Traveling; More than Just Vacations

Pictured: me at school in India

A Bit About Myself

First, I just wanted to open by sharing a bit about myself. My name is Aurora Reardanz; I am a lifetime Girl Scout and have been a scout for fourteen years. I have served as a girl member, a volunteer, and a seasonal employee in two councils. Currently, I am a senior in college. I am set to graduate with my Bachelor's in International Relations and Nonprofit Administration with a double minor in Asian Studies and Economics this spring. I then plan to finish my 4+1 Master's in Global Interaction by the Spring of 2022.

I have traveled with Girl Scouts to Salt Lake City, Utah, for my role as a national delegate. Also, Girl Scouts has afforded me the opportunities to go on countless local trips. Specifically, through Girl Scouts of Central Maryland's Travel Pathways, I have traveled to Savannah, Georgia (First Headquarters), Los Angeles and Hollywood, California, England (Pax Lodge), Switzerland (Our Chalet and Kandersteg), Austria, and Germany. Then not through scouts—but instead a mixture of personaland academic travel internationally—I have also been to the Grand Cayman, France, Canada, Vietnam, Mexico, and India.

I owe so many things in my life today to my experience in Girl Scouts. Girl Scouts and travel formed my academic path but also my values and what I picture as my ideal life. I know sometimes traveling is framed as a faraway dream. However, know that there are a plethora of ways to see the world, travel does not have to be only for vacation.

How I Fell in Love with the World Around Me

My first trip abroad was in London, England. I was fourteen when after two years of fundraising, I traveled with the Girl Scouts to one of the WAGGGS world centers—Pax Lodge—and the WINGS 2014 international jamboree. I would recommend going to an international scouting event for any young scout given the opportunity. Never in my life have I been able to interact with so many people from such diverse cultures all in one place. This experience sparked my curiosity.

After ninth grade, my love to travel snowballed as I found more and more ways to explore the world.In my junior year, I had the privilege of going on a school trip to Vietnam. There I experienced a moment of human compassion I will never forget. I also got to see history from a new point of view learning how complex world events truly are. Being a visitor in a culture completely different than my own cemented the love I have for traveling that was first formed in England.  

What Travel Has Given Me

Through traveling, you will learn so much about yourself, the world around you, and sometimes life itself.

• I traveled to Paris alone at age eighteen. There I practiced a language I had only ever heard in a classroom. Traveling alone taught me that with a few deep breaths, any problem can be solved, and I was so much more capable than I knew.

• In Switzerland, with Girl Scouts, I summited my first mountain.

• While in Vietnam, my group visited an orphanage. One of the students on the trip was adopted from the orphanage. He had not stepped foot in the country since. Seeing him embraced by the workers on-site is a moment of human compassion that will never leave me.

• Also, in Vietnam, we went to many sites related to the Vietnam War, which showed me in action how a government shapes a society's historical memory and perception of world events. I saw photos of John McCain in the Hanoi Hilton (a war prison) that showed him being treated for wounds as American soldiers played with cats. However, we know the egregious torture that McCain endured as a prisoner of war. Inversely, we went to a museum that showcased the use and the long-term effects of Agent Orange (a tool of chemical warfare) employed by the United States against the Vietnamese. Agent Orange was cruel, and its consequences were heartbreaking to see. Through Vietnam, I learned that there is no one objective history, reality, or experience.

• When I was seventeen in Mexico, I saw how important it is to let your life speak as a role model for others. My friends (of mixed genders) and I played soccer with a group of local boys. A young girl of about seven wanted to play with us. We were told later by our teacher that girls are never allowed to play sports with the boys. She only dared to ask after seeing all of us playing.

• My most recent trip abroad was studying and interning in Bengaluru, India. I had dreamed of living in India for years, learning everything I could about this diverse, colorful, and magical sub-continent. I discovered how to not only be a tourist but actually integrate into a new culture. When COVID-19 swept across the U.S. I was essentially repatriated. At one point, I had a flight booked to leave just hours before the border closed. My flight was then canceled the day-of. At moments like that, it felt like the world was crashing down around me. Repatriation amidst a global pandemic taught me a sense of internal stability. Now I feel as though I can face any emergency or bump in the road ahead.

Who knows what you will experience abroad and how it may shape you, but life is quite the adventure. I urge you to take in every experience you can.  

There Are Countless Opportunities to Travel

With every new experience I had traveling both domestically and internationally, I craved more and more. My family was never the type to take vacations. Yet, holidays were also the only way of traveling anyone around me ever talked about. It was my 2015 trip to the Girl Scout National Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, that showed methe plethora of possibilities to travel. When you are young, school trips, Girl Scouts, and any other group program are great ways to travel. Traveling with Girl Scouts allows you to access places and activities that you could not otherwise experience, like jamborees. Even today, purpose-driven group trips are probably my favorite way to travel. Most of these opportunities you could pay for through fundraising. Running events with my Girl Scout travel groups was one of my favorite activities as an older Scout.

Then as you get older, start looking into internships or volunteer work that will pay for you to travel. Yes, I said that they will pay for it! In September of 2020, I deployed as a disaster relief volunteer to Northern California with the American Red Cross to aid during the wildfires. Of course, keep in mind that these experiences are not vacations. However, you can connect with a community you never could reach as a tourist. Our temporary evacuation point was on Karuk Tribal land. Growing up in Maryland, I had never learned much about the different indigenous American tribe’s cultures. Also, you might get some free time. While there, I was able to visit Lassen Volcanic National park and summit my second mountain (technically first volcano). Aside from service opportunities, some internships may even pay you to work abroad. Make sure to utilize your school's career services center and other online resources to find these. Also, the United States Government often has competitive internships abroad. For instance, the State Department offers internships both domestically and internationally. Some internships will even provide a stipend to cover living expenses, even if unpaid.

In college, I urge everyone to study abroad if possible, maybe even find a faraway internship too! As I mentioned, I did a semester abroad in Bengaluru, India. My study abroad was done through an affiliate program called USAC. While there, I was able to find an internship working with an NGO as they fought period poverty. I know many of you may think that study abroad’s are incredibly expensive and not an option. We are sold this idea because people only ever talk about the semester traveling across Europe, where students stay in luxury flats and travel to a different country every weekend. My semester in India was significantly less, often by at least $10,000 than most of my peer’s semesters at four-year universities in the United States. For many countries, the most expensive thing you will encounter is your flight (if you know how to budget and be thrifty); the U.S.dollar goes a long way in many countries. In India, I could get a whole meal on campus for under one U.S. dollar. While Europe is gorgeous and there are so many countries to see, I would recommend waiting for the European adventure. Most people are comfortable with the cultural similarities we have with many European countries. Given this, I recommend using a study abroad experience to integrate into a culture you may otherwise not be able to truly experience on your own. In short, whether it's personal vacations, with an organization like the Girl Scouts, volunteer, academic, or for a job, there are so many ways to travel. I urge everyone to get out of their state, get out of their country, and see the world. You will grow as a person, learn new skills, create friends in the most unlikely places, and understand what it means to be a global citizen.