For students looking to take a break from campus life and visit cities outside of Binghamton, Getaway Bus Trips has the answer.
“Binghamton is a fun place, but sometimes you need to get off campus and experience new things,” Grace Sama, coordinator for Leadership Development and Special Programs, said.
The program, which began in the 2002-03 academic year, is sponsored by Campus Life at Binghamton University.
“Last year we collaborated with the Student Association Programming Board to do bus trips,” Sama said.
According to Sama, before the collaboration of the bus trips with the SA Programming Board, the trips were more local.
Some trips are free form and some are structured in terms of the activities that students can partake in once they arrive in the destination, Sama said.
“The Boston trip is free form, you are dropped off and picked up at a certain time,” she said. “Trips [to] plays [like] ‘Avenue Q’ are more structured.”
According to Sama, Binghamton is a good location because there are so many East Coast cities to visit less than three hours away.
All of the trips are on Saturdays, one day long, and open to all undergraduates.
Since the program is partially supported by the campus activities fee every undergraduate pays, the trips are closed to graduate students and other individuals who aren’t undergraduates.
“A lot of students are international or dual degree students,” Sama said. “These trips are great for anyone who has never visited these places.”
Matthew Hadfield, a student studying at Binghamton for the semester and majoring in American history from Lancaster University in England, said that the trips helped him to get the most out of his time in the United States.
“The program gives me the opportunity to see some of the key sites in America I would not be aware of otherwise,” Hadfield said.
According to Sama, there is usually a limit of 50 people per trip because of budget constraints and limited staffing. One staff member and one SA representative attends each trip.
The trip to Boston, this past weekend, was full, with 111 people on the wait-list. The Six Flags trip scheduled for Oct. 4 is full with 105 people on the waiting list. “The Avenue Q” and Syracuse trips, scheduled for November and December, respectfully, are also full. The New York City trip has about a dozen seats left.
“Students need to pay and sign up quickly; we can’t guarantee trips,” Sama said.
For next year, Sama is thinking of planning a trip to Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., a New York Knicks game, a New York Rangers game and a popular Broadway show.
“It all depends on what is available for a Saturday and we don’t want to compete with other campus events,” Sama said. “It also depends on what concerts and tickets are available.”
Past events included paintball and concerts.
For more information, go to getaway.binghamton.edu, e-mail getaway@binghamton.edu or go to the Campus Life Office in the Old University Union across from the Kosher Kitchen.