Student group swaps ideas about traveling abroad

While the International Cultural Exchange group discussed travel on Feb. 23 in Puryear Hall, various travel guides highlighting the sights and attractions of western Europe were scattered across the table. And photographs of the 50-story Millennium Tower rising out of the center of a large plaza in Vienna, Austria, lit up a projector screen.

Senior Aaron Daugherty got the travel bug when he studied abroad at the University of Queensland in Australia. When he got back to campus, he looked for an outlet to talk about his adventures overseas and, more generally, about travel and culture abroad.

"At UR, international education is a huge deal," Daugherty said. "Let's start thinking about other locations besides the middle of Europe or Australia. There is so much more to it, and I want to get people excited about that."

Daugherty used his position as a peer adviser at the Office of International Education to propose the creation of an informal group that could meet to talk about places they've been and cultures they've been a part of, as well as places they want to go in the future. And the group has already attracted a crowd after only its second meeting.

Exchange students from Vienna, Poland and the Czech Republic and Richmond students gathered to discuss travel internationally and within the United States. The international students asked questions in preparation for their trips to Los Angeles, and the Richmond students asked questions about their travel plans abroad. After watching a presentation on the sights, cuisine and nightlife to be found in Vienna, the group spent the next 30 minutes talking about its experiences abroad.

Following a basic format, meetings will begin by opening the forum to international students to talk about the different places they are from.

"Who's a better expert than the people who are from there?" Daugherty said.

The locations discussed will be centered around Richmond's study abroad partners. The rest of the meeting will be opened for general travel questions, stories and tips. The informal setting creates an easy atmosphere for discussion.

"This semester is a dry run," Daugherty said. "Hopefully, this group will continue after I graduate."

Daugherty encouraged students to join the "ICE at UR" Facebook group. He will be posting future meeting dates there and will use the discussion board to more talk about travel and experiences abroad.

Contact reporter Brittany Combs at brittany.combs@richmond.edu