Pleasant Valley Spanish teacher Stephanie Risius celebrated her recent birthday with a trip to Saint Lucia, totaling her travels to 52 countries. The journey so far has taught her a lot about the world, and she hopes to share her knowledge with others.
About 71% of Americans have traveled internationally at some point in their life, with about 11% having visited 10 or more countries. It’s safe to say, Risius has well exceeded this number.
Risius is part of a group of friends who, like herself, take students on educational trips abroad as well as travel on their own time. The group helped ignite her life goal of traveling. “We got to counting how many countries we each have been to and I realized I’m in the forties, and you’ve got to have a goal in life so my goal became visiting 50 countries before I turn 50,” she said.
Risius was able to achieve her goal during a two week trip to the Scandinavian countries where she visited five countries. Her time in Estonia checked the milestone box.
Travel has been proven to have several mental and physical benefits, including increasing creativity and relieving stress. Experiencing other cultures also helps with broadening viewpoints on global situations to create a more informed population. Psychology teacher Ann Berger stressed the importance of travel in a cognitive sense. “I can’t imagine a more enriching experience for the brain,” she said.
Risius’s biggest takeaway from traveling has been what she has learned about herself. “You learn a lot about yourself and how to rely on yourself and not everyone else. You learn time management, money management, and to be aware of your surroundings. You learn people are generally good and it’s just fun to get to know people,” she said.
Her travels weren’t limited to self improvement, but adding realistic culture to her classes. Risius teaches Spanish and incorporates what she’s learned from her travels to 13 of the 21 Spanish speaking countries. Identifying these aspects has allowed her to give students a real world feel to learning the language.
Risius learned how different cultures and language dialects are between each Hispanic country. “I have been able to take what I’ve learned back to the classroom. When I was in Cuba they used this word and ate this food, but in Peru they don’t say aguacate (avocado) they say palta. Central America is different from South America which is different from Spain,” she said. When people study in a country they only learn that one country, but seeing multiple teaches more perspectives.
Traveling to the level Risius has is not for the faint of heart, but there are good ways to ease into it. “Start small and go to Canada or Mexico. The resorts are nice, but that’s not how people live. If you do go to one, take a day trip to see the country’s history. In the Dominican I didn’t want to stay at a resort because that’s just the US in a new country. Understand the people because you will find that they are so nice. You can even go on a school trip like the Spain trip in June 2024,” she said.
Risius doesn’t yet know what her next country goal will be, but she knows there is a lot more to learn and more places to visit. Her international stories are a treat for everyone and are inspiring the future of international education.
