EF Tours are student and adult trips all over the world that are offered at the lowest possible price. In past years the RCHS EF group has only been on summer break trips. They have been to Japan, Ireland and England, and Greece and Italy. But this year, there is the option for a spring break trip, too. On April 5-12, nine students and parents along with two teacher chaperones will be going to Italy.
English teacher Stephanie Brooks is an EF teacher chaperone and helps plan the trip. She talks about places they will be visiting.
“We are traveling to three cities: Venice, Florence, & Rome. In Venice,
we are going to ride a gondola and visit Burano & Murano islands. In Florence, we are seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Basilica of Santa Croce. In Rome, we will visit the Vatican City and the Colosseum. Obviously, there are a lot of other things on the itinerary, but these are the highlights!” Brooks said.
Normally, EF Tours are only over the summer, but this year is the first time they are taking a trip over spring break. Brooks describes what made them decide to also offer a Spring Break trip.
“We decided to start offering a Spring Break tour in order to offer more affordable travel opportunities to students. Spring Break tours are less costly than summer tours and make travel approachable to more students,” Brooks said.
Although there are not many differences between the summer trip and the Spring Break trip, Brooks describes the main two distinctions.
“There are only two key differences: Spring Break is more affordable and Spring Break is shorter. We typically offer 10-15 day summer tours whereas Spring Break will be 7-8 days. Another bonus is: Spring Break is far less hot in Europe than it is during the summer. Italy in the summer runs an average of 85-90 degrees whereas the typical spring temperature is 65-75 degrees,” Brooks said.
Chemistry teacher Zachary Rhodenizer is the second EF teacher chaperone. He talks about why he is looking forward to traveling to Italy.
“Italy is always a great place to go – the people are friendly, the coffee and food are both excellent, and the weather has always been nice on the trips I have been on to Italy before. It is a great country to visit, no matter if you are a first time traveler or a well seasoned veteran,” Rhodenizer said.
The group going to the Spring Break trip is a lot smaller than the normal with only nine students and parents. Senior Maisen McKemy is one of the students that is
going on the trip. She explains what made her decide to go to Italy over Spring Break.
“I love to travel and have always wanted to go to Italy. I’m very excited to be going on this trip, especially with one of my friends. I feel like this is a great way to end my high school experience,” McKemy said.
Traveling takes a lot of preparation. McKemy then shares what she has been doing to prepare for the trip.
“For this trip I have had to search for a carry-on/personal bag that will fit on the plane, convert my money into euros, buy all the packing necessities like vacuum seal bags (I am definitely an overpacker) and a converter so that I can charge my phone. I am figuring out how to purchase an international phone plan, and also getting a temporary travel card so I can pay for things as well,” McKemy said.
This trip is a great way for students to be able to travel the world. EF also has a trip planned for Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii this summer along with countless opportunities for students to travel in upcoming years. If students are interested in going on a trip in the future, they should contact Stephanie Brooks or Zachary Rhodenizer.
