Trips & Service – Rotary Global Travelers Club

Future trips and service projects

Habitat for Humanity Service Project -- September 17 - 20, 2024

Our members will be joining members of the Alexandria, Minnesota Rotary club for service and social time in September. The service project involves two different Habitat for Humanity builds in the Alexandria area.

Members of the Alexandria Rotary Club have volunteered to provide housing and food for our members.

Alexandria is about a 2-hour drive to Merrifield, making it convenient to participate in both the service project and the fall social retreat.

This document describes this exciting service opportunity in more detail. For more information and to register, contact our coordinator for this project, Barb Brown (barbellen@gmail.com).

Cuba -- 6 more trips October 2024 thru January 2025

The trips to Cuba organized by member Merna Gill offer several different itineraries. Here are the planned departures:

Cienfuegos, Trinidad and Havana — October 30 – November 5, 2024
Havana, Vinales, Las Terrazes — November 6 – 12, 2024
Santa Clara, Ceinfuegos, Trindada and Havana — December 4 – 10, 2024
Havana, Vinales, Las Terrazes — December 11- 17, 2024
Cienfuegos, Trinidad and Havana — January 8 – 14, 2025
Havana, Cienfuegos, Trinidad, Santa Clara — January 15 – 21, 2025

For more information about these trips, contact Merna Gill (mernagill@gmail.com).

Read about traveling to Cuba here.

Danube River Cruise November 3 - 10, 2024 -- Open to non-members

Greetings Rotary friends and fellow travelers,

With so many Rotary groups, large and small, traveling all over the world, we thought it would be a good idea to add another element to our travels…fundraising!!! By forming a group, many of the cruise and tour operators are happy to support fundraisers, and it’s possible to get funds for future grant projects with ZERO increase in the travel cost.

We are now sponsoring a river cruise with Amawaterways along the Danube River in Europe in November of 2024. The cruise is on one of the most unique ships in all of Europe (actually, unique in the entire world!!)–the AmaMagna. The ship is twice the width of other river cruise ships, which means larger cabins and room for more restaurants and other nice features

Attached is a brochure provided by Amawaterways to this email, which notes the optional excursions you can choose from, and remember these excursions are included in the cost of the trip.

If you’d like to sign up, please note that the prices on the brochure are only good until September 30 this year. They include a 20% discount from the regular price, and also a group discount. Another important consideration is that inventory is live (meaning first come, first served), and there are limited cabins available particularly with the fixed window accommodations. Amawaterways is also having an airfare sale currently, providing $899 economy fares, and this sale also expires on September 30. That is very reasonable for international travel.

By joining, you’ll not only be experiencing a fantastic river cruise but also helping our club build up its account to support future grant projects. For every person who travels, Amawaterways will be returning $100 to the club, and for every 5 cabins that are fully booked, the club will receive the equivalent of one cruise fare (not including taxes and fees). Click here or on the image above for a brochure about the trip.

You can sign up at this link: https://worldtravelbucketlist.com/mbg/rotary-global-travelers-e-club-fundraising-cruise/

that site shows the number of cabins available in the different categories, as well as the price. Single prices are not listed, but those are available for anyone who requests them) We’ll be limiting registrations to our E-Club first, and then open it up to the other clubs as long as cabins are still available.

India Check Dam Project, November 13-20, 2024

The India check dam project is a Rotary global initiative to build dams throughout India for water conservation and sanitation. Two of our Global Travelers, Elana Levens-Craig and Adam Hays, are participating in this year’s project and extending an invitation to other Global Travelers to join them.

From Elana:

Want to see India and make a difference? Join us for our 14^th annual check dam (water and sanitation) project Nov 13-20, 2024. Help a village build a check dam, ensuring adequate groundwater saturation for 100 years. Participate in local ceremonies, see iconic places in India and make lifelong friendships with the partner Rotary club in Delhi. Stay tuned for more information at our July 23^rd Global Travelers meeting meeting. Got questions? Contact Adam at (907) 223-2406 or Elana at (619) 993-7805.

This brochure provides details about this service project / trip, including an application for participation.

Ethiopia: January 17 - February 1, 2025

16 days, 15 nights. May include up to 3 opportunities to visit local Rotary clubs or participate in service projects.

Brazil & the Amazon -- March 10 -16 and March 17 - 23, 2025

We are pleased to announce a new service trip. Due to the strong interest in this trip, we now have two different departure dates available. We have partnered with Belo Shabona to offer a new service trip to the Amazon River in March of 2025. This trip will be an unforgettable experience aboard a custom-made Amazonian boat built by local artisans, with an authentic regional, vintage style. Learn more.

FULL Eastern European Tour -- May 10 - 20 and May 20 - June 1, 2025

Eastern Europe trip overview Club member Rick Olson has organized several trips to the countries of Eastern Europe. For a limited time, he is making two May 2025 departure dates available exclusively to Global Travelers:

May 10 to 20 — Tallinn, Estonia to Budapest Hungary
May 20 to June 1 — Budapest, Hungary to Tallinn, Estonia

This land trip is designed for a small group. It features a 19-passenger mini-bus with a professional driver. It is a “traveling seminar,” with many lectures along the way to teach travelers about culture, history, and the economic and business environment. Plus you’ll have the opportunity to meet with local Rotarians in several cities and participate in at least one service project. Read more.

Hawaii Service & Fun -- December 3 - 16, 2025

We are combining several days of service in Honolulu with the option to join fellow Rotarians on a cruise around the islands.

Mexico Butterfly Migration -- Winter 2026 (tentative)

We are in the process of investigating a trip to Mexico to observe the Monarch Butterfly migration. Stay tuned for more information.

Note: if you are a member of our Global Travelers E-Club, you can find more detailed information about future trips here. You will need to log in to access this information.