Travel costs continue to climb, but some might argue that a school trip abroad pays for itself in the life-changing historical, cultural and educational experience it offers a student.

Meghan Keegan, 17, traveled to Europe as part of a German exchange group from Stevens and Central high schools. In the 25 days the Rapid City students spent touring Munich, Dresden, Berlin and other cities, Keegan stayed in city hostels and with host families.

Beyond immersing herself in the German language and figuring out the cost of food and souvenirs, Keegan learned the customs and practices of a new country, including negotiating the transit system.

She also discovered that she didn't know it all.

"There's always more to be learned," she said.

Katie Umenthum, 20, and Caitlin Petersen, 20, both of Rapid City and students at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., traveled in January to China. They and 68 other college students experienced a new culture, customs, government and landscape.

"China was unexpected. It was completely foreign," Umenthum said.

Waiting in line for food, service or tickets proved to be tricky.

"Their personal space is a lot smaller. It isn't unusual for the Chinese people to walk in front of you when you're standing in line because of their own personal space being a lot closer," Petersen said.

It is a tip not mentioned in the travel brochures, according to experts.

Foreign travel gives students a new form of reference for understanding the world and their role in it, said Stevens High School band director Don Downs, who took a group of sophomores, juniors and seniors to Europe this summer.

"It takes them back to their ancestral roots," he said.

The group's itinerary included Germany, France and England, where they viewed cultural and historic sites such as the Louvre in Paris and the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles, where the World War I Armistice was signed on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

"Those historical events come to life for the kids," Downs said.

Mark Bray, music director at Central High School, sees a transformation in many of his high school students' maturity levels after taking a trip abroad.

"They realize there is someone else living on the globe other than Americans," he said.

In these trips abroad, they experience different customs in the foods they eat, the way they eat them and even the time of day that the meal is served. Add to that the different languages spoken in one community, instead of just English. "They realize there is more than one way to do things," Bray said.

When students tour homes that belonged to composers such as Wolfgang Mozart, Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven, they realize that these historical figures were once part of a community that included schools, streets and markets.

"It's fun to see how excited and awestruck the students were to visit the home of great composers," Bray said.

Umenthum had traveled abroad since a child of 12, but China proved to be entirely different from any of the countries she had visited. Language and printed text were barriers.

"Chinese and Arabic were both complex and tricky to understand," Umenthum said.

Yet bartering and trying new foods were common experiences to be enjoyed.

"There were adventures in eating because they served a lot of different dishes at one sitting," Umenthum said. At one meal, they chose from 24 different cooked foods. Umenthum tried the jellyfish, which she hated, and the octopus, which was chewy.

"Soup was served last. You knew the meal was over when they served the watermelon," she said.

The college students toured the night life, admired the karaoke clubs (although their participation was limited by the language barrier), listened to Chinese rap music and visited the Hard Rock Cafe. But Umenthum and Petersen also visited silk factories, jade factories and the Great Wall.

"Shanghai was more modern, a cleaner city, while Beijing has the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. I wish we could have stayed longer," Umenthum said.