Off to Thailand!

Heather Vaught Southeast Asia- SABAI
Dear families and friends of the Spring Southeast Asia group, Everyone has arrived safely to LAX. They are happy to be together as a group for the first time, and looking forward to the semester ahead. We wish them safe and easy travels to Thailand! We’ll post another blog here once we’ve received word that they’ve arrived safely. -Carpe Diem HQ… Read More

And they’re off!

Heather Vaught Central America- MAYA
Dear families and friends of the Spring Central America MAYA group, Everyone has arrived safely to LAX! They are together as a group for the first time and looking forward to the semester ahead They’ve checked in for their flight through security – we wish them safe and easy travels tonight. We’ll post a blog and group photo here tomorrow once we receive word that they’ve arrived safely in Guatemala.… Read More

Safe arrival

Heather Vaught South America- INTI
Dear families and friends of the South America group, We just heard that the group arrived safely in Ecuador. They’ve collected their bags, made it through customs, and are getting ready to head to their hostel and begin their orientation. Everything is going well so far. Stay tuned for updates from the group – they will post updates about their orientation in Quito in the coming days. -Carpe Diem HQ… Read More

And they’re off!

Heather Vaught South America- INTI
Dear families and friends of the Spring ’18 South America group, We are happy to report that everyone has safely arrived in LA and the whole group is together for the first time! They just checked their bags and are getting ready to head through security. They are doing well and happy to be on their way. We’ll post another blog here when they arrive in Quito tomorrow morning. We… Read More

Student Directed Travel part 2

Heather Vaught South America- INTI
Hola familias!! Welcome to Part Two of Student Directed Travel!! We started off part two of the week by leaving the sleepy mountain community of Lares, loading up the van with all of our bags and snacks to prepare to for the long journey to Pisac. Ater a few snack stops at fruit markets and warm lunches of rice and lentils along the way, the car finally rumbled nto the… Read More

Student Directed Travel part 1

Heather Vaught South America- INTI
by Josh Krauss Welcome to Part One of Student Directed Travel. I’m your Uncle Josh, and I will be your spiritual guide for today’s blog. Our story begins after leaving Patacancha, when we went back through the windy road to ollantaytambo, where we would grab our bags and munch on alfajores, which is ranking up as the group’s favorite treat. After the two hour bus drive, we reached our destination… Read More

Mystical Yoga Farm

Heather Vaught Central America- QUETZAL
by Jillian and Tori The day began with the microbus ride straight out of a circus. 16 of us crammed into a bus for 14 for 3 excruciating hours followed by a short boat ride through mountains and volcanoes of lake Atitlan to arrive at the mystical yoga farm. As soon as we stepped off the boat, it became apparent that we were not in Kansas anymore. We were greeted… Read More

Turtle Blog Post

Heather Vaught Central America- MAYA
Greetings families and friends! Since the last blog post our group has spent five days volunteering with the organization Kuemar located in the Guanacaste region on the pacific side of Costa Rica. The project is focused on helping the sea turtles that reside within the ocean water lining the beaches of Playa Nombre de Jesus, Playa Real, and Playa Onda. Thursday afternoon we arrived and settled into some of our… Read More

Blog for Student Directed Travel

Heather Vaught Central America- QUETZAL
These tidings come to you from ya boy Peej, ya girl Ellie (aka Estelle aka Ellsworth), and ya homegirl and a half Cate the Great 8. ‘Twas the week before Thanksgiving, and all through the group, not creature was stirring, because 80% were dying from various stomach ailments. But no matter, we were off to Semuc Champey to begin our week of student-directed travel, harrah! The groups prudent, fearless, and… Read More

Inti!: Patacancha blog

Heather Vaught South America- INTI
by Miki Lazowski Hello blog readers! Last Sunday morning, we finished packing our bags and had our last meals with our families in Ollantaytambo: a final breakfast. Goodbyes and see you laters were exchanged and everyone met in the square. A few people left their big bags at Awamaki and packed in their day packs while others took their heavy big bags. At 9:00 AM, we loaded into a bus… Read More

To Costa Rica

Heather Vaught Central America- MAYA
By Eli Karsh-Lombardo With heavy bellies and full hearts we left the 26-acre permaculture farm that we had called home for the last nine days. We said adios to the giant caldrons of gallo pinto, friendly Bona Fide staff, and stunning volcano views as we began our crazy travel day extravaganza. The day started at 4:20 A.M. with 14 heavy backpacks slowly moving their way down the muddy and dark… Read More

Mystical Yoga Farm

Heather Vaught Central America- QUETZAL
By Jillian and Tori The day began with the microbus ride straight out of a circus. 16 of us crammed into a bus for 14 for 3 excruciating hours followed by a short boat ride through mountains and volcanoes of lake Atitlan to arrive at the mystical yoga farm. As soon as we stepped off the boat, it became apparent that we were not in Kansas anymore. We were greeted… Read More

Ollantaytambo

Heather Vaught South America- INTI
Hola! This week we arrived in the beautiful, historic town of Ollantaytambo. After a few days of mental and physical relaxation provided to us in the form of the yoga retreat, it was time for a week of learning. On Sunday around 4 we arrived in the center of town to meet our host families. Upon arrival, the group took a moment to look around at the scenery beyond the… Read More

Finca Bona Fide

Heather Vaught Central America- MAYA
by Kate Cone After a bittersweet goodbye to the all you can eat pancakes at Hostel Oasis and all of Granada’s luxuries like real flush toilets, smoothies at The Garden Cafe, reliable electricity and free internet, we strapped all 14 packs to the van, ready to face a week getting in touch with nature and all it had to offer on the island of Ometepe. With all of our Spanish… Read More

Quito scavenger hunt

Heather Vaught South America- INTI
Hola this is Will, Josh, Dana, and Lauren checking in from the vast and beautiful city of Quito. Today on our scavenger hunt we traversed the narrow streets to the local laundromat where we completed our first task of obtaining toilet paper. We then pushed on deeper into the heart of the city to our next destination the Parque de Carolina. Next we went to the church of San Fransisco,… Read More

Scavenger hunt updates

Heather Vaught Central America- QUETZAL
Hey there! We are currently exploring the absolutley beautiful city of Matagalpa. Everytime I look up at the lush, green mountains surrounding the city, I feel like im in some sort of movie. Everyone in the group is so unique and awesome in there own way and we already have an awesome community. Doug and Anya are super chill and are great leaders. This next week will be home stays,… Read More

Scavenger hunt blog post

Heather Vaught Central America- QUETZAL
Hi friends and family, The group is currently in Matagalpa Nicuragua and we are loving it. We start our first homestay tomorrow and spanish classes. Some of us know more spanish than others, but none of us are persect. So we are very excited to be diving into the language and getting to be able to communicate with the local people. We are so lucky to have this group! Everyone… Read More

Scavenger hunt check in!

Heather Vaught Central America- QUETZAL
It is Anna, Jimmy, and PJ from the Quetzal Central America group. Currently we are in Matagalpa, Nicaragua. As part of this orientation scavenger hunt we are tasked with sending you a couple sentences about our time so far in Nicaragua to spice up your day and give it a litte livelihood. So far we have been getting to know each other in the group with various group activities. Some… Read More

Safe arrival

Heather Vaught South America- INTI
The South America group has arrived safely in Quito. They gathered their bags, have been picked up from the airport and are en route to their hostel. Once they arrive they’ll settle in and head out for their first Ecuadorian meal together. They’ve been enjoying getting to know one another and are looking forward to the semester ahead! Stay tuned here for updates from the students in the coming days,… Read More

The journey begins!

Heather Vaught South America- INTI
The SAM group is all together for the first time! They’ve all arrived safely to LAX, checked in for their flight to Ecuador and are getting ready to head through security. They are enjoying getting to know one another and are looking forward to the semester ahead. We wish them safe and easy travels tonight and will post another blog here once we receive word that they have arrived in… Read More