A Distinctive Learning Experience
At OI Trips, we are firmly committed to distinguishing educational travel from that of a vacation. Based on our experience as educators, we understand that this does not happen by chance. Rather, we support schools with the tools and resources to bring to fruition what they hope to accomplish by providing trips to their student body. While OI Trips partner schools are ultimately responsible for the academic development, preparation, and follow up for their travelers, we can provide support and guidance in the following areas:
Emphasis on biblical world view
As followers of Jesus, the manner in which we approach travel begins from a different starting point than most travel companies. This lens allows us to partner with Christian schools and curate itineraries that connect to their curriculum while accentuating the sovereignty of God throughout time and space in Western civilization. As a result, though school groups will visit iconic sites, we first prioritize holistic experiences, such as linking sacrifice with the beaches of Normandy, or juxtaposing the commercialism of Venice with a contemplative journey through a monumental garden. In addition, we also like to arrange for groups to join local believers in corporate worship while abroad. Combined, these unique encounters tune the traveler’s heart to more intimately know God and his people beyond a student’s experience at home, and what it means to live a life in Christ for those in different cultures and contexts.
Socratic Discussions
Students are accustomed to learning in community by engaging with their peers in thought-provoking discussion. In an effort to extend such an environment during travel, we prefer for our groups to spend a portion of their stay in a chaperoned communal residence. (This sounds boring, but typically means more of a chateau rather than a dorm.)
This setting provides invaluable moments for students to join in the Great Conversation, as well as the opportunity to enjoy the sweet moments of a shared meal and group camaraderie. This all contributes to the enrichment of the traveler’s perspective, so that they may more fully come to appreciate what is good, true and beautiful.
Post travel orientation
As amazing as their experience abroad will be, for transformation to take place for the student, their new insight must be reintegrated into their daily life; otherwise, time spent abroad remains a romanticized, singular event. Therefore, OI Trips can work with faculty upon the group’s return to challenge the group to consider how their growth makes a conscious step toward becoming more fully developed humans, and generating a positive impact to pass along to their family, school, city, and beyond.
FAQs
Tour details
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While we can help you plan a great academic itinerary anywhere in the world, our 15 years of experience has been primarily in Western Europe, where we have personally lived and traveled with education groups. We have spent years finding the best tourist spots with academic purpose and the hidden gems in this region of the world that best compliment bring learning to life.
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Most tours are nine nights 10 days +1 overnight flight stop. However, if you need an itinerary to fit a different time frame, we can do everything from a long weekend up to a three-month tour.
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A traveler will sign up with their school. Schools will partner with an OI Trips travel guide. A representative from the school will work with the travel guide to plan out all the details of the trip. All that a student participant needs to do is sign up with their school contact and secure their spot with the required deposit. All payments are made to your school.
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Passports are mandatory for every traveler. Some destinations require up to 6 months validity even after the tour ends. This means that if your passport is expiring within six months of your return, then you may need to renew your passport before you travel from WhatsApp weather or not, you need to renew your passport check this website for all the details about applying for a new passport, renewing a passport and traveling abroad.
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Students will share private rooms with other students from their school, have the same gender according to their passports. In the event that there are an odd number of students and a triple room cannot be provided, one student may need to stay in a single private room adjacent to the rest of the group. We will work with your school’s representative to ensure we comply with your school's standards. Rooming lists are ultimately decided by your school’s representative.
Financial
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Unless stated otherwise, prices include a round-trip flight, all ticket, transportation and accommodation included on the official itinerary. Price also includes two meals a day.
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Each day, students will purchase one meal for themselves while the group is out. (This is typically lunch.) We recommend $15 per day for this meal.
Often students and faculty want to see additional sites and enjoy additional things to do that are not listed on the official itinerary, and should budget accordingly for these extras.
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We recommend that students work with their school representative to understand what resources may be available within their school community. There are sometimes donations, scholarships or group fundraising opportunities to help with educational travel experiences.
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The payment schedule will be set by your school. Usually, the payment schedule includes an initial nonrefundable deposit, followed by a 50% payment of the remaining balance, and then one final payment of the remaining balance. Please note that all payments are nonrefundable. Final payment is typically due eight weeks before departure.
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Please note that all payments are nonrefundable. However, we will do our best to find a replacement for your spot by working with your school representative and our vendors. In the event that we can find a replacement, we will refund you as much as possible. However, a full refund may not be available as some bookings made on a participants behalf will be non-transferable.
Safety
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We will work with your school representative to ensure there are enough chaperones to ensure your safety. We recommend one chaperone for every nine students. Your school appointed chaperones are responsible for your safety. However, they have access to OI Trips resources. These resources specialize health and safety for students traveling abroad.
Your school’s OI Trips representative will work with your school to provide a pre-departure health and safety orientation.
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While we do not offer trip insurance directly, we are happy to pass along recommendations for your school. We highly encourage this for your trip.
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The world is ever-changing- at home and abroad. We adapt our itineraries to respond to those changes to insure your well being while on an OI Trip.
We follow the State Department’s guidance for each country. Our goal is for you to enjoy and learn about the country you’re visiting, therefore, we will not send you anywhere that puts that at risk.
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Fortunately, these don’t happen often while abroad. However, when they do, your trip leader will have an emergency medical contact to get you the care that you need quickly. Care will be provided according to the nature of the emergency. Please note: there may be additional financial costs involved for such emergencies. Most travel insurance policies will cover the cost of such medical emergencies. For this reason, we highly recommend purchasing a policy for your trip.
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In the event of a crisis, OI Trips will follow the States Departments guidance. If this happens before departure, trips may be postponed or rerouted to a new itinerary in a new location. If the crisis happens while abroad, the trip leader will have a safety and security contact in order to arrange the best response. Most travel insurance policies will reimburse for these expenses incurred under these circumstances. With many years of experience, we can also offer that most trips don’t experience these sort of extreme exceptional circumstances.