Accourding to this site,
We often use "been to" when we refer to completed visits to a place:
Have you ever been to Budapest?
Not: Have you ever gone to Budapest?
If the visit is not complete, we use "gone to".
Joan’s just gone to the shop. She’ll be back in about ten minutes.
(Joan has not yet returned from the shop.)
Joan’s just been to the shop. She bought some cakes. Would you like one?
(Joan has returned from the shop.)
Now, does that rule apply to the "Have been on a trip" & "Have gone on a trip"?
So, "I have been on a trip" (I completed the trip & currently I am staying at home)
"I have gone on a trip" (I haven't completed the trip & currently I am on the trip)
And what about "gone crazy" & "been crazy".
Does "He has gone crazy" mean now he is still crazy?
Does "He has been crazy" mean now he is not crazy any more?
Are there any differences between "Have been on a trip" vs "Have gone on a trip" and "Have been crazy" vs "Have gone crazy"?
Note: I am not asking about "been to" or "gone to". I am asking about "been on a trip" & "gone on a trip". Do we apply the same rule of "been to" or "gone to" to "been on a trip" & "gone on a trip"?
Note2: This exercise seems to prove that my thinking is right.
Best Answer
First, that description of "been to" and "gone to" is mostly accurate. However, to "have gone to" a place can mean that you're no longer there, the same as if you "have been to" a place. (There are other subtle differences between these two expressions; see the previous edit to see them.)
It seems to me that the same logic doesn't quite apply for "have been on a trip"/"have gone on a trip". The latter two are mostly interchangeable, although there might be slightly different nuances about the "default" interpretation. I'll quickly go through some examples.
Both of the "on a trip" expressions can be used to mean you're still on that trip:
And both of them can mean that you are not still on that trip (helped by including the word "ever"):
So the two expressions pattern like "been to" and "gone to" except that "been to" would not work where "been on a trip to" works in sentence (1):
Since both meanings are possible, what's the default interpretation without context?
In British English, I'd say it's the same as "been to" and "gone to". In North American English, I would say it's the reverse. (This is based on my and my relatives' usage. I am AmE and my relatives BrE.)
To generalize a bit, I imagine that both the above pattern and the account you cited in your question owe a lot to the fact that in British English, "to have been" is often used in the sense that NA English uses the simple past.
Even two phrases that appear identical can mean two different things depending on the region.
P.S. Another minor difference between "been to"/"gone to" and "been on a trip"/"gone on a trip" is that the "been" in "been on a trip" can be conjugated in any tense: