommate.

I had never traveled abroad before and was a little apprehensive about traveling to countries where I did not speak the language. Thankfully, our tour guides were great about teaching us a few phrases that we would need to know in order to get around. I was surprised at how you could get by knowing so little of a language. Simple phrases like hello, thank you, excuse me, please, good bye, and "Do you speak English?" (I will go further into my experience with this phrase in a blog later on) can be all that you need. In most countries, the younger population could speak English and those who do not speak English are generally very willing to put together what you know of their language and what they know of English to help you out.

To me, the trip is a perfect balance of just enough time in each city to not only see the famous sites, but to also get a taste of the culture of that country. On the trip, you have a tour guide who is with you the whole time and is a great resource in finding out what you should see, how to get there, where you can get delicious (and inexpensive) food, where to find the best souvenirs, etc. They also can help you out with giving you pointers about the cultures (taboos that you might not know about), some words of the language to know, and answer any questions you might have. There also was a city guide for each new city we went to. The city guides were typically locals who took us around to see all of the highlights of the city (Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower in Paris, for example) and gave us a great introduction to their hometowns.

I would reccomend the experience of traveling abroad to everyone! It's a great way to open your mind to the global community. Being in another country where my language was not predominate as well as the first hand experinences you gain spending time in a foreign country, changed my perspective on how I see myself as a global citizen.

For more information on the trip that I went on, feel free to contact us or if you are a University of Iowa Junior or Senior... stay tuned to your mailbox. Brochures should be dropping at your home address in the next week. Perfect timing for giving hints for a holiday gift/graduation present of Iowa Voyager's gift certificates which can be used towards our student and young alumni trips! Wait are you waiting for? You should start packing your bags!!

Chelsea