We’re excited your traveler is joining us for the 5th Annual Foundation Trip to Southern Italy! This is not a typical tour—it’s an experience to fully immerse travelers in the local culture, lifestyle, and traditions. Travelers will live, eat, and explore like locals. It’s an insider’s view, not a view from the sidelines.

All participants should be ready and willing to fully engage in the Expedition. Before the trip, travelers must review all available information, including lodging, rooming, meals, and the physical demands of activities. Activities are not optional, and all travelers are expected to participate to the best of their ability.

Our trip leaves from IAH in Houston in early June 2027, with 10 days traveling. Our itinerary is still in progress. We expect most of it to be finalized by August 2026, with final details confirmed by December 2026. We’ll share updates as we get them. Please understand that travel plans can change, sometimes beyond our control.

Our travel partner for this trip is E&E Expeditions: https://ee-expeditions.com/.

The trip includes 10 nights of lodging in shared rooms—students may be in double, triple, or dorm-style rooms, with up to eight people per room in some places. In certain locations, students may need to share a bed. Rooms will be assigned based on gender at birth to help ensure everyone's safety and comfort.

All meals in Italy are included. Water and snacks will also be provided—travelers should bring a refillable water bottle. Travelers will need to cover meals during air travel and in airports.

Airfare from Houston is included. If your traveler is coming from elsewhere, they must meet the group in Houston the day before the trip. We can help arrange a place to stay overnight, either with a local student, at our home, or in local lodging or lodging next to the airport.

We suggest traveling light! Pack in a carry-on luggage with a personal item. You will be carrying your bag to/from the coach, down cobblestone streets, and up and down stairs! Don’t pack more than you want to lift! 

Most ground travel will be on air-conditioned coaches. In rural areas, smaller vehicles (some without A/C) may be used. Students may also use public transportation, like local buses or car services, as planned by our tour operator.

“Expedition Mentality” (EM) is the intentional creation of a positive and supportive group culture for the trip. E&E Experiences is great at this, which is one reason we love working with them. EM helps travelers stay flexible and upbeat—turning challenges (like bad weather or travel delays) into opportunities, just like in life.

To help build this group culture before we leave, we’ll have chances to connect and get to know each other. Most of these will be virtual, since our group includes travelers from all over, but in-person meetups will be available in Houston for those nearby or able to travel.

Our chaperones are an important part of the group. They help keep everyone safe and lead group activities. There will be an introduction meeting for parents, travelers, chaperones, and E&E guides, along with smaller group meetings in the fall and spring. If you're in or near Houston, you may be able to meet in person before the trip. We’ll also have a group chat and team-building activities led by our Jr. Chaperone and experienced youth travelers to help everyone feel welcome and connected.

The deposit can’t be refunded because we use it to hold your traveler’s spot with the airline and tour company. If someone else takes their place, we’ll refund it—but we don’t get it back from our providers. Airfare costs, once purchased for the group, are not refundable. 

If you cancel: 

- 150+ days before the trip – full refund, minus the deposit and airfare.

- 121–149 days before – 50% refund, minus the deposit and airfare.

- Less than 120 days before – no refund

Before heading out to explore Lecce, the Queen of Southern Italian Baroque, and check in at our central hotel, explorers start getting acquainted with the Italian atmosphere. 

Your guides are happy to give you a personal "Benvenuto in Puglia".

While heading to the accommodation, kick your adventure off with a dip in the Med- time and weather permitting - and a freshly made panino.

Take your time to chill out and get ready to embark on the first sight of the city: we know the perfect spot for our first Expedition Mentality Circle. 

Facts and stories about Puglia, the "green heel of the boot" and Lecce, will be shared by your local guides who set the tone for students owning their experience with active and engaged learning.

A delicious dinner is then waiting to be enjoyed in a local osteria. 

Important Themes:

• Your guides will introduce our philosophy and the teaching themes that will cohesively link together the incredible wealth of information you will learn on the trip. 

• Your group will be introduced to the Expedition Mentality, our nuanced strategy for creating the strongest possible group culture. 

• Our first nightly circle will reinforce the Expedition Mentality and set the tone for the best possible experiential learning trip. 

Overnight: Lecce

This morning we travel in time through exploring the rich history of Lecce, standing proudly in the middle of the historical Salentine peninsula, always a lively bridge for trades of ancient peoples between Western and Eastern world.  

With a local guide, learn about the facts that made the city a well-conserved open-air museum recognized as the "queen" of the baroque style of south Italy. 

Under Spanish control in the 600', Lecce took today's importance, and what makes it different from any other baroque city is the "leccese stone" in which the city was built and decorated through eons.  

As we start feeling the Pulian mood, get a taste of some typical street food at Mezzo Quinto, just like a real local would do.

While the chromatic range of amber honey and rosé of prestigious buildings, amazes you, find out how the past is kept alive and blended with the present thanks to local artisans' passionate work. 

The artistic tradition of modeling papier-mâché is a story that has to be shared.

Not only you learn about "Pupi leccesi", but also you have the opportunity to use the same poor materials and techniques, as artisans used to create figures and decorate churches in the 600s', get your hands dirty, and create your own Pupo. 

after some chill time, head to Angiulinu historic "trattoria" in the center to get a taste of some culinary traditions as well. 

Important Themes:

• how important the conservation of architecture and traditions is, to be handed off to new generations  

• arts made of poor materials supporting upcycling  

Overnight: Lecce

This morning we discover the Ionic coast of Puglia, scattered with timeless villages, calm waters, and vibrant cities such as Gallipoli.

Own your experience and enjoy the resourceful environment of the natural area of Porto Cesareo. Bring your swimming suit and trekking shoes, we have all the rest for a fantastic Kayak excursion. 

There is no better means to land on the heavenly lagoons of Isola dei Conigli, and Isola della Malva, hike, dip, and explore. 

This protected area houses a marvelous variety of endemic plants and animals, of which secrets we discover with our local marine biologist guide. 

Before heading back to the land, we have a unique way to try your expedition mentality.  A few meters undersea marble megalith columns lay since Roman time. A simple archeo-snorkeling will let you put yourself in the flippers of an expert archeologist and explore the submerged Salentine heritage. 

After a gelato-and-chill in Gallipoli, we head to Taverna Tu Marchese, a family-owned restaurant supporting local dance folklore rooted in people's hearts and worldwide known as Pulian heritage. Learn about "Pizzica Salentina" and warm up your dancing skills. Homemade dinner follows.   

Important Themes:

• Outdoor education, how does it impact our knowledge and empathy for environmental problems

• relationship between the present society and ancient traditions, how and why to keep them alive?  

Overnight: Lecce

After a good breakfast, get ready to travel to the easternmost Italian village, kissed by the morning sun before any other city of the "Bel Paese": Otranto. 

A maze of narrow alleys overlooking the blue of the Adriatic sea is guarded by the Aragonese castle of this unique UNESCO coastal city. 

Not far away, the "Sistine Chapel of the Neolithic" resists as proof of the paleontological and archeological importance of the area surrounding Otranto. The "Grotta dei Cervi" is one of the most incredible examples of a neolithic settlement we explore while walking down fossilized coral reefs, equipped,through a fun and safe speleo-trekking:  an unexplored world we learn to respect and protect led by an expert speleologist. 

After a delicious lunch and Pasticciotto sweet in Otranto, head inland and meet Francesco and his wife who own an agrivilla and cannot wait to make us dig into their local viticulture business. It does not happen every day to experience a didactic production of wine from hand pressing.  Traditions dating back to Roman times are not only fun but are real ancient rituals for Pulian families who gather and share knowledge, secrets, and passion every year. 

Dinner with local products together with  Francesco's family and head back to Lecce 

Important Themes:

• houses and simple lifestyle of the past compared to the present, did we lose our ancient connection to the natural environment, and how does this affect our present life? 

• food culture, factories, and local business, how to support communities? 

Overnight: Lecce

This morning, we head inland and continue our journey towards the Puglia region and the ancient crusader town of Matera. 

Our first stop en-route to Matera will be the rupestrian church of the Cripta del Peccato Originale (the Crypt of Original Sin) where 8th century frescoes depicting scenes from the Old and New Testaments were painted by an unknown Benedictine monk. As modern day pilgrims, we try and imagine how these monks, amidst the Crusades,traversed through Europe and why they took refuge in the Matera ravine on their perilous journey to or from Holy Land.  

Matera is one of the oldest inhabited places in the world, where people have lived continuously for over 9,000 years. Matera is a crooked, crumbling, tumbling town filled with cave dwellings, churches, and an intense sense of history. The cave-dwelling district is called Sassi and Sassi di Materameans Stones of Matera. People in Matera lived in the caves with their animals (donkeys, chickens and goats), and without running water, sewers or electricity, right up to the 1950s. Visit some of the original dwellings and admire ancient frescoes in the little chapels of Matera.

In old Matera, a UNESCO Heritage Site and Italy's oldest city, check into your hotel before enjoying dinner in this beautiful "frozen in time" city. 

Important Themes:

• How people have adapted to the natural landscape

• Preservation of human relics

• Expedition Mentality: Facing challenges and being supportive during hiking

Overnight:  Matera

Today, head out to Tre Archi, a family-run restaurant and garden whose goal is to share the essence of traditional Altamurano food using simple, fresh ingredients. Help harvest some ingredients that you will use in a cooking lesson and enjoy the lunch you've created. 

After a long Italian Lunch with our hosts Mina and Giuseppe, meet up with passionate local guide Mimma Giovinazzo for a unique hike across Matera canyon to Belvedere di Murgia Timone with breathtaking views of the area near Matera.

After a little introduction about the Regional Park area we’ll reach the edge of the canyon and walk along it until we see Matera in front of us. We will visit rocky cave churches and cisterns and enjoy the gorgeous view of the ancient town while it starts to light up. The path is 4 kilometres long, with a 80 meters average difference in height, and takes about two hours.

Hike down into the city's ravine, and enjoy the aroma of fresh thyme as our footsteps bruise the leaves of the wild-growing herb underfoot and admire the site of Matera and the Sassi at dusk from across the Canyon. Learn about art restorers and archaeologists working on the restoration of medieval frescoes inside a network of ancient caves to which you may get exclusive access. 

Back to Matera for dinner, followed by an optional night walk / game into the Sassi neighorhood: houses or other structures built into rock walls. The site was used in the movie The Passion of Christ due to its ressemblance to what old Jerusalem would have looked like.

 Overnight:  Matera

This morning, meet with Mariantionetta, a shepherdess, and learn about her work while walking the fields with her.  Afterwards, return to the farm Masseria Scalera, and learn all about the care of the animal and, of course, about making different cheese: Mozzarella, ricotta, burrata, scamorza. Students will get hands-on, helping make the cheese together with Mariantonietta´s father, Vito Scalera.

Enjoy lunch on the farm with Mariantonietta and her family.

After lunch, we transfer to Bari, a town offering a wide variety of foods, from fresh fish to sweet pastries. Bari is a port city on the Adriatic Sea and is the capital of southern Italy’s Puglia region. Explore its mazelike old town, Barivecchia, its narrow streets, the 11th-century Basilica di San Nicola. A key pilgrimage site, the basilica holds some of St. Nicholas’ remains.

Walk through town and, with the help of your guide, put your "Italianness" to the test through a city center scavenger hunt with the locals. 

Dinner in Bari at Le Nicchie.

Farewell to Matera.

Once back on the bus, we head east to visit a peculiar farm: Azienda Lamacarvotta in Laterza. At this donkey farm we will meet the Forte family, which makes a very sustainable economy around donkey milk.  We will learn about the making of local artisanal crafts, such as soaps and also pasta. From the grain used to the simple or elaborate preparation of pasta, learn about the importance of this simple, yet tremendously important, element of culture and food. 

The deliberate process of making and consuming pasta is emblematic of how Italians enjoy their food – slowly and among loved ones .

In the afternoon, we continue our journey towards the Adriatic Coast and the little town of Ostuni, where we will be staying in our own private country house. Take the time to relax and enjoy the pool or the olive tree groves surrounding your Masseria close by Ostuni.

Meet Piera, your own private chef catering for you at the Masseria Pugliese for dinner.

The dinner table is where some of life’s most important events are contemplated and discussed. Over a few hours, as well as numerous dishes, Italians bond with friends and loved ones over the simple pleasure of a good, homemade meal. 

Optional: Morning Hike and Rappel in the canyons of Matera.

Important Themes: 

• Maintaining local customs and crafts

• Learning from people to broaden your perspective

• Obstacles or opportunities: the birth of the best recipes

L’arte di arrangiarsi’ – Making the most of things 

There’s a verb in Italian which is quite difficult to translate – ‘arrangiarsi’. A close English equivalent might be ‘to get by’, but it has more of a positive spin. This verb denotes the Italian characteristic of making the best of a bad situation – being resourceful in the face of scarcity. 

Overnight: Ostuni

This morning, head to Masseria Brancati, a local agrotourism site, and learn about the secrets of making olive oil. 

Forty percent of Italy´s olive oil comes from Puglia. The noble Brancati family was originally from the Veneto region and they came to Ostuni in the 1300s. The Romans had already been there and had planted olive trees a few centuries earlier. Over eight hundred of the olive trees on the property are a thousand years old. Try the true taste of unmixed olive oil and learn about this liquid gold.

After the tour, we'll pick up our lunches at a local salumeria before heading to the coastal village of Polignano a mare.

Explore the town in the afternoon with the unique company of Italian student of a local school who will let you inside their "Hospitality and Cuisine" courses, will show you the preparation of traditional delicacies, and bring you around the city. A unique occasion to share cultures, languages, and the love for a gelato in the center.

Head back to your Masseria before your delicious dinner.

Important Themes:

• Agrotourism - what is it and why is it important?

• Expedition mentality - enjoy kayaking

Overnight: Ostuni

On our final day together we’ll enjoy a last group breakfast and then head to the airport of Bari, bid our guides a fond farewell and return home with memories of our E&E Expedition that will last a lifetime!  Arrivederci!