Travel club returns from adventure in Europe
Teacher Mrs. Dryer takes a group selfie with members travel club at Stonehenge, England.
Oct 11, 2017
This past summer the travel club took a trip to Europe. The trip included countries such as Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, and France while making many memories along the way.
“The trip was amazing,” said Senior Madelyn Miller. “I’ve been to Europe before, but never this far west.”
This was Miller’s second trip to Europe, and first trip with the travel club.
“It was refreshing to be in a place that was so foreign and yet so familiar in a manner of language and history,” said Miller.
Miller says she was first told about the trip by a friend.
“(My friend) was actually the one who convinced me this trip might be a fun idea for summer vacation’” said Miller. “I figured my mom would never agree, but I asked if she was interested and she immediately began researching and signed us up soon after.”
The person in charge of the travel club is teacher Mrs. Elizabeth Hoffbauer. Hoffbauer first went to Europe when she was 15 on a trip with her high school Spanish teacher. Together, they toured Spain and learned about the culture.
It was this trip that inspired Hoffbauer to share her passion of traveling and start a travel club to take students around the world.
“Somebody did it for me, and I felt an obligation to do it for others” said Hoffbauer.
She started the club when she took a group of students to Costa Rica in 2015. This year the travel club chose to tour Europe because it was on many people’s bucket lists.
“[My family] had always dreamed of taking a family trip to the U.K.” said Miller. “I already had a pretty sound knowledge of the particular European cultures we would be exploring, but the immersion provided on the trip was exhilarating.”
The trip was not only fun for Miller, but educational as well.
“The United States often sees itself as a lone wolf -the sole target for terror and violence- while that’s simply not true,” said Miller. “Seeing Parisians and the citizens of London band together in the wake of a multitude of similar attacks on their security and livelihood was a priceless experience, and helped me realize that we are not alone in this fight against those who threaten us.”
This trip was many people’s first time visiting Europe, but not Hoffbauer’s. Since her first trip to Spain, she has visited Europe many times after.
“This was my sixth or seventh time to Europe” said Hoffbauer.
Although she had been to Europe before, she was still able to try new things this time around, like haggis (Scottish food) and riding the London Eye.
“I would certainly recommend taking a trip with the Northwest Travel Club,” said Miller. “As anyone who has vacationed before knows, it’s difficult to plan all the logistics of your trip alone. The tour company does all that work for you, and will never leave you stranded.”
The next travel club trip will be in the summer of 2019. They will tour Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii. See Mrs. Hofbauer or Ms. Dryer for more information.
