From Greece and Japan to California, senior trips can take place anywhere. Allowing seniors to have one last hurrah, one last adventure, before each one goes their separate ways and starts a new chapter in their story.
Senior Bryan Heafey said he is excited to go on his senior trip and thinks it will be a lot of fun.
“Me and my friends are going to Greece, specifically Mykonos and Paros,” Heafey said. “I am super excited and I know all my friends are too, because it’s gonna be a great chance for all of us to go see the world and have fun experiences in a new place together.”
Heafey said that he will be paying for the trip himself.
“It will differ for each person. Some may be paying for themselves and others are going to have their parents pay for them,” Heafey said. “For the whole trip it’s going to cost a little under $3000 per person, and that is including what each person will be spending while there.”
Senior trips offer a variety of things to do regardless of the place of the trip.
“I will probably do some sightseeing, going out during the night with my friends, and one of the most important things that I’ll be doing is just decompressing after high school,” Heafey said.
Senior Henry Mitchell said he and his friends will be going to Japan and Thailand.
“It’s gonna be awesome. I can’t wait to try the food in both Japan and Thailand and it will be super interesting to just take in these two completely different countries and experience different cultures,” Mitchell said. “I know it’s going to be a crazy night life so to be able to be a part of that and enjoy it with all my friends who are also going should be super cool.”
Senior Sam Atanasio, who will be joining Mitchell on the trip, said kids in Piedmont are lucky that they are able to go on these trips.
“It’s a blessing to be able to go on a trip like that, and I think the main reason why senior trips are pretty common here at Piedmont is because most people here are lucky enough to be able to afford trips like these,” Atanasio said.
Atanasio said the trip will cost around $2000 per person and that includes purchases made on the trip.
“I don’t think anyone plans on spending too much money while on the trip, mainly because the cost of living in Thailand is ridiculously cheap,” Atanasio said.
Atanasio said that luckily his friends didn’t need any help with the planning process of their trip.
“We had no parent involvement in planning our trip, all our friends planned it out and each of us came to our parents with the plan,” Atanasio said.
Senior Robyn Kim said while most seniors are choosing to travel internationally, she and her friends decided to do a road trip around California.
“We wanted to do something more casual and camp so a road trip in California was a good way to accomplish that,” Kim said. “We also get to visit places in California we haven’t been to before, which will be really cool to experience.”
Kim said everyone’s parents will be funding the trip.
“I think the whole trip will cost around $1000 for each person,” Kim said. “All our friends planned the trip together, but we got recommendations on places to visit from our parents.”
Senior trips don’t only take place at Piedmont, they are also prominent at other schools like Bishop O’Dowd.
“I am going on [a senior trip] with my friend. We are going to Switzerland, France, and Spain, so I am super excited to go,” Bishop O’Dowd senior Annabel Larrison said. “I can’t wait to see all sorts of different cities and towns, go clubbing, do some wine tasting, and have relaxing beach days.”
Heafey said that at Piedmont there is a slight pressure to partake in a senior trip.
“I think at Piedmont it is such a small community and especially within each class, so there definitely is some kind of pressure to go on a trip,” Heafey said. “I think if you are not going on one it could be seen as ‘oh they don’t have friends because they are not going on a trip’ or maybe you just were doing something else while all your friends were on the trip, so there is that fear of missing out.”
Kim also said there is pressure to do a senior trip within the community.
“I am certain that at Piedmont there is definitely some sort of pressure for a senior trip, but it doesn’t have to be super extravagant,” Kim said. “The pressure to go on one comes from everyone else doing trips, so if you don’t do one it seems kinda lame.”
Larrison said there isn’t much of a pressure to go on a trip at her school.
“A lot of people at O’Dowd are going on one, but I don’t think there is any sort of pressure to go on one, people just do it cause they want to have fun somewhere different with their friends,” Larrison said.
The pressure at Piedmont to go on a trip can come from things like social media and seeing your friends or the fear of missing out on memories with your friends.
“I think that the reason for the pressure to do one is wanting to be a part of an experience that all your friends can share together,” Heafey said. “When you aren’t somewhere with your friends and you see them posting about it it’s definitely not a good feeling, so people want to be able to do these trips with their friends.”
