The man with the dream job on campus: director of educational travel

You name it: China, Nicaragua, Mongolia, Panama, Africa … Doug Whittle, director of the Division of Continuing Studies’ Educational Travel Program, has been there — with a pack on his back and tour book in his hand.

Whittle, a former art professor and Peace Corps volunteer, said that while teaching in South Carolina, he missed the experience of living in foreign cultures, “so I went backpacking in my summers.”

One of his fondest memories is from a trip to Asia. “I was crossing from St. Petersburg to Hong Kong through Mongolia. I had hired a jeep, driver and interpreter, and we were traversing vast grasslands in the central portion of the country, when we spotted a ger [a felt tent that nomads use as lodging] on a distant ridge. When my interpreter asked if I wanted to visit the group, I said, ‘Absolutely!’

“We found a family with their camels hitched out back and small horses and goats wandering around. There was dried horse meat hanging on a line alongside their laundry. They welcomed us like long-lost family and bid us to sit down and drink their fermented mare’s milk.

“At the time I was wondering what in the world we would be able to talk about together since our worlds were so radically different. Then the grandfather, who looked to be 100, asked through the interpreter: ‘Sir, is the Black Panther leader Angela Davis still alive?’

“I was blown away! I discovered that he listened religiously to an ancient shortwave radio. Of course, this was very humbling and very important because it reminded me not to presume that I was smarter or more informed than someone else.”

It is this kind of experience that brought Whittle to Madison in 2004 to direct the division’s educational excursions for adults.

Although discussing itineraries with international offices of tourism is second nature to Whittle, his position now requires him to plan trips for anywhere from 18 to 40 people. Each year, he’s on the road approximately 65 days, leading eight or nine travel seminars that range from four to 18 days in length.

A year’s schedule will include popular excursions that have been offered for many years — such as short trips focusing on the performing and visual arts in New York City, Santa Fe, N.M., and London — and one or two longer trips to new destinations such as Peru, Belize or Russia.

This past spring, Whittle conducted a travel seminar that explored the anthropology, history, agriculture, economy and culture of Peru in two and a half weeks. Native tour guides accompanied the group.

Whittle noted that in many countries, including Peru, travel guides must be college graduates and pass an exam to become licensed. “Our guides in Peru were engineers, archaeologists, and we even had an ornithologist. They also had outstanding English skills, making our daily conversations wonderful exchanges of information and ideas.

“I like to think that my programs are not cookie-cutter trips. We get off the tourist route when possible.”

Whittle went on to describe the group’s housing in the Amazon jungle. “It was a spectacular lodge with soaring ceilings and a thatched roof, yet it had no hot water or electricity. Also, the hotel rooms had only three walls; the fourth side was completely open to the jungle outside! It made for an intimate jungle experience: sights, sounds and humidity included.”

Whittle is expanding the travel program, with future destinations to include Egypt, the Mississippi Delta, Alaska, China and Vietnam.

“I begin planning these trips at least 18 months ahead because the logistics are so complicated. I research costs, climate, itineraries, lodging and transportation options while trying to balance my desire to see as much as possible within the reality of an affordable cost,” he said, as he sat at his desk that is piled high with stacks of travel guides.

“Once I’ve determined where I want to go and what I want to do, I work closely with a wholesale travel agent. Distance, cost and time all play a role in what we actually schedule. We eliminate or add some activities, add a meal here or omit one there. I work on the actual day-to-day details right up until we depart. On the road I carry my task sheet, which lists the phone calls I need to make each day, people I should remember to tip, and which traveler needs a special diet meal and other details that I can’t carry around in my head.”

The majority of travelers are between the ages of 50 and 70 for the performing arts destinations. The longer trips, which include more strenuous physical activity, attract a somewhat younger set. “For example, the list for our trip to Egypt in February 2008 has two 25-year-olds on it, along with several people in their 40s, a larger number in their 50s and also a few senior citizens. The goal is attract people from all walks and stages of life.”

He added that on a recent trip to London one mother traveled with her 16-year-old and another group included a grandmother, mother and a 14-year-old. “The experience was made stronger and more diverse with their presence. They brought intelligence and curiosity to our discussions.”

Whittle says that these conversations, along with the firsthand viewing of fascinating sights, is what the educational travel program is all about. “We expose the travelers to the whole world as a classroom.”

The traveling groups also represent the campus around the globe, he noted. “So in a way, we are UW ambassadors. We also benefit from the reputation the UW enjoys nationwide, attracting people from many states to our program. I think this is a very nice symbiotic relationship.”