Davena, French teacher
For Davena, travel and education go hand in hand. Her first trip to France was a two-year stay with her university’s exchange program, which inspired her career as a French teacher. So when it came to sharing her love of French culture as an educator, taking her students to France was almost a given.
“You can’t truly understand the culture without going there,” says Davena, who credits her affinity for all things French to living with a local family during her university exchange. As such, she couldn’t imagine an educational tour to France without a home-stay—not exactly a standard component on most student tours.
“My predecessor designed and organized the trips herself,” Davena explains, “but the thought of being responsible for all the planning and logistics for a group was really scary to me.” After a false start with another company, Davena found Explorica. “The pricing was better, and my program consultant made it easy to work in a home-stay in the middle of the tour.”
Davena’s trips begin like most Explorica tours, touring French cities and staying in hotels. “Then we stop in Savenay, the town of our sister high school, and spend three to five days living with local families.” Davena’s students accompany their hosts to school, attend classes, and go out on the weekends. “It makes the tour for my students,” says Davena, “and we couldn’t do it without Explorica’s flexibility. The competitive pricing makes the trip possible—no other company would work with us on that—and the tour directors are incredible. They’re great about suggesting additional freebies they think the kids will like. And they always do. It’s wonderful to have such a unique, customized experience, without having to worry about all the details.”
To start planning a customized tour like this one visit explorica.com/customize or call 1.888.310.7120.