Anybody ever been on one? They look pretty pricey and I wonder if it's mostly retirees (not that there's anything wrong with that so don't go ballistic) with a fair amount of free time.
Maybe someday in the future?
Anybody ever been on one? They look pretty pricey and I wonder if it's mostly retirees (not that there's anything wrong with that so don't go ballistic) with a fair amount of free time.
Maybe someday in the future?
Nothing incites bodily violence quicker than a Duke fan turning in your direction and saying 'scoreboard.'
My parents started going on some Duke sponsored trips in the late 80s and did a few different ones over the years. They enjoyed them.
My take on what they told me about them was that the people on the trips tended to be better educated and well off than you might find on an average trip. The trips usually included a professor or some sort of other topical expert that they felt brought added value to the trip. They also liked trips put on by the Smithsonian for the same reason.
The people on the trips do not necessarily all have a Duke connection though. Sometimes the amount of Duke affiliated people is not enough and it will get merged with other people, possibly from another college travel program.
The one I remember the most was when they went on one that was a raft trip down the grand canyon. The week of the Duke group got filled up, so they ended up going the week before or after with the same operator. Part of the group they went with was an advance team from the CBS show 48 hours for a show they did in 1990.
You do pay a premium for these trips vs. what you could find on your own.
[redacted] them and the horses they rode in on.
Nothing incites bodily violence quicker than a Duke fan turning in your direction and saying 'scoreboard.'
You will always pay more for someone to plan your trip (travel agent) than going through, for example, expedia. Obvious, I know. Then also add in the cost of having an expert Duke faculty member to add context/knowledge to your particular itinerary. Have never been on a Duke trip so I don't know how much that adds to the experience. I'm sure it varies by trip, but I'll bet there's a minimum bar that has a pretty high setting.
Of course it also depends upon your background how much that would add. If you're doing a tour of Europe and your thesis was on European history, the faculty may not tell you much that you don't already know. But if you were an engineering major who only got to take a few basic humanities courses, it would probably add a lot. If that's your thing...it may bore you to tears.
You took humanities courses? Really? Why?
We've looked at the Duke tours, but pricey is certainly the key word. So never did one. Came closest to going on the Cuba tour a couple of years ago when Cuba was still almost open.
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I have heard generally good things, but let me share a personal Womble trick with you: before we went to Madrid a few years ago, we had received a brochure about a Duke trip there...we carefully noted
the hotel they chose, (some of the other stuff too)...so we figured, what the heck, let's try that place...but we did it all independently, and essentially had a very similar trip at a fraction of the Duke price.
(we aren't big tour people). The Madrid hotel turned out to be perhaps the best hidden gem of a hotel we have ever found, at a truly bargain price. So thank you, Duke brochure.