Blink and you just might miss it. Traveling along busy West Seventh Avenue in Eugene, you would never know by its humble exterior that Trips Inc. is more than a conventional travel agency.
Since its founding in 1991, Trips Inc. has organized national and international trips for travelers with developmental disabilities.
Trips Inc. takes travelers all around the world, from Disneyland in California to international destinations such as Paris and Madrid. What makes Trips Inc. unique is its commitment to making every trip accessible and interesting for both the disabled and non-disabled community.
Founder and director Jim Peterson, who has worked within the special education community for more than 28 years, said he has seen a dramatic change in how people with disabilities are perceived within the community.
“What we’ve been taught is not to stare at people with disabilities,” Peterson said. “Trips Inc. is huge for the disabled community but almost more important for people without disabilities. When they see our groups in Hawaii snorkeling, swimming … it sort of kills
these stereotypes.”
More importantly, the organization hopes to promote independence and personal growth through traveling.
“Through travel, they are educated, they gain friends from all over the world, they learn to be independent and, of course, they get a chance to see the world,” communications director Leslie Peterson said.
Travel and accounting manager Rhonda Reed has witnessed the travelers’ growth firsthand over the 20 trips she has chaperoned. She has accompanied travelers on such exciting trips as England and Rome and will be chaperoning the organization’s second trip to New Zealand this March.
Nine travelers will be in New Zealand for 11 days. Reed anxiously anticipates the adventures ahead of her. As travel manager, she has scheduled a variety of activities, from whale watching, shopping and exploring trees of glowing worms.
Travelers especially enjoy talking to the local community members and learning about their culture.
“When we are in New Zealand, we will be exploring the Maori culture and are going to a Maori hongi, kind of like a Hawaiian luau,” she said.
However, Reed is careful to cater mostly to the interests of the travelers, not just her own interests. She has found, to her delight, that the travelers have thoroughly enjoyed past activities she has planned.
“When we were in Paris, we visited the Louvre,” she reminisced. “I was afraid they were going to be so exhausted by the enormity of it. But they just loved it! We spent hours and hours there. They were so excited about it!”
And through these trips, Reed and other chaperones alike said they learn just as much from the travelers and their experiences as the travelers learn at the destinations.
“For them, it’s this moment, right now. It’s about this day and this moment. Our groups can take hours to do one activity, but it teaches me to slow down and live in the moment,” she said.
The devotion and care that Trips Inc. coordinators put into their trips has gained an enormous amount of supporters and travelers from both the disabled and non-disabled community.
Traveler Monica Venice has been taking vacations with Trips Inc. for 15 years and keeps coming back every year.
“My favorite trip was to Hawaii’s Big Island, where I met my fiancé 10 years ago. I met new friends from all over the country,” she said.
Trips Inc. not only encourages the independence and growth of its travelers but has also built a large-scale community in the process.
“It really does build global community,” Jim Peterson commented. “There’s a huge sense of community acceptance around what we do.”
That community acceptance is felt most notably in the surrounding Eugene-Springfield area.
In fact, several of its employees are graduates from the University.
“Four of the six employees at Trips have graduated from the U of O. We also have had many volunteers (from the University) over the years, such as Dan Close, (an) associate professor,” Jim Peterson said.
Through these vacations, Trips Inc. has built a strong and supportive community within its company as well.
“We are more like a group of family and friends rather than strangers. And that is a lot of fun,” Reed said. “There’s a lot of laughter. A lot of laughter! Really, we are always laughing; it’s too much fun!”
Coming up on the organization’s 20-year anniversary, Peterson has been elated to see the inclusion and equality of the disabled community has grown over his years at Trips Inc.
“When I was a kid, you didn’t see disabled people out there,” he said. “They didn’t go to public school until 1974. It’s good to educate people that they’re not that different. The disabled community doesn’t want to be left on the sidelines.”
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