An open letter to parents from a Troop Leader

The next guest writer is a very experienced Girl Scout Traveler. Marah Walsh is a Girl Scout Leader and an EF Group Leader. Girl Scouts and Travel go hand-and-hand for her. In this letter she addresses the current situation and how we can still prepare ourselves for travel, even during quarantine.

An Open Letter to parents from a Troop Leader:

Life is a Journey 

OK, so you may be laughing to yourself at the Bitmoji graphic in this post and thinking, ‘that is so middle-aged woman of you to use that image’. Yes, it is! Because that is who I am, and I embrace it. Many of us middle-aged women use these silly images to grab people’s attention, share our feelings, and make each other laugh. (Let’s hope it has grabbed your attention enough to continue reading.)

We are going through some crazy times right now. The likes of which we’ve never experienced. I know you’ve had to postpone summer plans, cancel important celebrations and rebook your daughter’s trip of a lifetime.  I’m here to say, hang in there. As the saying goes, we are all in this together! Travel is worth the wait. This time next year, your daughters will be preparing for an experience that will change them forever.

Whether you are a Bitmoji kind of gal or not, what I know is that every one of us has a unique journey in life and we learn so much about ourselves along the way. And if we’re super lucky, we learn from our experiences, grow into better people, and share ourselves so others benefit from our knowledge. And I truly believe that travel is a very important part of this journey, especially for young women.

A bit about myself. 

My name is Marah Walsh and I am the daughter of a teacher who grew up poor in finances but rich in learning. My mom taught English her whole life. She shared her love of literature and places near and far. She was fortunate to chaperone a trip to Paris for her students. The concept of her going to Paris seemed

so surreal to me, but made me realize the possibilities of seeing more of the world than I knew. I was fortunate to go to a college with one of the strongest study abroad programs at the time. I studied abroad in London England, and I got to travel all over Europe. This experience changed me forever.

The three things I cherish most in life are family, my involvement with Girl Scouts and traveling. My family is #1 in my life and I love to spend time with them. When I think about the times I cherish most, it’s usually the times where we sideline our responsibilities and just enjoy the moment and each other.

Understanding how fortunate I am has helped me grow into the kind of person who gets more joy out of making people happy and helping others. So I volunteer. Girl Scouts has allowed me to mentor and lead girls to discover their greatest potential. I’m able to provide opportunities to get involved with things that the girls would not likely do on their own, one of the most meaningful being the experience of international travel. Girl Scouting and travel share a lot of the same growth values and opportunities. So it is only natural that I combine two of my greatest passions and travel with Girl Scouts. Since EF Tours has a program designed specifically for girls, it has allowed me to expose our Girl Scouts, their families and friends to so many new experiences.

The impact of travel.

I love to see the excitement of exploration through the girls’ eyes. Travel enables them to embrace differences and expand their minds. They often find themselves trying different foods that they don’t eat at home, talking to strangers – whether it’s simply asking for directions or striking up a conversation about the way they do things – and even experiencing new things like how lights turn on, how air conditioning works, and what that funny second toilet is in the hotel room. These are all valuable experiences that allow the girls to get outside of their comfort zone and become more flexible with their own views and in their lives.

On our tours, we gladly immerse ourselves in diverse cultures and take great pride in giving back and volunteering. We learn about different places, cultures and the world’s history. We learn to appreciate the conveniences we have as Americans. Being able to have these face-to-face and hands-on experiences when traveling helps the girls develop who they are as young women and makes a lasting impact on their personal journey.

The most difficult thing about traveling is usually coming home. It’s difficult to get back to everyday life full of schedules and routine. But what is more difficult, is remembering to unpack our experiences and lessons learned from our suitcase and apply them to our everyday life. Allowing our physical journey of our travels to impact our personal journey is essential to becoming better people.

Travel lessons to bring into everyday life:

• Keep your minds open – realize it’s ok for people to have different opinions.

• Try new things – eat the food that you don’t recognize, order something new at a restaurant.

• Get lost – go for a ride with friends or family and have no destination.

• Engage with people who are different than you – stop and talk to someone that you think you may be able to learn something from.

• Help people – find out what organizations around you need help and step up.

• Get outside your comfort zone – message someone on your social media list and ask them how they’re doing.

• Be appreciative – understand and acknowledge the conveniences of home.

• Look out … not in. There’s so much out there to offer each of us!

Our girls are so fortunate to have the opportunity to travel safely with EF Tours for Girls on life changing adventures allowing them to navigate outside of their comfort zone discovering more about themselves while making amazing memories. As a Girl Scout leader and EF Group Leader, I am so grateful to see girls expand

their minds and develop a global perspective. Knowing that the physical journey of their travel experience influences who they are and leaves lasting impressions on their life’s journey is invaluable and that is why I encourage you and your girls to jump at the opportunity to travel with EF.