Travels

I am incredibly passionate about using travel as a way to unlock a global perspective and gain a greater understanding of culture, language and relationships. I have traveled throughout the Americas and Europe to 35 countries. While I have spent significantly more time in some countries over others, I am always looking to gain a deep insight into the cities and towns I travel to.

Professional Travel

So far, I have chaperoned 4 trips with my students: Chicago, Quebec City, Spain and Costa Rica all affiliated with Mt. Mercy in Buffalo, NY.

The trips to Chicago and Quebec City allowed me to gain experience in chaperoning high school students. The trip to Chicago was a Senior Trip, more about the experience than gaining an educational outcome. However, the final three trips had a language and culture focus. After helping with the trip to Quebec City, I learned about what was successful and what needed to be adjusted for the next foreign language trip.

My mentor and colleague, Elizabeth Knittel, and I decided that we would plan the next foreign language trip. Because the previous year, there was a trip to Italy through the social studies department, we decided to start with a Spanish speaking trip. Miss Knittel had previously taught in Oviedo, Spain so we focused on Northern Spain. We decided we wanted students to have exposure to as many cities as we could, while maintaining the integrity of the cultural exposure. the final itinerary included Madrid, Segovia, Burgos, San Sebastien, Pamplona, Bilbao, and Barcelona.

Team Turner in San Sebastien

Before we went on our trip, Miss Knittel and I attended a weekend conference in London, England to learn best practices for educational travel. During the 4 day excursion, we got to experience and Explorica trip as well as hear from experienced teachers who gave us tips and tricks to stay organized during the process. Because of this trip, we decided to spend a lot of time preparing our 19 students to travel through after school meetings. Although language and culture was the focus of the trip, we wanted our students to gain real world skills in international travel. We also divided students into teams so we could focus on fewer students and gain better insights to the needs and interests of each student. Team Turner ended up forming long-term friendships and spending a lot of time together throughout the trip. I still mentor several members of Team Turner who are now interested in planning their own international excursions.

Click here to see our introduction Power Point to our trip.

Click here to see the curated materials that we developed for our students to have the most enriching experience including an application, code of conduct, medical form, meeting minutes and notes, safety information and a thank you letter to students.

Students reacting to me holding a street cat near Monteverde

After I left my job at Mount Mercy, Miss Knittel decided to plan another trip to Costa Rica. After there were not enough chaperones to help with the 22 students she was taking, she asked me if I would be willing to come along. She consulted with the administration, parents, and students and there were no concerns raised about a former teacher acting as a chaperone. I attended all the after-school meetings to prepare the students and to reaquaint myself with some students who I had not seen in a year.

Straggler Caeley and I riding horses

As soon as we left for the trip to Costa Rica there was immediately an unexpected issue. 5 students were bumped from the flight against their will. After having a quick airport chaperone meeting, we decided that I should be the chaperone to stay behind thanks to my Spanish Language skills and knowledge of Central and South America. After almost 24 hours of travel, an in-flight emergency, and several phone calls to parents, the "stragglers" and I finally landed in San Jose, Costa Rica. Again, the straggler group became like a little family. Here was a letter they wrote to me in thanks.

The rest of the trip was amazing. We enjoyed hiked near the Arenal volcano and even enjoyed some hot springs nearby. We went to a cloud forest near Monteverde and rode horses. We visited a local school, where I made the sweet friend Diego pictured above. We made our way to the coast and met some local animals in Manuel Antonio park. Finally, we made our way to Sarchi and San Jose for a folk night. Feel free to take a peek at our official tour diary!

Miss Knittel and I in Lake Arenal

I am once again so thankful that I was able to travel with students and have to thank Miss Knittel for inviting me to continue amassing knowledge about chaperoning. Frankly, there were many challenges on this trip, from students getting sick and injured (one even needed stiches) to picky eaters to the flight cancellation - I learned so much on this trip!

Personal Travel:

I have been to over 35 countries in Europe, North America and South America. I am so passionate about all aspects of travelling from planning, to using public transport to immersing myself in other cultures. It is so hard for me to pick my favorite places because I always find people and experiences that are breathtaking to me. I am always looking forward to the next foreign experience. I feel like travelling brings me so much personal growth and helps me to realize the importance of educating myself in order to be a better teacher.