This world we live can be such a beautiful place if you let it be. If you open yourself up to what it has to offer you can find yourself again.
This week Shanti India found themselves in the Asian fairy tale of Sikkim. Famous for its wide variety of plant life, that attracts botanists from all over the world and opportunities for mountaineering tourism. We arrived at our destination… Read More
A big hello from Playa Gigante in Nicaragua! I am currently in my 5th week here working with Project Wave of Optimism and loving it and all the people I’ve had the chance to meet so far. It seems like just yesterday that I was here with my group semester (shout out to the Quetzal homies) and falling in love with it all so much that I had to return… Read More
Fiji,
What an amazing country.
We started out in Nadi, staying at Bamboo Beach. Serving as a baby step by teaching a few cultural traditions and Fijian phrases, Bamboo Beach was lots of fun. Nadi was very chaotic, with the food markets, lots of kava and loads of souvenirs.
Free travel begins. We stayed at this beautiful resort called the Beach House. The best way to describe it was 4… Read More
Bula! This past week in Rabulu Village was spent getting to know our host families and falling into the pace of village life. Some of us went horseback riding to local swimming holes, while others went fishing and watched the village rugby team play in a local tournament. On Wednesday, we went to the Fiji Water plant to get an inside look at the production process. On Thursday, we… Read More
Hola. My llamas name is maria. Soooooooo we may or may not have been slacking hardcore in the blogging aspect of this trip. Two weeks ago we chilled in Matagalpa and stayed with host families while also going to Spanish school. Pretty good gallo pinto if I do say so myself. We spent the week looking at tall buildings and learning about the canal that will be going through Lake… Read More
Overnight trains are almost becoming comfortable — compared to train station floors.
We left the busy city of Calcutta and looked onwards towards the mountains of Gangtok, Sikkim. After our first jeep ride we were eager to make our way into the nearest cafe to grab pizza, hot dogs, and a cake to celebrate the 19th birthday of our wonderful group mate, Hava. We made our way into our… Read More
Bula friends and families!
We have spent the last week in Rabulu (pronounced "Rambulu") Village living with host families and getting to know everyone in the village. Upon arrival on our first night, we introduced ourselves to everyone and were welcomed into the village with the traditional drinking of kava, a crushed plant saturated in water which produces a tea-like drink. After the drinking of kava, meeting our host families,… Read More
What’s travel’s environmental impact? And how can you be a sustainable traveler?
Congratulations! You’ve decided to travel internationally during your gap year. You’re thinking about all the new people you’ll meet, the adventures you’ll have, the places you’ll go – but have you considered the environmental impact you’ll have?
“Impact?” you ask. “But I’ll be living out a backpack, maybe taking fewer showers, not driving a car….”
While that can… Read More
This week we left Thailand and moved on in our journey to Cambodia. We all knew that this week especially was going to be a pretty emotional and heavy because of what we were about to learn. We left our hotel in Korat to travel to the border of Thailand and Cambodia. There we crossed over and got our Cambodian visas and found a bus to bring us to the… Read More
At the beginning of my trip to Ecuador I thought I would be able to draw countless parallels between the experiences I had last semester in the South Pacific and the experiences I would have in South America. However, I was very wrong. I also thought that I was prepared completely for the adventure I was entering. And literally, I was. I had my backpack, steri pen, Spanish- English… Read More
Greetings from the Seattle girls!
This is Marley and Monica blogging from Neema's cafe in Iringa, Tanzania. It's been a long and very unlucky transit to get here but don't worry moms and dads we made it. There will be a series of unfortunate transportation events that we will cover first starting off in Rwanda. Our wonderful day started at the airport early in the morning at 6am. We arrived… Read More
Bula Friends and Family,
Greetings from Nasolo Village on Vatu Levu Island in Fiji. We have spent the last week immersing ourselves in a Fijian village. We have spent the week constructing sidewalks and a driveway. It was definitely an interesting experience making concrete using sand and rocks and mixing it in a barrel that was cut in half with a hand saw. Our hard work paid off though because… Read More
Greetings from Arequipa!!
After leaving Pucara, we spent a couple of days in Quito to prepare ourselves for Peru. Some of us ate some bad bus food and suffered the consquences, but it wasn't anything too serious. Our last night in Quito we all went out for a nice dinner with a beautiful view of Quito at night and had some great gringo food and pancakes and apple pie!
The… Read More
Our group has a certain Achilles Heel for food, especially sweets, so I thought it was time to do an in-depth blog about the amazing foods we have been eating on this trip.
First off, let's give a basic overview of our eatin habits so far. Our meals have mostly consisted of rice, fried eggs, avocados, some type of soup as an appetizer, lots of plantains cooked every-which way, lentils… Read More
Well… It has been exactly one month since I arrived in New Zealand. I really have been dreading this day, not because I’m home sick or anything, but because I am lazy and really don’t like writing blogs. So here it goes, I am not expecting a Pulitzer Prize for what I’m about to write, and neither should you
I arrived in Auckland lacking money, a phone, or… Read More
What does it mean to be alive? All around this vast earth, every human and every culture asks this question. The diversity of languages, religions, traditions, stories, and artwork is an attempt at an answer. Whether traveling across the world or exploring our own backyards, tapping in to the collective wisdom is a vital part of our own journey.
Wade Davis defines the ethnosphere as “the sum total… Read More
After 5 days spent discovering the busy cities of Ayutthaya and Bangkok, we get a chance to slow down at the Thai Plum Village, a mindfulness retreat center that was established by Thich Nhat Hanh. Each morning starts at 3:52 am. Monk time is 8 minutes early. We usually start with some sort of seated meditation or chanting, followed by a walking meditation. After that we have a small break… Read More
Our week in Pucara came and went. We arrived there on Friday and left early Thursday morning. Within that time, we did tons of hiking, a lot of learning and tons of community work. When we arrived, the town of Pucara had a big welcome for us, where we played games, listened to music and performances and bonded quickly. We each stayed with a homestay family alone, which was a first, but which… Read More
Last week, the Maya group headed to the rural Pueblo of Pasac, Guatamala. We entered their village and after a week of hard work, made a lasting impact on their lives.
Our first task was to flatten the dirt in an area designated for a building project. For over TWO hours, we labored in the hot Guatamalan sun flattening the earth with makeshift tools of treetrunks attached to sticks. I… Read More
I espère you daaaaaaance (with Rwandans)!By Madeline and Jamie
KIGALI. NYABAGOGO STATION. 3:17 PM. We emerge into a sea of persistent and perspiring taxi drivers. As our butts are slowly recovering from the drive and our stomachs are crying for the pizza party to come later in the day, we skillfully navigate our way to our hostel.
We were greeted by paved roads, traffic lights, and newly developed buildings… Read More
