What we’re about
This meetup is dedicated to people who enjoy traveling both domestically and abroad, attending cultural events, and meeting others passionate about travel and culture! Our core purpose is to provide a place for travel lovers to get together and share their experiences as well as promote knowledge exchange, trip opportunities, etc. We’ll be planning a variety of activities and events including travel and culture themed trivia nights, travel tips and stories nights, destination talks, and dinners at ethnic restaurants. We will also add in some other great opportunities and events related to traveling, arts, and culture depending on feedback from our members and what you’d like to get from this meetup. We welcome anyone to our events whether you’re a long-time Omaha/Council Bluffs area resident, new in town, or just passing through. Our monthly meetups will typically be free but certain events might cost (such as when we have a dinner or a place charges admission). MeetUp does charge groups a subscription fee, so we would welcome, but don’t expect, any voluntary donations to contribute towards those fees. We promise to be transparent about how much money is donated, if any, and how we use it. We look forward to many fun outings with this group!
Upcoming events (3)
See all- Adventures in Chicago Group Trip!Needs location
Let’s head to Chicago for our first Adventures in Culture and Travel trip! After the planning meeting, we have several details worked out. The group trip will be from Thursday October 2nd through Sunday October 5th, 2025. But for those that prefer spending more or less time there, that’s fine too and you can adjust your dates however you’d like. This is going to be a laid-back style of trip with a lot of flexibility rather than a chaperoned trip where everything is planned out all day every day. The idea is to make this like a fun friends’ trip with a lot of flexibility while also having options for group activities and meals. We’ll plan a group dinner each evening starting Thursday and at least a couple other group activities throughout the trip depending on what people want to do (possibilities include an architecture river cruise, guided tour of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Theatre Tour, Second City, etc). People will be able to opt in or out of any of the planned activities. Once we have numbers and ideas from the group as to what you want to do, we can start arranging group tours and activities.
Estimated Costs:
-Transportation: Flights currently looking to be between $177-$255 depending on your airline preference and time of day. Amtrak looks to be about $140 round trip. Carpooling is also an option (just note daily parking will be at least $40-50/day in downtown Chicago). My flight is the American Airlines flight leaving Omaha on the 2nd at 9:28am and departing Chicago on the 6th at 7:08am. If you want to be on the same one. I think Patrick is flying in Thursday evening. We can coordinate Ubers or Lyfts to get from the airport to the hotel.
-Hotel: We haven’t confirmed a hotel yet, but the options so far look to be between $800-$900 for the three nights (tax included) depending on room choice and which hotel. There will be both single and double room options so you can coordinate and split a room if you’d like. We’re still working on getting a good deal for us. Once we do we will post the booking link or group booking code so you can complete your reservations. Again, this is a flexible trip though so you are welcome to choose a hotel independently too if you don’t like the option selected. Then we’d just announce meeting points and times for any planned group activities.
-Chicago CityPass: (currently around $150). The City Pass covers entry to 5 select sites (such as The Art Institute, Field Museum, Hancock Tower, Willis Tower, etc.). Chicago CityPass
-Getting around Chicago: Chicago is a very walkable city so we can get around easily on foot. But we’ll also be using the El (their elevated metro system), and uber/lyft, within Chicago when needed.
-The other primary costs would be food, drink, shopping, tickets beyond what’s included with the City Pass, trip insurance if you want it, and any other activities you want to do (like shows or tours).The estimated costs should be approximately $1,600-$1,900 depending on how much you opt in or out of and your dining preferences. These costs are each person’s own responsibility. We’ll direct you where to go to make your reservations but the plan is for you to book and pay your own way for the transportation, the hotels, City Pass (if you choose that option), and whatever activities you opt in for. We’re not collecting any money from you or any payment for the trip, rather we’re just in it got a fun trip with you all. The only reason we would is if there’s anything group activity-wise that needs to be pre-paid up front as a group (like group tickets), then we will address that when/if needed.
Feel free to use the discussion board for this post to coordinate with others if you want to carpool or to update arrival times and what activities you prefer. We’ll meet again in a few weeks to discuss more.
I personally love Chicago and am really looking forward to this!
