Abstract
The focus of this paper concerns the extent to which college study-abroad programs,
particularly the short-term summer programs, have become not only a vehicle for personal
development and self-realization but also an opportunity for consumption. Although
consumption is an almost certain byproduct of travel, personal growth is a more problematic
outcome. Tourists, including college students on study-abroad programs, often lack the skills and
temperament that would favor their growth and self-realization. Drawing both on questionnaires
that were administered to students traveling abroad to a variety of locations around the world
both prior to and following their trips, and on several years of participant-observation experience
with study-abroad programs, I inquired into the motives for travel and the experiences that
students had while studying abroad. The findings demonstrated a significant difference in the
meaning of their travel between students studying in Europe and New Zealand and those who
traveled to less developed parts of the world. The key difference between the two groups is the
far greater opportunities for consumption that students in Europe confront compared with those
in Africa and Latin America. Study abroad in European locales is, in effect, a vehicle for the
consumption of travel.
Convention