The Francis L. Phillips Travel Scholarship gave Rider the opportunity to explore Europe and find ways in which country aim for sustainability. (Submitted photos)
Some kids grow up hearing stories about Neverland or the Hundred Acre Wood, but Paige Rider ’26 listened to tales of Wisbech, the small countryside town in England where her father grew up. He commonly told her stories of riding down cobblestone streets, picking carrots at a local farm and visiting the town pub.
Now 19 and one of Carolina’s newest alumni after graduating in two years, Rider finally visited Wisbech this summer, as well as London and towns in Ireland and Denmark, with the help of the Frances L. Phillips Travel Scholarship. The scholarship, administered by UNC-Chapel Hill Student Affairs and the Office of Scholarships and Student Aid, gives juniors and seniors funding for a unique travel abroad adventure.
Rider is interested in a law career and earned environmental studies and public policy degrees in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences. While in Europe, she explored how countries abroad implement sustainability and efficiency in their infrastructures.
A monthlong adventure
Rider, who had never traveled abroad or alone before, mapped out a monthlong journey through Europe and made the most of her time.
In her first stop, London, she visited tourist attractions like Big Ben and Buckingham Palace and made day trips outside the city to Oxford and the Seven Sisters cliffs. Rider then traveled northeast to Norwich and Wisbech, where her cousin showed her around the town.
Her father’s old home, “is still the same, I’ve been told,” except the football pitch that used to be behind it is now gone, she said. “The only thing standing that hasn’t changed is the church where my dad was baptized, all the Sweet 16s happened and family reunions.”
Rider then visited Bath to see historical structures like Pulteney Bridge and the Roman baths before heading to Denmark and Ireland.
Environmental impact
She spent two weeks in Copenhagen, Denmark, with a host in an Airbnb near Rosenberg Castle. She lived like a local, making trips to the grocery store, eating out on occasion and even taking a spin on the locals’ preferred form of transportation: a bike.
“I think there were more bikes than people. They’re everywhere and they’re hard to ignore,” said Rider. “What really stood out to me was how the city was built for biking and walking instead of cars.”
The country’s infrastructure is what initially inspired her to visit Denmark, and her last stop, Ireland.
In addition to indulging in Irish specialties, from black pudding to fish and chips, Rider got a firsthand glimpse of Ireland’s environmental challenges. She traveled through “miles and miles of farmland” along the Wild Atlantic Way, she said. There, residents use a practice called turf cutting, where they cut and dry peat from bogs to fuel their homes in the winter. The practice, though longstanding, can be harmful to the environment as peatlands store a lot of carbon.
“For the older and rural communities who have grown up using this turf to fuel their homes during the winter, this is what they rely on,” said Rider. “That’s something that’s really stuck with me. There are very real environmental reasons for changing these practices, but they’re also connected to people’s livelihoods, culture and communities.”
Rider wants to continue exploring the relationship between the environment and its inhabitants through a career in environmental law. Once she returns to the U.S., she plans to take a gap year to apply for law school.
“I think I’ve packed my backpack probably eight or nine times now, so I’m ready for this to be the last,” Rider said. “But it’s been a great experience.”