As any dig volunteer will tell you, there is nothing like the adventure of going on your first dig. Of course, digging is itself exciting, but there’s also the adventure that comes along with being immersed in a different country and culture and exploring a part of the world that many never get to see. Traveling in a foreign land, seeing the sites of the Bible and meeting people from different backgrounds are experiences that volunteers treasure for the rest of their lives.

Every year, our BAS Dig Scholarship winners (see sidebar) tell us about their overseas adventures in Israel and elsewhere, recounting how their travels exposed them to new cultures, languages, foods and customs, not to mention the incredible sites and monuments of Biblical lands. In this issue, we use their words, stories and photographs to highlight the many intangible benefits of traveling abroad to work on an archaeological excavation.