New Society at Warwick: Travel Society
Wandering the brightly lit streets of Reykjavik- which is probably the closest one could possibly feel to being in the North Pole, I got a call from a fellow exec telling me that Warwick Travel Society has been passed by the Students’ Union.
What a perfect way to find out!
Before heading back home for the Christmas break, a group of friends and I had decided to travel to Iceland with the mission of seeing the Northern Lights! (Spoiler alert: We didn’t get to see them as it was too cloudy. But Iceland is nonetheless amazing).
A few highlights from the trip, aside from the banters and jokes we had just exploring a new place together, were the Blue Lagoon and the Golden Circle Tour. They say a picture speaks a thousand words so I’m just going to let them do all the talking:
There, have I convinced you to take a trip to Iceland yet? It’s just 3 hours from London but it feels like a whole new world! (Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored by the Icelandic tourism authority!). If I have, then maybe consider joining Travel Society- a band new society at Warwick.
This brings me to my first point. Almost three years ago, I joined Warwick as an over enthusiastic fresher keen to explore the UK, Europe, and beyond. The very first society I looked for on the Warwick Students’ Union Page was a travel society but was disappointed to not find one.
Of course, there are plenty of opportunities to travel via other societies. I know that Warwick Snow do an annual ski trip, Warwick Salsa is famous for their epic tours, and even academic societies like Warwick Politics do city breaks during reading week or Easter break. If I’m not mistaken, the Politics society went to Amsterdam last Easter and are going to Dublin this reading week.
The purpose of these tours, however, are for their members to bond over the particular society whether that may be their passion for skiing, dancing, or even their degree choices. The tour will be organized around those shared interests and if you haven’t been going to the events you probably won’t know too many people within the society.
A travel society, in contrast, is a platform to connect travel enthusiasts for the purposes of them travelling as a group to explore a country. Towards the end of last year, a friend and I decided if there wasn’t one why don’t we just set up one? We had to get 30 signatures from the student bodies, fill in forms, and attend a 10-minute meeting with the SU Committee.
Our aims are to organize an international and domestic tour, regular socials, as well as a travel blog. You can join our Facebook page here to keep updated on our official status and our events.
Since my time here, I have been grateful for the opportunity to have hitchhiked from campus to Inverness through Warwick Jailbreak, travelled to Paris, Vienna, Geneva, Budapest, Krakow, Warsaw, and most recently Reykjavik, as well as volunteered at a summer camp in Beijing!
Through Travel Society, we hope to be able to create a space for students to find travel buddies to likewise explore the world with.
