In July, a local Girl Scout troop went on the adventure of a lifetime.
Troop 20588 visited Europe in July. They worked for over a year to plan and fund the trip, visiting four countries over 13 days.
Troop co-leader Elizabeth Shelton said, “We loved every minute of it!” She accompanied the teens, along with co-leader Stephanie Commins and adult volunteer Danielle Hope. The troop members are Sabrina Shelton, Millie Hope and Kate Wolden.
A centerpiece of the trip was a hike to Switzerland’s “Our Chalet,” a World Centre for the World Association for Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, the international organization for Girl Scouting. But the travelers enjoyed many of the sights they visited in Germany, Switzerland, Italy and France.
Shelton was happy to check Venice off her lifelong bucket list, and loved “seeing the Eiffel Tower sparkle.” Her daughter, Sabrina, adored visiting Versailles. She also fell in love with Switzerland and “would love to live there.”
Danielle Hope called it “the trip of a lifetime.” She added, “This trip with Girl Scouts allowed Millie and I to both experience and see so much together.” On one of their travel days, the group visited three different countries! She added, “This trip was truly amazing and it is definitely a core memory.”
Shelton praised EF Tours tour director Mario, who helped the travelers find lots of fun activities. These included Munich’s Tollwood Summer Festival, a tour of the Paris catacombs, and a river cruise on the Seine. They got to visit some less-well-known destinations, such as Sirmione, Italy, and Comar, France. They had a great time, she said, and even the chilly summer weather in Germany couldn’t dampen their enthusiasm.
Millie Hope loved seeing the sights and traveling with her mom, but her very favorite part of the tour “was getting to get close with the two other girls in my troop.” She added, “I know we’ve known each other for many years but being put in such close proximity with them for so long gave us time to really get to know each other.”
Not every destination was fun, however. Danielle Hope recalled, “While the trip was amazing and we did so many fun things and saw so many beautiful places—Switzerland seriously blew me away—we also visited Dachau.” The concentration camp, now a memorial to the Holocaust, “was an extremely difficult place to visit and not just for the obvious reasons.” She reflected on the visit’s implications for today’s current events.
Before traveling, the Girl Scouts planned. They picked the itinerary themselves. After hearing about other troops going on international trips, they resolved to go on their own voyage. They each listed their top three hoped-for destinations, and then researched EF Tours that included at least two of those places. They spent a lot of time debating the pros and cons of various tours before deciding on this three-country jaunt, adding France to the plan.
Then it was time to pay for the trip! “The girls sold a LOT of Girl Scout Cookies,” Shelton said, including working many booths. They also hosted fun Girl Scout events and ran rummage sales. EF Tours “is very organized,” Shelton said, “with checklists and deadlines to get everything finished in a timely manner.”
As Girl Scout Ambassadors, the level of grades 11 and 12, Troop 20588 are used to taking initiative and planning their own goals, a pillar of Girl Scouting.
This troop have been together for 11 years, starting as Daisies and Brownies. Shelton had led a troop for her older daughter, and when Sabrina “couldn’t wait to be a ‘Girl Scouter’ like her big sister,” she started a second troop.
Girl Scouts of America is a nationwide nonprofit organization with the mission of “building Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.” Girl Scouts serve girls and nonbinary children in grades K-12. To learn more, contact the Girl Scout Council of the Southern Appalachians, email info@girlscoutcsa.org or call 865-474-1912.
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