This paper looks back at an academic-led language field trip project, now in its third year, involving ab-initio students of Italian at the University of Southampton. It considers the role of academic-led field trips in Modern Languages (ML) and it explores the underlying pedagogical approaches that were adopted to enhance students' engagement, participation and collaboration during the trips and beyond. It also investigates the opportunities that Web 2.0 brought to teachers and learners and how these were adapted for a field trip where technology and social media make learning more inclusive and engaging. The project also sought to develop students' employability skills by introducing the role of the "student-assistant" working closely with the academic in charge of the trip. The paper will describe the robust pedagogical reflective process employed during the project and how it influenced project design. It will conclude by suggesting that ML departments would benefit from innovative approaches in field trips. [For the complete volume, "Innovative Language Teaching and Learning at University: Enhancing Participation and Collaboration," see ED565011.]