Our trip are open for anyone to participate. We have had youth, college students, young adults, married couples, parents with children, senior adults, and every other age join us for Inklings Abroad. Our most common demographic is young adults (usually about 40% of the trip). 

We do not allow children younger than 13 to come on our trips without a parent or guardian except under special circumstances. Students 13-17 are welcome to travel with us even without a guardian, but will be more closely chaperoned by our leaders. 

As far as international trips go, Inklings Abroad is one of the most cost-efficient options available. 

The base cost for the trip is $3175. This includes all your lodging, most in-country transportation, breakfast (but not “second breakfast”), the majority of your admissions, and the guidance and assistance of our experienced team of leaders.

We offer an “Early Bird” discount of $200 through November 1st.

Travelers are responsible for purchasing their own international airline tickets, although we are happy to help you find a good flight. These usually run between $800 and $1100.

How much you spend on meals, souvenirs, and extra activities is up to you. Travelers usually spend between $500 and $700. 

A $750 deposit is required to claim your spot on this year’s trip. We establish an informal payment plan and require the full balance by the first day of the trip.

See this guide for the complete run-down on finances and currency.  

We will have at least one “choose-your-own” day-trip. 

On these days the leaders will be splitting up to take smaller groups to London, Stratford, and the Cotswolds. Since the costs of these day-trips always vary (for instance, travelers may want to pay to ride the London Eye or see a play), they are not included in your base trip costs. There will also be free options for day trips. 

The Early Bird: Each year, a $200.00 discount is offered to travelers who make a deposit by November 1. This may sometimes be extended to a little later. 

The Rivendell Scholarship: This year, we have at least $500.00 in total scholarship moneys available. Scholarships may be awarded to current or potential travelers who demonstrate at least two of the following:

• Interest in the lives and works of the Inklings;
• Alignment with the Trip Values, especially Creativity in Community;
• That they have a financial hardship or limitation. This can include student status, unemployment, unexpected medical bills, etc. This criteria is by the honor system.

If the scholarship is awarded to a potential traveler (someone who has not yet made a deposit), the recipient must make a full deposit within 48 hours in order to accept the scholarship. Otherwise the scholarship will be treated as declined. Scholarship decisions will usually be made by the end of October. Click here to apply. 

The Bilbo Discount: Inklings Abroad reserves the right to offer special discounts to travelers who join the trip in the final weeks (or, like Bilbo, days) leading up to the trip if we still have open spots to fill. This discount will be offered only in exceptional circumstances where the trip would otherwise lose money on empty rooms and bus seats. The Bilbo Discount also helps to mitigate the additional costs for travelers that are inherent in last minute travel, such as expensive flights, expedited passport renewal fees, and limited savings/PTO. 

Most of the lodgings we frequent are old favorites, ones that we’ve enjoyed our stay at over and over again. We stay in a variety of locations, including hotels, bed and breakfasts, castles, monasteries, and occasionally upscale hostels. You will only ever share a room with people from our group of the same gender. All lodgings should have breakfast included each day. 

Good question. On one hand, there will be a lot of walking. Some of the coolest things you’ll see on this trip are things that only your legs can carry you to. This is how we steer clear of the crowds and stay off the beaten path. There are also long periods of remaining on one’s feet, such as waiting in airports or in customs, navigating through various train stations, and exploring vast locations like St. Michael’s Mount and Tintagel. 

On the other hand, most running and serious hiking is, as we like to call it, “challenge by choice.” Expect once or twice to have to sprint with your luggage to catch up with whatever train is trying to leave our group behind, but other than that, you should be fine. In 2014, a woman completed the entire trip on her cane and walker. Granted, she was probably the most epic traveler we have ever had, but still, she gives the rest of us hope.  

For those who savor the physical exercise, you won’t be disappointed. Every day, there will be opportunities to challenge yourself, such as hiking the Cornish coast, climbing a Scottish mountain, diving into the frigid waters of the channel, or playing some intense English football during the evenings. 

Optional group discussions are held each evening. They are usually facilitated by Dr. David Conley, who wrote his dissertation on Tolkien’s theology of creativity.

The first 10-15 minutes of each meeting involve a short lecture from David regarding one aspect of Tolkien myth-making approach. The titles of these talks are Fantasy, Recovery, Escape, and Consolation and can be researched ahead of time by reading Tolkien’s essay On Fairy Stories.

After the talks, there is a time for open discussion. The topics of these discussions tend to vary based on the interest of the group. We can go into greater depth regarding the night’s lecture, discuss the places we’ve seen, learn more about the lives of the Inklings, and of course occasionally nerd out over our favorite parts of Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. This time is also used to finalize the agenda for the next day.

During the day, shorter talks are sometimes held at the sites we visit in order to more fully appreciate their historical or mythical significance. Occasionally we’ll read from the works of Inklings in important places, such as our readings from The Last Battle at Lewis’ grave or Mythopoeia at Addison’s Walk. 

Inklings Abroad is not a project of any specific church or denomination, nor are our trips designed to explicitly promote the doctrines of any church or denomination. 

It is true that most of the original Inklings identified with one or more branches of Christianity. C.S. Lewis was a devout Anglican, and has since become a household name in American evangelical circles due to his skill as an apologist. J.R.R. Tolkien described his Lord of the Rings as “a fundamentally Catholic work”, and the books and life of Charles Williams are awash in Christian mysticism. 

Certainly then, Christianity will be a common theme of our group discussions. Tolkien’s theology of creativity, as outlined in his essay On Fairy Stories, will be discussed in detail, as will the Christian meanings and symbolism behind The Chronicles of Narnia and Leaf by Niggle.

However, engagement in these discussions is always optional. We want all travelers to feel like they can enjoy the journey without the need to conform to religion in general or to Christianity in particular. This was, in fact, one of the traits that made the original Inklings so successful as writers: their ability to infuse their works with beauty and truth while remaining far from what we would call “preachy”.

Our organization is called Inklings Abroad, formerly Inklings of Clemson. The vision of our trips is Chasing Creativity in Community. We want to equip travelers with the tools to pursue beauty and truth through beautiful places, friendships, and works of creativity.

We have been conducting these trips for almost 20 years, mostly to the same set of favorite places in the U.K, so you can trust that we’ll get you “there and back again” in one piece. Our leadership team is composed of a small group of friends who enjoy traveling together. You can learn more about each of us by clicking on our portraits below or more about our philosophy of travel here. You can find contact information for our leaders here.

We will accept travelers until the trip fills up. We usually limit the trip to 20-25 travelers. You can guarantee yourself a spot by sending your $500 deposit before the trip is full. Checks should be written to:

The Inklings of Clemson

106 Chandler Court

Liberty, SC

29657

We also accept Venmo. Please send Venmo funds to @David-Conley-21

By traveling with us, you agree to abide by the following code of conduct.