To some students, the idea of a big summer vacation is going down to Corpus Christi to have fun at the beach or going to visit their grandparents for a week, but for others, their vacation this summer required a passport and lots of suitcases.

For a few students overseas was the way to go. Students on campus visited every continent but Antarctica visiting countries such as Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Puerto Rico, Australia, England  and many others gaining experiences and memories as they went.

“It was great being able to travel to a foreign country,” sophomore Elenna Hawkins said. “I got to see bodies buried in ash after the volcano erupted in Pompeii, I made friends from foreign countries, and I got to see the Roman coliseum.”

Being able to travel can help people experience other cultures and help them realize all of the differences there are in this world.

“In Turkey it was really different with all of the Muslim customs,” Hawkins said. “Almost every woman besides foreigners wore burkas (clothes worn by woman that cover their whole bodies except for eyes) and every day you would hear the call to prayer from the prayer towers.”

Even being in an English-speaking country with many similarities to the United States can still sometimes be very culturally different.

“I went to London and Nottingham, England and even though there were some similarities there were plenty of differences,” sophomore Andrew Zenk said. “Things like how they call soccer football, they drive on the left side of the road, and they have different power outlets than us.”

Visiting another country helped some students understand the world and other cultures better.

“No matter where you go I feel like it really opens your mind to different cultures,” sophomore Emma Aldred said. “It makes you appreciate what you have and strive for more at the same time.”

For some people travelling is a way to get out and experience something different than what is around them.

“The world is a book,” a famous quote that Saint Augustine said.  “And those who don’t travel only read one page.”