As a 10th-grade student, doing an internship at Redwood Edutours was a completely new experience for me. Redwood Edutours is a company that designs educational and experiential travel programs for students combining travel with real-world learning.
Before starting the internship, I thought travel planning was mostly about booking hotels and transportation. However, during the internship, I understood that creating educational tours involves much more research, planning, communication, creativity and teamwork. This internship gave me my first real exposure to how companies work and helped me learn skills that are difficult to learn only in a classroom.
One of the biggest challenges I faced was understanding how detailed itinerary planning actually is. Every activity in a tour has to make sense in terms of timing, learning values, safety, budget and the interests of different age categories. Initially, I also struggled with professional communication and organizing information properly. Since I was new to this environment, at times I found it difficult to understand expectations quickly or think from the perspective of students.
Another challenge was balancing creativity with practicality. Some ideas sounded exciting, but they were not always realistic when considering travel time, costs, weather conditions, or student safety.
A major part of my learning came from understanding how real educational travel experiences are designed. I learnt that itineraries are not simply lists of places to visit. They are carefully planned experiences that combine education, exploration, and engagement. For example, a trip could include historical learning, sustainability activities, local cultural experiences, adventure activities, or teamwork exercises. While working on my ideas I understood how companies have to think ahead about possible issues, student behavior, group dynamics, schedules, and logistics. This taught me to think more practically and pay attention to details. Also, I also learnt how important communication is and how important it is to take ownership of tasks and manage your time better working as an intern and juggling between studies and sports. During the internship, I made mistakes like overlooking small details, underestimating the time required for activities, or creating plans that were too prompt. However, these mistakes became some of the biggest learning opportunities for me. I realized that professional work is not about being perfect immediately. It is about improving continuously, accepting feedback, and learning how to adapt. I also understood the importance of double checking information carefully and thinking from multiple perspectives before making decisions.
One of the most valuable parts of the internship was observing how teamwork happens inside a company. Each of us contributed to different ideas. I learnt that successful projects depend on communication, coordination, and respecting each other’s role. Discussions, feedback sessions and idea sharing helped improve the quality of work. This experience taught me that teamwork is not only about dividing tasks, it is also about listening, adapting, and working toward a common goal.
This internship helped me develop many practical and professional skills,
including:
- – Research and information organization
- – Creative thinking and itinerary planning
- – Communication skills
- – Time management
- – Attention to detail
- – Problem-solving
- – Team collaboration
One interesting thing I learned was how much effort is involved in designing travel experiences. Different people enjoy different types of activities. Some students may enjoy adventure while others prefer cultural or educational experiences. Planning tours requires understanding what keeps people engaged, comfortable, curious, and excited. I realized that good experiences are designed by understanding human emotions, interests, and behavior. This helped me become more observant and thoughtful while planning ideas. This internship showed me how hands-on learning can have a real impact on students. Educational tours help students learn outside textbooks through direct experiences, interactions, and practical Exposure.
Most importantly, this internship made me realize that learning can happen everywhere — not only in schools. Since this was my first experience in a professional environment, it also helped me become more mature in the way I think and communicate. Schools teach theories and concepts, but internships and experiential learning help us understand how those concepts are actually used in real life. I now understand why experiential education is becoming increasingly important in today’s world.
My internship at Redwood Edutours was an enriching experience. It helped me understand the amount of creativity, planning, teamwork, andresponsibility involved in designing meaningful educational travel experiences. More than just learning about the travel industry, I have learnt important life skills such as communication, adaptability, critical thinking, and collaboration. I would like to thank my mentor who constantly guided me throughout the internship.
-SHIVANSH SHASTA
