Summer trips are the perfect chance to relax and unwind after a long year of work, school and stress. Most people take this opportunity to travel somewhere on their bucket list, but the Kalmanson family has their own unique way of selecting trips. They don’t decide where to go on trips; the tickets do.

“[My dad] will look for plane flights and pick where he can get cheap enough plane flights,” junior Brooke Kalmanson said. “And then my mom plans the actual activities once he picks the location.”

Because of this unique approach, the Kalmansons have gone to places like Bolivia, Uganda and Nicaragua. This past spring break, they went to Malaysia, Borneo and Brunei.

“I liked Brunei the most,” senior Zara Kalmanson said. “It was almost deserted in a way, and their population is less than the city of Orlando. It was a place I’ve seen that a lot of people haven’t seen.”

Although Zara Kalmanson feels grateful to have been to these places, she is excited to start her solo travel journey in her college years.

“I’m definitely going to be studying abroad,” Zara Kalmanson said. “I’ve gone to a lot of the exotic places with my parents, so now I want to go to some of the more basic destinations. Spain, Japan or South Africa; those are good places to go.”

So far, Zara Kalmanson has been to 43 countries in her life, while Brooke Kalmanson has been to 44. They travel with their friend Maiori Butz, a junior. Over the many years they have been traveling together, the three of them have learned a lot and are extremely grateful to have been to these places.

“You can find beauty in every destination, and there’s something for tourists in every single place,” Zara Kalmanson said. “When you study things in a history class and see them on paper in a textbook, it’s way different when you go and see it. The memory doesn’t click in the same way.”

Sophomore Olivia Patino is also a frequent traveler who attended her first school-sponsored trip to Spain in the summer before her 10th-grade year.

“This trip was very planned out; I just wish there had been some more free time because Spain is beautiful, and I know because I’ve been there before,” Patino said. “This made me see a different side of it; we did a lot in nine days, so it was really cool to see everything. on our own.”

This year, Trinity hopes to improve their travel plans by having former Upper School Dean of Students Kyle McGimsey take over the role of Coordinator of Global and Domestic Travel. He feels that having the opportunity for students to travel abroad builds key characteristics for their future.

“It’s not always learning facts about historical sites and buildings,” McGimsey said. “You learn so much about other people, and you learn so much about yourself. You learn about how you respond in different situations.”

Gaining knowledge through travel is a very important way to learn, whether it be about the destination or other people.

“I really believe that traveling as a teacher can be so valuable beyond going to a cool location,” McGimsey said. “Students [and teachers] are different people sitting in a classroom than they are out exploring the world. The relationships that the people who are traveling get to build are valuable parts of the travel experience.”

If you’re thinking about where to plan your trip this summer, think twice before you book a trip to a trendy place; you might love something unexpected a lot more.

“Since it’s a trip for you, it’s different than what anyone else is doing,” Brooke Kalmanson said. “You have to find what you like. In every country, there are certain places for different types of people.”

Summertime offers the perfect window to travel, reflect and learn something new. No matter how out of your comfort zone that trip is, there is always something to take away from it.

“Being exposed to so many different cultures, foods, people and their way of lives showed me a lot not to judge someone based on where they’re from before I see it,” Maiori Butz said. “Some of these places are not what I expected, and those places I thought I would love, sometimes I didn’t like it as much. I’m always open to everything; I’m learning.”