TIME

1 Period

NECESSARY MATERIALS

− Travel plan sheets for each student: blank, 20 days, the country should be different than the country where the students have already visited. Some details should be the same: time and city of arrival at the airport, time and city of departure (different from arrival) and 1 or 2 other information
− A map of the country that you have chosen
− Travel guides of the chosen country
− Coloured markers
− Paper-board ;
− One big travel plan sheet (identical to the individual ones)

STEP-BY-STEP DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTIVITY

1. Give each student a travel plan sheet and ask each of them to fill it in order to create “the ideal trip to them” (20 minutes). Each student will need to select a country with a substantial different culture.
Each student need to plan:
– accommodation (what kind? where ?)
– transportation (which vehicle? How many km per day?)
– different stops, visits etc.
– describe the culture in the country of choice

2 In small groups (4 or 5 students maximum), ask each student to share their travel plan. (10 minutes)

3. Gather the whole group together. The objective is now to create the “Great Travel Plan”, 1 travel plan in which everybody can identify and find part of his/her wishes and motivations. (20 minutes)
Facilitate the debate between the students:
– accommodation: some choose hotels, other family hosting etc. What is behind the preferences? How to find a solution that works for everybody
– cultures: how do cultures differ and is it an important aspect when choosing a country.

4. When the group has finished to create the “Great Travel Plan” through consensus, initiate a talk with the group (10 minutes)

• Are you happy with the result of this plan? Why?
• Was it hard to find a common travel plan that everybody could identify with? Why?
• Can you describe the differences in culture from the different countries and how did this effect the final common travel plan?

The activity raises awareness about the gap, sometimes considerable, between the personal motivations of each member of the group. You should point out that various motivations can lead to very different
planning choices. Moreover, they are not always compatible in terms of on-site planning. It is important then to think as a group.