What if you got to go to our nation's capital with a school group or a large family group? Well, WorldStrides is an educational travel agency with which my school recently booked a trip. It may be the company for which you are looking, but here are a few tips to make your trip more enjoyable.
First, you have to be careful about your hotel choices. Some hotels may look nice, but the service or capacity may not be the best choice for large groups from WorldStrides. This basically means that the hotel staff may not be prepared to take in large groups. You have to look a step farther than ratings to choose a hotel room.
Next, the food may be very difficult to plan . Make sure you or WorldStrides plans ahead of time. For example, know someone that went to the place or just make reservations. If you have any feeling that the restaurant may not be able to hold your whole group, than it really won't work out.
The buses will be no problem. The company already has bus drivers that work really well with kids and they make transportation at times the best part of the trip. The only thing is the prices may vary from low to high. I don't know the actual price range, but, the price on buses solely depends on the bus system decides to use. If you want a coach, it may be a great idea for larger groups, but it takes a lot of planning and costs a lot more. Overall, buses shouldn't be a problem.
Next, sometimes, you have to be on a tight schedule. With WorldStrides, you are always on one. If you want that, than WorldStrides is the good choice for you. If not, you may really struggle with this company.
Make sure everything is all planned and final. If you don't, it may make things difficult and especially hard to change. For example, if you choose to change the memorial you plan to go to, you have to change nearly everything else too. Make sure all plans are final and everything. is planned tightly.
Make sure everyone going on the trip knows that you have a tour guide and that you may learn something on the trip. The company makes it as educational as possible and make sure it gets stuck in your head. If your group of kids already knows all there is to know about all the monuments and memorials, WorldStrides isn't right for you. If not, then this company may be right for you!
Next, make sure you don't just have chaperones, but you also have ones that know what they are doing. If they don't know what to do with the kids when they don't behave or make a mistake, this will make it very hard for the kids to enjoy themselves. Sometimes, the kids just need time to themselves. WorldStrides handles kids very well under these circumstances.
Next, the tour guides are great. There are a few things you may want to be made aware of prior to making reservations with the company. First of all, all tour guides are native to Washington, D.C. They know the area well and this gives them the ability to be able to answer questions and get around without incident. They do rush things, though. You have to be prepared for that. Overall, they know where everything is and will have fun with all the kids. The tour guides are a plus when considering WorldStrides.
If a lot of the kids went to Washington, D.C. before, they may get bored easily and think they know everything they are being taught. That being said, make sure that the kids have a little bit of knowledge ahead of time. Elementary kids may not understand everything or even know what everything is. In this case, planning on your own may be necessary. Most kids will have a great time.
When traveling with this company, you can expect a comfortable and enjoyable trip. Overall, WorldStrides is a great company for most teens specifically. To conclude, WorldStrides is a great company for educational field trips. If you don't want to go to DC, they have other options, too, where your group may travel. It is well worth it.
The author is an eighth grade student at Torrington Middle School, whose class recently returned from a class trip to Washington, D.C.
Photo by Gunther Gundlach
