Written by Italy & Greece Overseas Educators, Maggie and ChelseaLovely students, what a wild and wonderful 70-day journey we’ve been on. You all have absolutely rocked it every second, and we cannot express how proud and honored we are to have spent the most precious resource we have together: our time. From meeting you at JFK, we traveled from Panta Rei where we bee-kept, bonded for the first… Read More
Written by Central America Overseas Educators, JB and AndyWhat’s New? And just like that, three months of adventure, growth, and connection have come to an end. It’s hard to believe how quickly time has flown since our journey began. As we wrapped up our Central American program, our final days were filled with moments that felt both bittersweet and deeply meaningful. From sunset swims to heartfelt conversations, we… Read More
Written by Italy & Greece Students, Izzy, Peter and Malcolm What’s New in Our Journey?
After an amazing week of student-directed travel on Aegina, the group took a train two hours outside of Athens to Akrata. The week was spent at Re-Green, a permaculture community dedicated to the regeneration of Earth. Each day, the group participated in learning activities like garden bed prepping, composting, herbal talks, mushroom talks, and much… Read More
Written by India & Nepal Overseas Educators, Tara and Anand Eight Wild Women and Anand! This wild journey went through Nepal and India encountering all that it had to offer. We began as a group of 9 individuals but slowly made our way to forming a group of people who were ready to take on this world. We walked, ran, and traveled by jeeps, buses, trains, and planes to… Read More
Written by South Pacific Overseas Educators, Mary and SushiOur beloved belayers, queens of the Daintree, goddesses of Aotearoa, BBs. Our dearest SOPAC ’24, Wow, what an incredible, magical journey we have embarked on together through the South Pacific. We are so proud of each and every one of you for the leadership, the growth, the openness, the bravery, and the Aroha you’ve embodied every leg of the way.… Read More
Written by South Pacific Students, Julia T. (JT) and Gabe G. What’s New in Our Journey?
So many things happened this week, as Whenua Iti was packed with incredible experiences. We got to sea kayak in a fierce rainstorm and treacherous waters, participated in a high ropes course, walked 12 miles in Able Tasman National Park, spent time caving with our guides caked in the mud from mud fights,… Read More
Written by Italy & Greece Students, Kyle Chang and Arianna Wilson What’s New in Our Journey?
We have arrived on student-directed travel week! Since our last blog, we met as a group and decided on a location to travel to. Keeping the budget and all members of the group’s interests in mind, we settled on Aegina. Aegina had something for everyone- archaeological sites, hiking, beaches, scuba diving, and a small… Read More
Written by India & Nepal Students, Sarah Ross and Ioan Asher What’s New in Our Journey?
Hi everyone!!! Sarah and Iona here, reporting live from a café in Kochi. It’s been a heck of a week here on this side of the globe!
After departing from the Sivananda Ashram, we hopped on a bus and drove to Munar, the land of mountains and tea fields. The next morning, while… Read More
Written by Central America Students, Bridger and RonanWhat’s New? Since the last blog post in Xela, our group has been in Tzununa, Guatemala staying in a sustainably built hotel called the “Bambu House.”
This week’s focus has been centered around permaculture, man’s relationship with nature, and engineering. We’ve also been getting to know each other better because we are not using our phones and we’re sharing living spaces. Our… Read More
Written by Italy & Greece Student, Ally Hudsyn What’s New in Our Journey?
Traveling to the city of Athens was an exciting adventure after exploring the peaceful towns in Crete. From the acropolis to hay markets there was plenty to explore. Walking on ancient ruins everywhere we went is an experience we will never forget. Top Three Highlights of the Week I think the most amazing thing we did this… Read More
Written by South Pacific Students, Julia M and Clivia What’s New in Our Journey?
This past week, we volunteered at the Hart Family Farm, a livestock farm near Napier. We learned about sustainable agriculture practices and humane livestock farming from Greg and Rachel, who have owned the farm for almost thirty years! Along with Greg and Rachel, we got to know Frasier, one of their farmhands. We got some… Read More
Written by Central America Students, Maia and RipleyWhat’s New? This past week, we had the pleasure of continuing to explore Xela, but through a different lens—homestays! We were paired off with another person in the group and got to build one-on-one relationships while also building community and connection with the host families. Seeing Guatemalan life through the perspective of a local family was an enriching experience. Eating delicious meals… Read More
Written by India & Nepal Students, Ava Mendler and Nora Thomas What’s New in Our Journey? Jaipur: The First Golden Triangle City Jaipur was truly a shock to my (Ava) system, both mentally and physically. Immediately when I got into the Rickshaw after our long train journey from Udaipur, I was totally overwhelmed by the commotion, sounds, traffic on the streets, smells, and poor air quality. That night, we… Read More
Written by South Pacific Students, Ash and Grace What’s New in Our Journey?
Hello there from your LOW’s, Ash and Grace! We are sad to say we have left Raglan but are happy to report the many fun activities that have taken place since the last blog.
Starting off, we took a trip to Wairēinga, or Bridal Veil Falls, and Tiaki took us through a ceremony. We started the… Read More
Written by Italy & Greece Students, Peter, Izzy, and Ester What’s New in Our Journey?
This week, the group was in Matera working with local contacts from Link and B-Link. We started our week in Matera, doing a scavenger hunt to learn about the ancient city, Sassi, and what makes Matera the European Capital of Culture. The next day, the group got to explore Altamura, the City of Bread, visiting… Read More
Written by India & Nepal Students, Mae Reinke and Stephanie Jones What’s New in Our Journey?
We arrived at the Shikshantar campus after a long travel day from Kathmandu to Udaipur. The campus was full of eco-built structures, colorful murals, and a junglesque ecosystem. After crashing hard, we had an incredibly warm welcome the next morning by our leaders and the family that lives on the campus. Throughout the… Read More
Written by South Pacific Students, Ash and Clivia What’s New in Our Journey?
After a few wonderful weeks in Australia, we continued our journey by hopping on a plane to New Zealand! We flew from Cairns to Auckland, and then from Auckland to Wellington. We crashed in Wellington for the night, after wandering aimlessly through the streets in search of dinner at midnight. Thankfully, KFC saved us all.
We then… Read More
Written by Italy & Greece Students, Pepper Travers and Aidan Stier What’s New in Our Journey?
Since we last wrote a blog post, we’ve been to Rome! We visited all the major sights: the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps. Our hotel was a monastery very close to the Vatican, so just a short walk brought us to St. Peter’s Basilica. Top Three Highlights of the … Read More
Written by Central America Students, Laurie and RayWhat’s New? This past week, we had the pleasure of continuing to explore Xela, but through a different lens—homestays! We were paired off with another person in the group and got to build one-on-one relationships while also building community and connection with the host families. Seeing Guatemalan life through the perspective of a local family was an enriching experience. Eating delicious… Read More
Written by Italy & Greece Student, Hudsyn Toppenberg What’s New in Our Journey?
The past week has been full of incredible experiences in unlikely places. The group traveled by train to a quaint campsite called Paladini, nestled beautifully in the region of Garfagnana. It was quite an adjustment for the group to go from a big and bustling city like Florence to a rustic campsite, and it definitely took some… Read More
