Posted on
December 10, 2025
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Features
IgoUgo recently had the opportunity to teach a Citizen Schools apprenticeship, and our students wowed us with this plan for an around-the-world trip. Join us in congratulating them, and in stealing some travel tips. We just love it when someone else does the homework!
So where do thirteen 11- to 14-year-olds want to go? Beginning and ending in New York, the students conceived and designed a trip with five legs that would include four stops: Brazil, Italy, Egypt, and Japan. Here are the highlights.
Brazil
Top Brazil Sights: Amazon River, Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer, and Carnaval
Top Brazil Eats: Bolinhos and churrascaria feasts
Top Brazil Tips: Bring plenty of reals, learn Portuguese phrases like por favor, and see a soccer game at Rio’s Maracana stadium.
Italy
Top Italy Sights: Venice’s canals, Florence’s Duomo, and Rome’s St. Peter’s Basilica
Top Italy Eats: Bread, pizza, pasta, gelato, and (especially) Nutella
Top Italy Tips: Bring your euros for fashionable shopping (Gucci, Prada, and more!), and for plenty of cappuccinos.
Egypt
Top Egypt Sights: Pharaoh's Island, Great Pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx, and the Nile River
Top Egypt Eats: Baklava, falafel, beans, and tomatoes
Top Egypt Tips: Bring Egyptian pounds, a few words of Arabic, and an interest in hieroglyphics and ancient Egypt.
Japan
Top Japan Sights: Tokyo’s Sensoji Temple, Osaka Castle, Kyoto’s art museums, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki
Top Japan Eats: Sushi, sashimi, rice, and tea
Top Japan Tips: Learn a few words of Japanese (the students’ hands-down favorite is iie, or “no”), see the cherry blossoms in spring, and enjoy advanced technology on train tracks and elsewhere.
A special thanks to honorary IgoUgo travelers Markeis, Adrienne, Jahlil, Jazzmin, Azanyah, Romare, Jonah, Damien, Arianna, Davin, Aaliyah, Sophon, and Francesco! Way to go (around the world).