In the summer of my sophomore year of high school, I took a trip to New York City with my school’s theatre department. There were a lot of firsts: it was one of my first times on a plane, my first experience traveling without my family, my first Broadway show, and my first time in a hotel room sans adults. I thought this was pretty much the most fun I had ever had, made sweeter by the fact that all my best friends came along, as did one of my favorite teachers. We oohed and ahhed through Wicked and Lion King and Phantom of the Opera, we got up early to wait in line for cheap rush tickets to a show, and we took a million pictures with our digital cameras on a walk through Central Park. Looking back with adult hindsight, I realize that trip was a ton of work for our teacher leaders. They had to manage subway rides, individual tickets to shows for dozens of students, and getting us in and out of restaurants with minimal chaos. But as a teenager, none of that registered. I got to experience all of my “firsts” and bond with my friends and make memories without any of the stress. 

Almost twenty years later, that teacher I loved and who travelled with us still works at my old high school. And it turns out I do, too! Brian Karsten and I have been coworkers now for many years, and he still gets excited about travelling with students. In fact, he now manages a program at our school called Winterim that gives students the opportunity to travel all over the world. Check out his article in this issue to read his version of our New York Trip together and learn about the benefits and pitfalls of international student travel.

Or, take a bike trip and learn about American history with Christian Altena. Or, learn how a school in British Columbia is committed to offering overnight travel opportunities as an extension of the learning students do in the classroom (Chris Steenhof); or, read a first-hand experience of one of those trips from its leaders and students (Jonathan Boone and Tara Corneau). Maybe you’re not up for an overnight trip, but would like to have your students experience religious traditions different from their own—Heather Birch and Kristen Goodman have some tips. Or maybe you’ll be drawn to the last two articles of this issue, where we hear from two people who are writing from the perspective of field trip and travel hosts (Dan Meester and Sarah Bokma). 

Wherever you choose to read in this issue, we hope you’re inspired to get out of your classroom and into God’s great big, beautiful world.