How Staff Training for Decolonizing Student Travel Experiences Made This Summer a Success

By Elisabet Raquel Garcia | September, 13 2022

I spent this summer in the Dominican Republic the best way possible - leading an array of students through life-changing educational experience programs with Offbeat Travel. 

I remember having my own life-changing experiences when I studied abroad and was so excited help lead others on their own transformative journeys as well.

But before I could do that, I both received and helped contribute to a comprehensive staff training which covered everything from decolonizing travel through community engagement, to ensuring student safety, and to supporting diverse students and their needs. 

It was this comprehensive training that made this summer such a success. 

Decolonizing Student Experiential Education

Since studying abroad, I’ve yearned for more authentic student experiences that would teach them how to be more responsible travelers who didn’t replicate the harms of neo-colonialism or western saviorism. 

That’s why when I learned that Offbeat Travel both employs diverse staff and engages local communities as a part of their mission to decolonize travel, I was thrilled and wanted all in. 

Harry, Offbeat’s Co-Founder and on-site lead for the Dominican Republic says that, “hiring local is key to our mission of decolonizing travel and creating equity in the travel industry. We want to ensure that people in the places we visit have ownership of the design, management, implementation and economic benefits of travel to their communities.” 

He says that the best way to do that is to hire local staff that come from these very communities that students travel to. 

About two-thirds of this summer’s Offbeat Staff were Dominicans of diverse backgrounds - some of Haitian descent, some from the city, some from the campo, some from abroad. The other one-third included folks of different Latin American backgrounds and identities, both local and diaspora living in the U.S.. 

In 2022, there was only one person on the Offbeat team who had no Latin American heritage but who became a well-integrated and well-loved local community member herself. 

“Within our operation we have staff from Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Peru, Spain, Guatemala, and all corners of the United States. We also span socio economic, gender, and sexual orientation spectrums. Most importantly we are 70% local to the country we are operating in.”  

- Harry Alvarez, Co-Founder of Offbeat Travel and On-Site Lead for the Dominican Republic 

Bringing all of us program leaders from diverse backgrounds and perspectives under one roof for a week-long staff training is where the magic happened. Together we trained on how to cultivate decolonial student travel experiences by collaborating with local communities to bring our shared vision of reciprocal impact to life.

We even got a taste of some of the service-based community impact projects we would be leading our students on. Together as a team we constructed cement flooring and stairs in the batey (historical sugarcane worker community) of Monte Coca, where one of Offbeat lead summer staff members, Angelica, is from. 

There we implemented best practices for service-team leading in community projects while ensuring student safety, which is always the number one priority for Offbeat Travel. 

Putting Student Safety First

Prior to my arrival in the DR, I completed my CPR certification along with a 40-hour online staff training that provided me with all the tools on how to be a successful student program leader in any program. But that was just the beginning. 

Offbeat Travel puts student safety first - that’s why us staff were required to undergo a variety of trainings - online, on the ground, in the water, and even in the forest - before we began our summer programs.  

Upon arrival to our staff training, the first thing we did was complete our covid testing (where we all came out as negative - yay!) and receive information about routine testing and covid protocols while on-site. 

After we were all clear to continue on with our staff training, I was able to meet different folks on the team, some who have been doing this kind of work for years and who are seasoned pros in areas like water, mountain, and forest excursions. 

Some summer program leaders, like Jackson, had just finished their optional week-long intensive Wilderness First Responder (WFR) training in addition to the online training as well, before joining our group on-site staff training. 

Jackson says that the Wilderness First Responder training offered him the tools and knowledge he needed to handle most any situation that came his way this summer. 

“It gave me more tranquility knowing how to confront the different scenarios that could occur while on program, especially when we’re working with students out in the wild”.

• Jackson, Student Program Leader

The safety training didn’t end there! Throughout the week each summer staff member had our medical skills verified and practiced safety protocols hands-on by role-playing real life scenarios on topics like: managing risk, responding to incidents, water safety, and even emotional first aid with Gary Robinson, Offbeat Travel’s provider for mental health services for both students and staff.  

Providing Support for Diverse Students 

I learned so much from our staff training and was excited to reciprocate this new-found knowledge and skills with some of my own as a Global Education DEI Specialist: on how to support diverse students on-site. 

I brought my passionate energy to the two-hour training I provided that was met with cheers and curious compassion throughout all the different topics such as BIPOC, LGBTQ+, gendered, and disabled student experiences and their unique needs. 

During my training I introduced Offbeat Travel staff to the latest terms, data, experiences and challenges, along with the do’s and don’ts to successfully supporting these diverse students' needs. 

Everyone had the opportunity to practice hands-on with case study prompts where staff were able to act out, present, and provide constructive feedback on how to best handle scenarios where they need to keep student’s identities and needs top of mind.

While some program leaders were at least familiar with these different concepts, everyone left learning something new - including myself. Many said that this training helped further open up their minds and provided them with the tools that they needed to better express their care for and value of diverse people, especially for those of the LGBTQ+ community.  

My heart was filled with gratitude after giving the training when multiple staff members came up to me to offer a personal thank you as they expressed how grateful they were to have received this training from me. 

Carlos, one of Offbeat Travel’s program leaders with the most life experience, told me that this training on how to better support diverse students was going to serve him not just for the summer as a program leader, but for the rest of his life. Knowing this means the world to me. 

Comprehensive Decolonial Travel Staff Training Made This Summer a Success 

My summer in the Dominican Republic as a program leader wouldn’t have achieved the same level of success had it not been for such a comprehensive staff training on how to lead decolonial travel experiences. 

Witnessing the intentionality behind Offbeat Travel’s staff training come to life by collaborating with communities, handling student safety, and providing equitable service to diverse students, is truly what made this summer a success. 

As a Global Education DEI Specialist, this was definitely the most honorable way I could have spent my summer - helping transform student’s lives through experiential education.