TripSide began with a simple observation: organising a language immersion trip is often far harder than it should be.

From the outside, it can look straightforward: find a suitable programme, compare a few options, make a booking. In reality, it is usually an extra project carried on top of a teacher’s actual job, with all the admin, uncertainty, approvals, parent communication, and budget pressure that come with it.

Adriana knows that world first-hand. She has spent nearly a decade in modern foreign languages, planning and delivering immersion programmes, and has worked as both an immersion programme leader and a Head of Spanish. She has seen how valuable these trips can be for students, not only for language development, but for confidence, cultural exposure, and personal growth. She has also seen how much hidden work sits behind them, and how often that burden falls on teachers who are already stretched thin.

Lewis came to the same problem from a different angle. He has spent nearly a decade building outbound systems in both B2C and B2B settings, and became interested in problems where the issue is not a lack of value, but a lack of coordination: too much friction, too much wasted effort, and too many good outcomes lost because the process around them is messy.

That is what we believe is happening in this market.

Schools and MFL staff are carrying too much of the administrative, financial, and emotional burden of planning trips. Too often, the process around a trip is fragmented, repetitive, and harder to manage than it needs to be. We believe schools need a calmer, clearer route from first idea to final approval.

TripSide exists to make that process lighter.

For schools, that means reducing the admin, stress, and cost burden of planning a trip, and helping turn a rough idea into a clearer shortlist, a stronger basis for approval, and a process that is easier to explain to colleagues and parents.

We are not simply trying to help people find options. We are trying to make the whole process clearer, calmer, and more workable for everyone involved.

If TripSide does its job well, teachers get time and headspace back, students get access to worthwhile immersion experiences, and schools are better able to run trips that feel well-planned, well-supported, and worth the effort.

That is the philosophy behind what we are building.