People to People Student Ambassadors / First Time Abroad Stories?

Hi Milo,

I wish this program was still running because it was excellent! I’m not sure when it stopped; I recognized a group carrying the P2P tote bags when my husband & I were in Paris sometime in the last 20 years & chatted with them.

The group I was in was linked with 4H. We (18-20 year olds) stayed in locals’ homes in several countries or small quirky hotels & spent focused time learning from each other vs. “tourist activities”, although there was some of that, too. We visited 11 countries in 40 days, including Russia & Hungary, in 1975.

Our group, along with others, began with a 3-day orientation in Washington, DC. The expectations were high that we were to behave & dress as ambassador representatives of the US. We couldn’t wear jeans or tennis shoes. We could only bring a small suitcase, plus the P2P tote that didn’t hold much. We were not to show anything off-putting of wealth, such as making a long distance phone call home or bringing expensive jewelry, etc. (Yep, the 70’s!)

I kept in touch with some of the families for awhile, but one family from a small town in eastern Netherlands has been a consistent connection. Their daughter who is slightly younger than I am has come to stay with us twice. One time was to attend our oldest daughter’s wedding. My husband’s first time in Europe was celebrating our 25th anniversary & we stayed with them for 5 days and then did the RS GAS tour. We rode bikes on a tree-lined lane in the Gelderland part of the Netherlands a few miles over to her parent’s home. They smiled to us that nothing in the home/attached barn had changed since I stayed there with them!

A few years later, Gerda and her husband were in a traditional Dutch singing & accordian group. She convinced their group to travel to Vancouver, BC to come to Lynden, Washington (a Dutch town - very tidy & clean!) for a Dutch festival! We met them at the airport & were also able to be with their group at the event - lots of fun!

The People-to-People program was such an excellent, growing experience! It definitely continues to influence how I travel so many years later. My mom was the person who encouraged me to apply for it, and I think she would be happy that I have continued the legacy & “paid it forward” by taking my two daughters to Europe with me - both for fun but also to learn, be curious, and to be very respectful to the people we meet.

I hope this post hasn’t been too lengthy. I just wanted to give you the feel for how much it influenced my thoughts of travel and a few examples of being used as a bridge between people.

The People-to-People Program was established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on September 11, 1956 to enhance international understanding and friendship through educational, cultural and humanitarian activities involving the exchange of ideas and experiences directly among peoples of different countries and diverse cultures. President Eisenhower felt that creating understanding between people was essential to building the road to enduring peace.

“If we are going to take advantage of the assumption that all people want peace, then the problem is for people to get together and to leap governments -- if necessary to evade governments -- to work out not one method but thousands of methods by which people can gradually learn a little bit more of each other." - President Eisenhower's remarks at the People-to-People Conference, September 11, 1956

How fun to re-live a past memory!

I went on a People to People Student Ambassador trip to New Zealand and Fiji during the summer between 7th and 8th grade in 1995. I was still 12 years old and this was my first overseas trip, only second time on a plane, and my first extended trip away from my family. I had zero apprehension and this adventure was definitely the start of my life long love of travel. I think the trip was about 16 days long, spending around 12 days circling the North island of New Zealand and around 4 days in Fiji. We flew direct from LAX to Auckland and the flight was something like 18 hrs. While some kids were scared and apprehensive about the long flight and leaving their parents, I remember being enthralled by being able to watch so many movies on the plane (these were overhead cabin tv screens in those days) and getting to eat airplane food, haha. I think our trip group was around 26 kids and 5 adults, and we came from 5 different areas of the county. I think all the kids were 12-13 years old. We only had one host family stay for 2 nights, and the rest of the time we were in hotels (mostly 1 night stays, but a couple 2 night stays) as we traveled around to all the different cities in a big bus. I think we would usually have 3 kids to a room each night, and they would rotate us so we were always bunking with new people each night. Being in the countries we visited, a lot of our itinerary focused on natural wonders, wildlife, preservation, and cultural history and understanding. I remember going to a sheep dog farm, planting trees in a regrown forest, hiking to a waterfall, visiting a wildlife preservation reserve, exploring a thermal geyser park, and staying in native villages in both countries to experience and learn all the local traditions, craft skills, ceremonial dances, and food. There were also plenty of “fun” non-learning activities like riding a speed boat down a river, going to a theater show, snorkeling on a deserted island, beach time, and water parks. We were required to keep a journal and were given certain prompts each day to build from. I think my parents gave me around $300-$400 in travelers checks for spending money to last the trip, and I remember using my last dollars to buy snacks at the airport for the last flight home. I remember some kids running out of money mid-trip and having to get a wire transfer for more funds. My memorable souvenirs included several carved bone necklaces from the Māori village we went to, a stuffed kiwi bird, a bean bag gecko that even travelled to college with me, and several tshirts that I wore for the next school year. I loved all the experiences and sight seeing, but I think the hardest part of the trip for me was the food (I was a very picky eater) and learning how to make new friends.

We had learned about PtP from an add in the local paper, went to an info session one night, and then I sought out a teacher recommendation letter so I could apply for acceptance. There was an interview process and then a final selection of who the 5 kids would be from our general region. In the months leading up the trip I think our local group of kids met up a couple times to hang out so we could get to know one another better. I’m not sure what the trip actually cost, but my parents were not wealthy so I had to raise money to help pay for most of it. I went door to door selling Sees candy and setting up stands outside the grocery store, collected personal and corporate donations, and received a sponsorship from the local Rotary club in exchange to come do a presentation on my experience once I returned. I was able to claim high school credits for world cultures based on the completion of the PtP program that summer. I loved the PtP experience so much that I was planning to go on another trip the next summer to Italy and had even started fundraising for it, but I ended up choosing to cancel to focus on training for swimming junior Olympics instead.

I went on a People to People trip to Europe in 1974 while a junior in High School. After 2 days in Washington DC off we went! We had homestays with families in Germany, Austria and England - if memory serves, they were all 5 days and gave us all a first hand view of their lives. It was always fascinating to get back on the bus with our other classmates and compare notes on our experiences.

Nine countries in 39 days (Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, France, England, Italy, Hungary & Yugoslavia), the experience changed my view of the world and certainly had a significant impact on my life. The world is so much different than the bubble that we all live in - the customs, food, culture etc.

We were so very fortunate to have had the many experiences that the trip provided us. It is really unfortunate that it no longer exists!

I ran across a P to P Student Ambassadors group on a short cruise in Greece. I knew about P to P from my father who did several People to People Golf trips. He got to meet many interesting people. In South Africa he played with a man who was an owner of a gold mine. So on the day they didn’t play golf, he and mom got a personalized tour of the mine. Seeing the basic education of the workers from all over southern Africa learning the common language of the mine, going down thousands of feet to where the gold was being extracted, to the refining room to see the 2 gold bars that the mine produced every day.

On two other trips they met with my sister’s pen pal - once in Kuala Lumpur and once in Singapore. A German man he met on one trip organized a group of German golfers trip to the U.S. Dad organized several friends at his golf club to have the Germans play as their guests , a grass roots P to P.

I went on a People to People student ambassador trip to Western Europe in 1997. I was 15. We had to apply and interview for it. Before the trip we had several orientation meetings where everyone had to give presentations about countries or places on the itinerary. I remember thinking those were really boring!

I think there was a dress code. I know we all had to wear the PtP polo shirt for the flight over. Ours were forest green. We also had matching luggage tags. It was the 90s, so ours was “hot green”. I still have it and it’s on my flute case. I never took the address card out of it. The clear plastic has yellowed with age, but it’s distinctive and so I keep it on to differentiate my case from everyone else.

I remember thinking that the flight overseas was terribly exciting. I stole the British Airways blanket from the plane. It was nice woven fabric and I still have it. And then my first experience with jet lag and wanting to fall asleep in the middle of the day we arrived.

Our group had 38 kids from two regions in Wisconsin. We had two teacher guides and I remember that one was very strict and the other lackadaisical and it was one of the first times I remember noticing that not all adults got along.

Our tour went to England, France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands in about three weeks. We had a homestay in Caen, Normandie. Mine took me to Utah and Omaha beaches and the American cemetery there. We also went to Mont St Michel. I made a fool out of myself telling them I loved cheese, which is true, and taking big slices only to realize that French cheese doesn’t taste anything like Colby or cheddar at home. My reaction had to have been pretty funny. They also served me mussels and I made a fool of myself by not having any idea how to eat them. It was also the first time I tried pate, and I liked it.

I got scolded by one of our leaders because I desperately wanted to buy Birkenstocks in Germany. Only we were there over a weekend and I couldn’t change any travelers checks. I finally changed some money but couldn’t find any other kids to go with me to the store so I went myself and bought them. Our strict leader caught me on the way back to meeting the group and I got a tongue lashing for daring to wander off by myself. It was worth it. Those sandals lasted me twenty years before they started giving me contact dermatitis and I had to get rid of them.

Changing travelers checks was also a challenge because none of us kids were allowed to keep our own passports and so we had to carry a photocopy of the ID page instead. One of the banks gave me a very hard time about it before finally changing my money.

It was an invaluable experience that whetted my appetite for travel.

Oh the memories of stopping at each border to show our passports & then waiting in the line at the bank for each person to exchange our travelers checks! Whew, we have it easy now!

My trip with the People to People Ambassador Program (1992)took me across Russia, Belarus, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Austria, Germany, and Liechtenstein, and it completely changed the way I see the world. Throughout the journey, I learned not only about the history, art, and culture of each place, but also about the people themselves and how differently they viewed the United States compared to what they saw on TV. In turn, my own perceptions were challenged. What I experienced first hand was often very different from what I had seen on TV. Some of my most vivid memories include long train rides across the countryside, standing in Red Square and seeing Lenin, and being in awe of Russia’s stunning architecture and intricate underground metro system. One of the most unforgettable moments was when my group of kids set off on our own adventure, navigating the metro without knowing the language. We carefully copied down letters from signs, just to make sure we could find our way back to the hotel. I was also fortunate to stay with host families who warmly welcomed me and shared their daily lives, giving me a deeper understanding of their cultures. In Czechoslovakia, I even shopped for crystal wine glasses for my mom, something she cherished for years. This trip, my senior trip, was a gift I will always be grateful for, and it shaped me into a more open minded and curious person. Because of that experience, I have made it a priority to ensure my own children have the opportunity to travel abroad and gain their own perspective on the world. I am sorry to hear that the program is no longer. It was a great program.

I was selected and offered a spot on a People to People trip in 1996. However, the trip offered to my region that year (central Alabama) was to England and the IRA bus bombing in London in 1996 meant that my parents decided against letting me go.

I was a People to People Student Ambassador back in 1999 at just 13 years old, and it truly changed my life.

We traveled through Italy, Switzerland, France, and Austria, and I can still picture so many moments like they happened yesterday. The Swiss Alps were absolutely breathtaking, the water castle felt like something out of a dream, and riding in a gondola for the first time was unforgettable. I even experienced my first Austrian opera, which at the time felt so grown up and magical.

One of the most special parts of the trip was our homestay in Austria. Being welcomed into someone’s home in another country was such a unique and meaningful experience, and it’s something that has stayed with me all these years.

Unfortunately, I lost all of my photos from that trip, so I only have my memories now but they are some of my favorite ones.

That was my very first time traveling abroad, and it absolutely gave me the travel bug. I’ve been hooked ever since.

I’d love to hear from anyone else who was part of the program around that time or traveled to similar places!