A VACATION WITH PURPOSE
This is the European trip that you never knew you were missing.
This is not that vacation where people are herded on and off buses from sight to sight and dropped off at souvenir shops where the guide gets a cut. You’ll definitely feel that you’re on vacation, but it’s so much more than that. This is vacation with a definite educational purpose that has transformational potential. In fact, if I don’t manage to rearrange and reform some of your thoughts and attitudes I’ll feel like I’ve failed.
Because of my personal background as a pastor, missionary, mission leader and Christian educator, you also need to know that this is nothing close to a church/mission trip. No, this experience is aimed at your personal development and to greatly enhance your capacity to better understand, relate to and function in a culturally complex world. You will see all you could imagine in both Paris and Amsterdam (five days in each) and still have plenty to free time to invest as you like. You’ll meet new friends, eat great food and make a lifetime of memories from what I promise will be one of the most enjoyable experiences of your life. What’s not to like about that?
This trip is for leaders. This trip is aimed at leaders in the marketplace, church and education, and considers that YOU are someone’s leader! Anyone is more than welcome whatever your vocation, faith or lack thereof.
This trip has a very specific purpose. This is an educational experience designed to equip you, whoever you are and whatever you do, to maximize your impact in light of the increasing cultural complexity of our world. Much business and pleasure travel is done from the security of our “personal space bubble,” desperately trying to ensure the comforts of home while reaching out just enough to occasionally experience foreign sights and tastes. This trip is called cultural immersion because I aim to show you how to navigate different cultures from ground level, just like the people who live there. In the process you will gain skills and knowledge transferable to your travel and work in many other cultures. And when you return home, you will be surprised to see your own culture from a different perspective.
WHY JEFF IS SO PASSIONATE ABOUT EXPLORING CULTURES WITH YOU
START HERE!
People often ask me if I ever get tired to taking people through this experience. After all, I’ve been doing this for over 30 years! The answer is always the same. “Never! Not only do I learn or see something new with each visit, but it’s as fresh as the first time as I witness the transformation of others. Each person is unique and makes it all worthwhile”
Jeff”s iPhone videos from previous adventures
If a picture is worth a thousand words, just imagine how much videos communicate! Nothing could better give you an idea for the feel of this Cultural Immersion experience than some of Jeff’s iPhone videos crafted from previous adventures.
WHY PARIS AND AMSTERDAM
When I started taking people to these cities many years ago my objective was to help people gain
cultural awareness and sensitivity. There are several reasons I chose these two world-class cities.
I’ve found that when people from developed areas such as the United States go to poor and/or exotic locations it often serves to reinforce stereotypes rather than break them down. The focus becomes on rich versus poor, what people have or don’t have, and most everything has to do with surface and external differences without penetrating one’s heart at worldview level. In Western Europe, one encounters standards of living equal to or superior to our own and on the surface there don’t appear to be many differences, except for architecture and history. Yet despite the many obvious similarities, I help you to see some profound cultural differences that often lead to misunderstandings and more stereotyping … “Why are French people so rude? Why are the Dutch so fixated on drugs and sex?” Such typical (and wrong) thinking can result in tragic consequences in relationships and business, at home and abroad.
The historical connection between France, the Netherlands and the United States is often overlooked. You’ll discover some of our own cultural roots in both countries and how those common roots have taken divergent paths as culture continually evolves. France and the Netherlands have irrevocably influenced North American society, faith and politics.
Both cities are safe, have great public transportation and are home to wonderful world-class museums that become laboratories for some of the discoveries we’ll make together. You’ll know that you are on foreign soil and learn to appreciate the differences, but you’re never too far from someone with whom you can converse and continue your learning.
PARIS
Highlights include: Place Concorde; the Obelisk Luxor; walk the Champs-Élysées; Arc de Triomphe, ascend the Eiffel Tower; Musée du Louvre; Jardin des Tuileries; Musée de l’Orangerie; walk through les Grandes Boulevards; day trip by train to Château (palace) de Versailles; walking Reformation tour; Musée d’Orsay; Centre Georges Pompidou; Sainte Chappelle, Notre Dame, Latin Quarter, Montmarte and Basilica de Sacre Coeur (Basilica of the Sacred Heart).
AMSTERDAM
Highlights include: Walking Heart of Amsterdam tour; Anne Frank House; the Rijksmueseum; Van Gogh Museum; the ten Boom Museum in Haarlem (Corrie ten Boom’s Hiding Place); Zaanse Schans (reconstructed Dutch village of a century ago); evening canal tour of Amsterdam; a concert at the famous Concertgebouw when available.
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING
Going to Paris & Amsterdam with Jeff Adams is like having a personal travel concierge. My first trip to Europe was with Jeff and I would have been lost without him. His intimate understanding of European culture allowed me to have a much richer experience than I would have otherwise. I left Europe with a deeper appreciation of other cultures which continues to benefit me personally and professionally.
Alex Upperman, entrepreneur and business owner
Alex and Shauna Upperman
INTERESTED? LETS GO!
KEY OBJECTIVES
- Learn the skill (and freedom) of packing light.
- Learn the “system” that will give you confidence to open a new world of travel options.
- Gain cultural awareness. You don’t have to become a cultural expert or even gain cultural competency in order to improve your ability to function and communicate in other cultures in every realm of your life.
- Gain a heightened awareness of what it means to treat all people with equality, honor and dignity while living under the premise that different is not necessarily wrong, just different.
- Learn some basic techniques of personal security and situational awareness that will greatly reduce your likelihood of being a target of petty crime.
- Learn to enhance your ability to blend in, even when it’s obvious that you’re not really part of a specific culture.
- Gain awareness of how big picture items such as theology, philosophy, the arts, music, anthropology, sociology, missiology and history connect at the boundaries of culture and be able to describe how your individual life connects to that bigger picture and purpose.
- Upon completion of this experience you will receive the certificate of Cultural Navigator. The amount of instruction you receive in this process is roughly equivalent to 3 college level credits.
KEY DETAILS
- Leave the US Monday, September 2, arriving early Tuesday morning in Paris. Fly home on Friday, September 13. You will spend 5 nights in Paris and 5 nights in Amsterdam.
- We will travel by high-speed train from Paris to Amsterdam. Cost is included in the price.
- The ground portion of the trip is $3500 per person based on double occupancy and does NOT include airfare. You are responsible for arranging for your own flight to Paris and returning from Amsterdam (assuming you have no plans to extend your trip before or after Cultural Immersion Experience). Our time together begins on Tuesday morning, September 3, 2019, leaving our group hotel at 11:30 am. I am happy to answer any logical questions about flights, dates and times. See also the FAQ section for more information about extensions to your time in Europe. Missional Impact, Inc. is a registered nonprofit organization, educational in purpose and dedicated to equipping leaders for maximum impact in a culturally complex world. Accordingly your $3500 is counted as a charitable contribution for which you will be given a tax receipt at year’s end. Be aware that once your deposit and final payment are recorded, we cannot legally refund you if for any reason you are unable to make the trip, though it will, of course, still count as a charitable contribution. You can make your check out to Missional Impact, 4607 Norwood CT, Kansas City, MO 64133, use the Donate Button on this page, or I can send you an invoice with a link to pay from most any credit card. A portion of your contribution is also used to make training and coaching available through the ministries of Missional Impact to strategic leaders who otherwise would not have access.
- $1500 non-refundable deposit due May 31, 2019. Balance due August 1, 2019. You can send your check to Missional Impact, 4607 Norwood CT, Kansas City, MO 64133, use the Donate Button on this page, or I can send you an invoice to make payment with most any credit card.
- LODGING AND BREAKFAST INCLUDED. 10 nights in a nice hotel in both Paris and Amsterdam with breakfast included.
- ENTRANCES FOR ALL GROUP ACTIVITIES INCLUDED. Imagine ascending the famous Eiffel tower or a relaxing, evening canal tour with a glass of wine in Amsterdam! In both cities you will receive a museum pass including many other museums and attractions that are not part of our organized activities, but that may be of personal interest to you in your free time.
- ALL GROUND TRANSPORTATION INCLUDED. Public transportation passes in both cities will give you unlimited access to the places we go.
