Lakefield College School Alumni Teaches Kids How To Travel
by Agnes
SUBMITTED BY: EVAN HADFIELD. LAKEFIELD COLLEGE SCHOOL ALUMNI AND FOUNDER OF BIG BROTHER BACKPACKING.
When I was a student at Lakefield College School , I was a dreamer. I would spend my days dreaming about anything and everything — the future, the arrival of summer, the girl sitting next to met in math class, but most of all, traveling. I effectively spent a majority of my time thinking about how I wanted my life, and my education, to work for me and allow me the future I desired. I wanted to see every country, take in every sunset, and climb every mountain. I wanted to have the whole world feel my feet — not on some all-expenses vacation, and not under the wheels of a tour bus. I wanted to do it, and I wanted the world to open up to allow it for me.
The thing with dreams, however, is that they’re generally yours and yours alone. No matter how much I searched during high school, I never found a way to actually learn from traveling. Every company I found tried to offer the cheapest and least educational opportunities. I found hundreds of companies offering tour buses that only stopped at ‘postcard’ sites. I found many opportunities to go on exchange and live in another country, thereby attempting to recreate home in a foreign environment. I found bike tours, adventure tours, eco tours and all the rest. But, what I never found was a way to actually learn how to travel – or learn from it. I never found anyone willing to offer their students the reigns, or show them what goes on behind the scenes. I never found anyone willing to tell me it was my adventure, not just another tour with their program. My biggest dream during high school was to learn to travel, and I never found anyone willing to abide.
Today, I have decided to pursue my dream for the sake of the next generation of travelers. I want to help those who wish to learn to plan their own tours, stop where and when they want, and actually gain knowledge from their time abroad. The culmination of my efforts, Big Brother Backpacking, gives the travel back to the travelers. We focus on more than just touring Europe, and by educating the students in a hands-on way we make sure that nobody walks away with just postcards.
Big Brother Backpacking goes about travel in a different way. There are no set tours, and beyond the arrival and departure, there is no set schedule. Our guides serve as the experience, the safety, and the teacher. Our students provide the inspiration, the destinations, and the desire. By allowing our students to determine their own trips, we provide a real-world environment where leadership, personal determination, and project planning are fostered. Simply through their participation, our students are given lessons in the tenants of travel — geography, geology, math, time management, meteorology, sportsmanship, physical education and more. At Big Brother Backpacking our goal is education, but our backdrop is the world.
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