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Kelsey Glennon ’12 can pinpoint the experience that forever changed her. It was during her time at Rollins while spending a semester abroad in Costa Rica, where she studied Spanish.

One weekend, she decided she wanted to visit a remote village to see indigenous pottery and meet the artisans. At the time, Google Maps wasn’t available in her location. There wasn’t a clear bus schedule or a group to tag along with, so she had to rely on herself.

“It was my first time in a foreign country on my own,” she says. “It was a pivotal point when I had to figure things out, even when unexpected things happened. That stepping out on my own in a foreign country and culture was key to building my confidence, sparking curiosity, and feeling at home in a global world.”

Glennon has since traveled extensively, often as a solo traveler, to more than 50 countries. She’s turned the confidence she gained in Costa Rica and the skills she honed as an English major into a career as a freelance travel writer and photographer for outlets like Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, and a range of hotel brands.

Fostering global citizens like Glennon is part of Rollins’ DNA. Rollins welcomed its first international students in 1897. The College announced the Foreign Study Plan, which allowed students to spend six months in France at no extra cost, in 1938. In the 1950s, Rollins opened the first language lab in Florida and offered a study tour of Cuba. By 2005, the College expanded an opportunity to study abroad, funding international experiences for faculty to bring diverse perspectives to the classroom.

Today, 75 percent of students travel abroad through the more than 90 programs available each year through the Office of International Programs, regularly garnering Rollins a spot among the top 10 universities in the nation for the percentage of students who study abroad.

It’s no wonder then that so many faculty, staff, and alumni are true citizens of the world with expertise across all dimensions of travel. To help plan your next vacation, we asked more than a dozen Tars to share their insights on everything from where to travel to what to consider while doing it. Bon voyage!

Monteverde, Costa Rica

THE EXPERT Environmental studies professor Barry Allen has led at least 50 field studies to Costa Rica over the past almost 30 years, showing students firsthand how a country’s focus on environmental conservation can define its economy and culture.

THE SCENE “The Monteverde area is home to a reserve complex of over 100,000 acres, including the world-famous Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve, the Children’s Eternal Rainforest, and Arenal Volcano National Park.”

WHY NOW “Monteverde is one of the few places in the Western Hemisphere where you can visit cloud forests safely and comfortably. You’re at the very top of a mountain range surrounded by over 750 species of trees, 400-plus types of orchids, and 400 or so species of birds. You can see things here you can’t see anywhere else, such as the resplendent quetzal, which is just a spectacular bird.”

DON’T MISS “Hike the 1,000 or so feet down from Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve to the rustic biological station run by the Monteverde Conservation League. There’s not much electricity and no hot water, but they provide all your meals, the views are incredible, and it’s a good home base for exploring the Children’s Eternal Rainforest. Hire a good guide. Many of the local guides have degrees in biology and have gone through a training course that the Costa Rican government provides for natural history guides.”

TRAVEL TIP “Build in extra time to get around and don’t drive at night. The roads are better than they used to be, but there are still a lot of switchbacks with steep cliffs on either side. A lot of roads have one-lane bridges, so caution is paramount.”

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How To Make Travel More Meaningful

Giselda Beaudin, Rollins’ director of international programs, evaluates destinations and creates study abroad experiences for students. Explore her top tips for getting the most out of your travels.

Do your research. “Listen to local music on Spotify, watch some shows or movies from the country, do a search for the place in your favorite news source, listen to a podcast related to the place. Having some basic etiquette and a few phrases in the local language makes a big difference in how you are received and perceived.”

Dive deeper. “Include activities that go beyond typical tourist activities, such as visiting local businesses and organizations, engaging with local experts, and going behind the scenes at sites or cultural events. Cooking classes, dance lessons, and scavenger hunts force you to engage in a different way and encourage conversation and connection with others.”

Go where the locals are. “Try to stay a little outside the most central areas, where you can discover local cafes and shops. I love to spend time walking, observing, and asking locals questions about themselves and the place.”

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Madrid, Spain

THE EXPERT For 25 years, Spanish professor Alberto Prieto-Calixto has led one of the nation’s oldest study abroad programs, Verano Español, a six-week summer program in Madrid hosted by Rollins that blends culture, history, and language instruction.

THE SCENE “Madrid has it all. Rich culture and top-notch museums like Reina Sofía and Museo Nacional del Prado. Spectacular wine, beer, and food. And the perfect weather— it usually doesn’t get extremely hot or cold.”

WHY NOW “Unlike with more popular European cities such as Barcelona, Paris, and Rome that are consistently flooded by tourists, the people in Madrid tend to receive tourists with a friendliness that other places in Europe don’t.”

DON’T MISS “I love taking students to Madrid Rio, a park along the river that was once the worst part of town but that the city has now turned into something beautiful for the community. It’s a great lesson in transforming urban spaces. Also, be sure to try the tapas. Unlike in America, the tapas culture in Spain is all about bar-hopping. You go from bar to bar having a small drink, such as wine or a caña, and different tapas. The local specialty is a calamari sandwich, which you should eat on the spot because they’re freshly fried.”

TRAVEL TIP “Be aware of the impact you have on the locals. Massive tourism is causing their cost of living to go up, meaning tourists can afford to pay for things that locals can’t. Spending money can infuse capital into a country, but it can also have massive implications, which we’re already seeing in Greece and parts of Spain.”

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What I Learned as a Fulbright Student

Nearly 100 Tars have had the opportunity to study, teach, and conduct research abroad as part of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s premier international educational exchange program. We asked a few Fulbright Students to share their top takeaways from living, learning, and working in another country.

Katie Pearce ’19 earned a master’s in creative writing from the University of Glasgow and is now living in Scotland working as a content manager for BJS Academy, an online educational resource for surgeons.

“Be flexible and embrace an open, willing, and positive mindset. Kindness and friendliness go a long way. Educate yourself—and then never stop learning from experience.”

Socorro Torres Lopez ’23 landed a Fulbright award to study at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, where she’s pursuing a master’s in Mexico-U.S. studies.

“It’s so important to keep in mind why you are where you are. This thinking is keeping me grounded and helping me fully appreciate every detail of being immersed in another culture.”

Ryan Lambert ’13 earned a Fulbright award to teach English at a vocational school in Hamburg, Germany, and is now an engineering manager at Shopify.

“Commit to the experience. There’s always a temptation to retreat to what’s comfortable, such as mingling only with expat groups or English speakers. If you commit, you will not regret it.”

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Amsterdam, Netherlands

THE EXPERT Lily Heaton ’08 moved to Amsterdam in 2009 and is now a freelance writer and photographer who writes about the city—and beyond—for Lonely Planet, Fodor’s, and Tripadvisor.

THE SCENE “Amsterdam is the most adorably quaint city full of historic charm. From the wobbly little cookie houses to the canals and bridges with lights, it really feels like you’re walking through a little snow globe.”

WHY NOW “From now until October 27, 2025, Amsterdam will be celebrating the city’s 750th birthday. Amsterdam was founded as a small fishing village, and the name Amestelledamme was first recorded when Count Floris V of Holland granted the people living near the Amstel dam a toll privilege on October 27, 1275. The jubilee year will include 200 activities, including musicals and theater performances, special exhibitions, and photography projects.”

DON’T MISS “Walk through the Jordaan neighborhood. It’s full of cool markets, cafes, historic canals, and lovely architectural details. And be sure to visit the Museum of the Canals. It’s set inside a historic house and teaches you about the commerce, bureaucracy, and history behind how the city was shaped as well as the original purpose of the canals, which was to transport goods from Centraal Station.”

TRAVEL TIP “Don’t feel obligated to tip. It’s included in workers’ wages, and the service you receive is not going to warrant it. Also, the Dutch have a saying: doe maar gewoon, dan doe je al gek genoeg. It translates to, ‘just be normal—that’s crazy enough.’ It means don’t stand out.”

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3 Ways to Reduce Your Climate Impact While Traveling

The author of several books—including Climate Travels: How Ecotourism Changes Mindsets and Motivates Action—political science professor Michael Gunter shares his advice on how to travel more sustainably.

1. Leave the car behind. “Everything we do has a carbon footprint, but how we travel once we get to our location can lighten it. Traveling around on foot or bike, or using public transit like trains and buses, can make a big difference.”

2. Pack lighter and stay longer. “As Americans, we tend to overpack and take short vacations, but less weight in our luggage means fewer carbon emissions, and spending more time in one place likely means you’re taking fewer trips and booking fewer flights. Both have the added advantage of letting you experience a place like a local.”

3. Bring back the lessons you learn. “Since I’ve been at Rollins, I’ve spent time on seven continents and in over 30 countries. It’s taught me to appreciate urban planning and walkable design, using public transit, and buying food every 24 or 48 hours, so what I’m eating is fresh instead of processed and typically puts money directly into the local economy instead of distant corporate entities.”

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Western Ireland

THE EXPERT Kelsey Glennon ’12 has visited more than 50 countries and is a freelance writer and photographer for Travel + Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, and Time Out Global, among others.

THE SCENE “The word I would use to describe places like West Cork, the Dingle Peninsula, the Beara Peninsula, Connemara, and Donegal is wild. They call it the Wild Atlantic Way because that’s what it is: wild and raw and rugged. It’s where the Atlantic crashes into land, and it hasn’t changed much in a very long time, with rocky cliffs, beautiful beaches, and rolling hills.”

WHY NOW “There is a homogenization of travel and culture that has happened as a result of Instagram and TikTok. Algorithms reward likability, and who doesn’t want to have an Aperol spritz by the sea? I think that makes it even more necessary to visit places off the beaten path. It does require renting a car, but visiting Western Ireland allows you to become quickly embedded in the local culture and get an actual taste of what it’s like to live there in a way that I think is hard with popularized places, particularly in Europe.”

DON’T MISS “Stay in an Irish landmark and help preserve these old buildings. The Irish Landmark Trust lets you search lighthouses, castles, and schoolhouses for accommodations. When it comes to food in Ireland, it’s all about highlighting the purveyors, and Ireland has some of the best beef and dairy in all of Europe. You should also go wild swimming, which is really popular. There’s a big community that goes out for a quick swim in the cold Atlantic every day, even in winter. Then you can hop into one of the little saunas that’s right on the beach.”

TRAVEL TIP “All of the Gaeltacht, or Irish-speaking, regions are located in Western Ireland. A lot of people travel to Ireland and never hear Gaeilge, even though it’s one of the world’s oldest written languages, and you can only hear it here. I recommend going out of your way to find a pub where people are talking back and forth in it. It’s like listening to lost poetry, and you get to take home an auditory souvenir.”

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Art Museums You Can’t Miss

Gisela Carbonell, curator of the Rollins Museum of Art, shares three of her must-see art museums around the globe.

Teatre-Museu Dalí | Spain “Conceptualized by Salvador Dalí himself, this museum is a surrealist space that offers a very different experience from traditional museums. Don’t miss Rainy Taxi, an outdoor installation piece by Dalí that embodies his commitment to pushing the boundaries of what art can be.”

Museo de Arte de Ponce | Puerto Rico “This was the first museum I visited as a child, and it holds the most important collection of European art in the Caribbean. My favorite piece is Frederic Leighton’s painting Flaming June from 1895, but there are also many examples of Puerto Rican painters, such as José Campeche, that shouldn’t be missed.”

Acropolis Museum | Greece “This one’s on my bucket list. To think that, like other ancient sites, there are substantial parts of these buildings that have survived environmental changes, wars, and looting for centuries is amazing.”

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Chengdu, China

THE EXPERT Education professor Jie Yu grew up in nearby Zigong, China, and has led several student trips to the Middle Kingdom, including a field study over winter break.

THE SCENE “People have been living in this area for more than 4,000 years, making Chengdu a city full of history, culture, tradition, and delicious food. Surrounded by the Himalayas, it’s also one of the most beautiful and biodiverse places in the world.”

WHY NOW “Time magazine named nearby Sanxingdui Museum among the 100 extraordinary destinations to explore in 2024. Built on the edge of a 4,000-year-old civilization site, the museum is one of my favorite places to take students so they can learn about this rich history and see amazing artwork that was created thousands of years ago but looks contemporary.”

DON’T MISS “In the city, walk through the Wide and Narrow Alleys to get a sense of the history, play mah-jongg at a local teahouse to get a better sense of the culture, and try hot pot, which was created by working-class people who found creative ways to make do with what they could afford. What I love about Chengdu is its proximity to so many amazing areas, such as Mount Qingcheng, which is considered one of the birthplaces of Taoism. Here you can explore the ancient temples that garnered it a UNESCO World Heritage Site designation and see pandas at Dujiangyan Panda Center.”

TRAVEL TIP “In Sichuan, we do not have words for ‘privacy’ or ‘private space.’ We are always together, so be prepared for locals to engage in conversation and offer you suggestions.”

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Trending Travel: Latin America

Spanish and Latin American & Caribbean studies professor Patricia Tomé highlights the must-see spots in her favorite corner of the world.

Recife, Brazil “Northern Brazil’s most populous city has been called the Venice of Brazil because of its waterways and bridges. Rua do Bom Jesus—complete with cobblestone streets, colorful buildings, and the first synagogue in the Americas—was recently named among the most beautiful streets in the world by Architectural Digest.”

Montevideo, Uruguay “Despite being known for having more cows than people, this small nation offers a rich and vibrant culture. It’s renowned for its delicious meats, and the country’s history, music, and natural beauty make it a must-visit destination that often flies under the radar.”

Medellín, Colombia “It’s often unfairly associated with Pablo Escobar and its violent past, but Colombia’s second-largest city has reinvented itself, recently earning the ‘Innovative City of the Year’ accolade from The Wall Street Journal. The hometown of celebrated artist Fernando Botero, the city now thrives with a vibrant culture and a highly efficient public transportation system.”

Havana, Cuba “I’ve traveled to Havana over 20 times, and I’d happily go 20 more. Despite having so little, people embrace life with such a sense of purpose. Music fills the streets while children play, and the aroma of home-cooked meals permeates the air. However, Havana is not for everyone; it’s important that visitors understand the laws and regulations and educate themselves on cultural differences.”

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Ketchikan, Alaska

THE EXPERT As an excursion director for American Cruise Lines and previous operations coordinator for Holland America, Leslie Whitted ’06 has traveled extensively around the world, including living in Alaska for six summers.

THE SCENE “From May through October, Ketchikan is a hopping port with cruise ships, scientific boats, and fishing boats coming and going. In many ways, it’s a microcosm of a big industrious city like Boston, but it’s easy to go hiking or fishing and get away from it all.”

WHY NOW “It feels like small-town America, combines rich history and Native culture, and provides a homebase for adventurous exploration of the Pacific Northwest, with a little New England menu tossed in—and surprises around every corner.”

DON’T MISS “You can watch dances and live carvings at the Totem Heritage Center, a living history museum that has been passed down by generations of Tlingit people who still live and work there. It’s also worth signing up for a commercial crab fishing tour aboard the Aleutian Ballad, which was featured on Deadliest Catch. The guys on board will give you an inside look at what it’s really like to do this job. Afterward, treat yourself to the best seafood you’ll ever have. My favorite is a can of smoked salmon from any local shop and the halibut tacos and fish and chips at the Alaska Fish House.”

TRAVEL TIP “Before you go, read up on Native Alaskan culture, so you can have a better appreciation of the people who have lived here for thousands of years.”

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5 Questions to Ask When Planning Your Dream Getaway

Theresa Chu-Bermudez ’11, founder and owner of Get Out! Custom Travels, always asks these five questions when helping clients plan trips.

1. How much time do you have? “You don’t want to spend your entire vacation traveling rather than actually enjoying the destination. If you have a shorter time frame, explore nonstop flights from your gateway, so you can make the most of your time away.”

2. What is your goal? “Are you looking to relax? Get away from the daily grind? Experience something completely out of your comfort zone? Knowing your goal helps you choose the perfect experience.”

3. What are your priorities? “Do you need really nice accommodations or amenities? Do you like your schedule full from morning to evening? For example, I had a couple honeymoon in the Maldives, and a hotel gym was important because they were active.”

4. How much do you want to spend? “It’s important to have a budget and know where you want to splurge—on the accommodations or the experiences—and where you’re OK saving.”

5. Are you open to destination dupes? “Many locations struggle with overtourism. For example, everyone is going to Italy, but there are lots of other places that have a similar feel where you’re not shoulder to shoulder with other people and you can get a better value for your money.”

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