At Hart Travel Partners, we're excited to share our adventures and expertise with you. We highlight travel programs, faculty members' stories and other travel information in this section. Please check back regularly to discover the latest news from HTP!
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Ask a Travel Leader: Arizona State University's Penny Ann Dolin
Last month, we featured Hart Travel Partners’ commitment to customization within each and every travel program—it’s what makes us unique. This month, we talk to one of our favorite partners in travel, Penny Ann Dolin of Arizona State University (ASU), about how we work together to create an academically credible travel program designed specifically for college students.
Penny is an Associate Professor of Practice in the Graphic Information Technology program at ASU who specializes in photography and imaging. For the past few years, she has led a Photography in Paris travel program that provides in-depth experiences for her students. We have been so impressed by the work of her students that we have featured their photography on our website!
How did you get involved in planning travel programs?
I’ve always loved Europe – and especially France – and I wanted to go back. I was approached by another educational travel company and thought a travel program would be a great way to combine my love of travel with my love of teaching.
How did you decide to travel with Hart Travel Partners?
The first educational travel company I worked with provided a learning curve – they were inflexible and their offerings were not geared towards college students. I had worked with Steve while he was with this other company, and so when he left to start Hart Travel Partners, I contacted him so I could work with him directly.
Hart Travel Partners understands the difference between a standard 'cookie cutter trip' and a faculty-led academic travel program designed specifically for colleges and universities. They also understand the need to customize itineraries and work with the person planning the program.
Hart Travel Partners provides a great, great program. What sets them apart from others is that Steve and his team actually listen to your concerns and what you want to do differently. This is so important when you have a vision for your students and for your course.
How do you recruit your students?
Since we are a photography course, we always end up with a lot of cool photos that we can share with prospective travelers. I’ve found that once you’ve had a successful trip, it’s easy to recruit for the next one.
I work with ASU’s study abroad office, which hosts a study abroad fair, and do presentations for students. But I really rely mostly on social media, our program’s website, and word of mouth. Twitter and Facebook are helpful getting the word out.
My first year with Hart Travel Partners, my colleague Chad Westover and I took 12 students. By year two, 40 students were interested but we capped it at 18. Our students come from many majors. No matter what level photographer you are, you will learn – how to visually define a space, how architecture serves as a vehicle to build a visual story around, and how to create a narrative about where you’ve been. Every student produces their own photography book by the end of the program.
I treat Paris as the classroom, and at the end of the day we'll have a roundup and edit the ten best photos from that day. So the students know that not only will they have a great travel experience, they will gain real skills as well.
What do you find to be the most rewarding about creating a travel program?
It’s pretty cool to see the world through someone else's eyes for the first time. That’s why I teach photography. I can actually watch students learn to see. By taking them to another country I can watch their eyes light up and see them change. I believe that travel does change people. On our travel programs, I like to act as a catalyst to help students develop a deeper understanding of what it means to be a global citizen.
You know you've done a good job when students sign up to travel more than once. I have a party for my travelers about two months after we return and they always tell me it was the best experience!
What advice would you give to a teacher, faculty member or administrator considering their first travel program?
Ideally, you should go somewhere you've already been for your first travel program with students. Also, don’t do a huge trip with too many people, and don’t try to jam too many activities into one day. You always need more time than you think, so I no longer try to do more than two events in one day.
Having a great logistical team on the ground is terribly important. That’s one of the greatest reasons I love Steve and Hart Travel Partners. Steve knows people on the ground and his teams are fantastic. My team in Paris is like family. I love them and can’t wait to get back to see them every year!
Carrying on Father Tom's legacy
My good friend Father Tom Schaefer passed away a few days ago. He was Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs at La Roche University in Pittsburgh. He also was parish priest at both St. John the Baptist and St. John Chrysostom in Pittsburgh.
A true champion of study abroad, Tom loved everything international, but he held a special place in his heart for France and Africa. I had the privilege of spending time with him in Paris, and his cultural knowledge of France and his fluency in French astounded me. On one occasion, we were leading a group of educators around Sorbonne University with the local custodian who spoke no English. Tom simultaneously translated what he said perfectly with no prior preparation. It was beautiful.
I hope that you are doing well and looking forward to travel prospects in the near future. That light at the end of the tunnel is shining a bit brighter!
I wanted to share with you some exciting things that have been keeping us busy over the past few months.
It seems that we have turned a corner and are heading in the right direction. There is light ahead of the long tunnel. Sometimes, it seems like it is just a flicker, but I feel positive that with the rollout of the vaccines worldwide, we will be traveling soon. We just need to wait a bit longer.
As we celebrate Thanksgiving and reflect on the incredible challenges that we have faced in this unprecedented year, we feel blessed and grateful. We are so thankful to work with amazing educators and travel professionals like you, who have proven to be wonderful and supportive partners.
Our thoughts are with you and all of our travelers and friends during this challenging and unprecedented time, as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads.
The safety and security of our travelers always has been our top priority, and we worked diligently to ensure the safe return of our traveling groups earlier this month. We are in close contact with our partners, friends and colleagues around the world, who also are confronting this outbreak.
'So grateful': Read what our travelers have to say
By far, the most rewarding part of my job at Hart Travel Partners is reading comments from faculty and students about our trips after the groups return from their faculty-led programs around the world.
Our faculty leaders consistently rave about their experiences, including the ease of our planning, our customized itineraries, the connections to their curriculum and especially our world-class travel directors. Students and faculty alike also appreciate the way our unique programs inspire their desire to learn and travel more.
Here is a sampling of what some of our recent travelers said about our programs the past few months:
Cultural immersion: Colorful sights and sounds of English football
Sitting in the second row of the stadium, my father and I were surrounded by 2,000 passionate football fans, engrossed in a nil-nil match and exposed to a colorful array of East London language.
It was Torquay United F.C. vs. Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. in the Dagenham district of East London. On my recent trip to London over New Year’s, I accompanied my dad to the match to watch Torquay, a lower-level club he’s supported since he was a young boy.
Now, this is not Liverpool, Manchester United or my beloved Arsenal; this is not the Premier League. This is not even the second or third level of English football. This is the fifth tier of the pyramid—known as the National League. I spent my formative years in London, my parents still live there and I visit London a few times a year, but I had never experienced a fifth-tier football match before.
It’s the sort of cultural immersion experience you don’t get by visiting only the usual tourist spots or by driving by in a sightseeing bus. It’s the sort of experience you have to see—and hear—to appreciate.
Subject spotlight: Understanding business on a global scale
As the world becomes more interconnected and the global economy grows, understanding business and cultures around the world becomes more and more important.
That’s why we have seen more of our faculty-led groups interested in business-themed programs in destinations around the world.
We have helped groups arrange tours, meetings and presentations at companies (both small and large) in destinations throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas. Some of our groups have visited Volkswagen offices in Shanghai, explored a family-run pasta factory in Italy (below), met a private restaurant owner in Havana, and even met with executives from the Serie B soccer league in Italy as part of a sports management program.
Subject spotlight: Infusing art into any travel program
Art abounds all around us, especially when we travel.
The most popular destination cities, of course, include the world’s most important and famous museums. Hart Travel Partners groups regularly explore the Louvre and Orsay in Paris, the Uffizi and Accademia in Florence, the Tate Modern and National Gallery in London, the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh in Amsterdam, a trio of splendid galleries in Madrid and a host of others.
But our groups do more than just visit these museums. Our faculty and students conduct lessons, attend seminars, participate in workshops and more. While we also regularly create specific art-focused travel programs, many of our groups will incorporate art museums on their trips, regardless of their curriculum or destinations.
Subject spotlight: Bringing history to life — even on the open seas
A fleet of Carthaginian ships, sailing to relieve a Roman blockade of the western coast of Sicily, halts near the Holy Island — the westernmost of the Aegadian Islands, now known as Marettimo.
Meanwhile, a fleet of Roman ships, spying Carthage’s movements, abandon their posts in the harbors of Drepana and Lilybaeum and anchor off the island of Aegusa — modern-day Favignana.
At daybreak, the Carthaginian navy sets sail for Sicily, only to be surprised and intercepted by a fleet of mast-less Roman ships. The leaner, more mobile Roman fleet rams the enemy ships, delivering a decisive defeat to the once superior Carthaginian navy.
The Battle of the Aegates in 241 B.C. was a major victory for the Roman Republic and effectively ended the First Punic War — more than 2,200 years ago.
It’s the sort of battle relegated to the history books, studied by naval historians and examined by professors and students for two millennia.
For a group of Hart Travel Partners students, though, it was a battle to be experienced — on the open seas.
Our faculty leaders rave not only about their experiences on a Hart Travel Partners program but also about our personalized service and how easy it is to lead a trip with us.
“In 15 years of doing student trips, this is one of the best trips I’ve ever had with students,” one faculty leader said after a recent HTP program. “Hart handled everything from A-Z. You can’t ask for better service.”
Even faculty leaders who’ve never before traveled abroad with students are amazed how easy it really is to travel with us.
Spotlight on Northern Italy: From villas to violins
I recently returned to the States from a rewarding research trip to Northern Italy with a local friend. What a lovely place!
Lake Como was the starting point for our trip, and it was simply spectacular. The lake reflects the surrounding Alps and stunning villas. Some villas are small and some are so huge that they’re more like palaces. Some of them look like they are unoccupied (with shutters drawn and no visible signs of life), but they all are impeccably maintained. And they all ooze hundreds of years of history, stories and aristocracy. It is a wonder to see them and imagine the centuries of history they have seen.
It’s been an amazing and busy year so far for Hart Travel Partners and our groups.
We've created wonderful travel programs around the world — from China to Europe, from Costa Rica to northern Africa. Along the way, our groups have enjoyed many unique educational — and exciting — experiences:
Our guarantee: Most direct flights within your budget
When you’re traveling, you want to get where you’re going as quickly and as easily as possible.
Especially on a faculty-led travel program, often with tight schedule constraints, you want to maximize your time exploring your destinations and actively engaging with your academic purpose. You don’t want to spend unnecessary time with extra flights just to get there — and back.
That’s why we always find the most direct flights within your budget.
When I was growing up in England and Spain, Belfast was not a city people traveled to unless they had to. The “Troubles” — with innocent lives lost amid the passionate tensions between the different factions of the Nationalists (Irish and Catholic) and the Loyalists (British and Protestant) — made the Northern Ireland capital a dangerous place to visit.
On my recent visit to Belfast, though, I was happy to see that — although the memories of recent events still are very much alive — the city is doing a fabulous job of “moving on.” And Belfast is booming! New hotels are popping up all over the place to meet a huge increase in demand for travelers. I can see why more and more travelers are flocking there with so much to see and do.
I believe where and what you eat when you’re traveling is important.
Especially on a faculty-led travel program, you want to immerse yourself completely in the local culture, and that definitely includes the local food. It’s important to be able to eat like a local and enjoy food that is typical to your destination. After an active day of learning, it’s important not only to enjoy a nourishing and satisfying meal but also to sample delicious dishes from your destination — whether it’s tapas in Spain, a curry in England or Peking duck in China.
That’s why we always serve meals with local fare that meet your budget.
Our guarantee: Central hotels that meet your budget
I believe where you stay when you’re traveling is important.
Especially on a faculty-led travel program, it matters that your hotel is in a good location so you can maximize your time, immerse yourself in the culture and get the most out of your travels. It matters that your hotel is comfortable and provides a good night’s rest after an active day of learning. And it matters that you are able to stay connected online.
That’s why as founder of Hart Travel Partners, I guarantee that we always find centrally located hotels that meet your budget. Plus, I guarantee that all of our hotels offer free WiFi.
"The entire process was my favorite – from the personal service beginning with the first introductory phone call through the completion of the trip. Each time I felt there was personal interest in the success of our program, not only from the viewpoint of the actual travel details, but Hart Travel Partners understood the reason for this program..." - Martha P
