Our time in McLeod has been a whirlwind taste of independence and Tibetan culture!
We decided to individually do activities specific to our interests and all of us participated in volunteering and an internship. Activities included a cooking internship (mo’ momos please), mala making/dream catchers, and flute lessons. All of us taught English to Tibetans (many of them monks) and found that looking at your own language from a new… Read More
I would like to begin by saying that this semester has been the best three months of my life. Though it had its ups and downs, it was worth every second. South East Asia and my group, have become like a new home and family respectively. I would like to thank my family for supporting me in choosing to participate in this gap year. Another big thank you goes out… Read More
First and foremost, I would like to thank my parents and family for supporting me not only in my decision to partake in this gap year travel adventure, but for supporting me in all my choices in life. Also for supporting me financially too. You guys rock. Greg and Brooke, you guys made this trip what it was with your consistent positiveness and your unfaltering leadership. Both of you have… Read More
I want to thank my loving parents because I would not be the same person I am today without their support. A big thank you to Brooke and Greg for making this trip the best trip I have ever had. They both inspire me, especially to travel the world and I will never forget either of them. Thank you to Carpe Diem headquarters for confiding in me no matter how… Read More
Mum and Dad: You guys are the best. Thank you for your never faltering love and interest in what I’m doing. And thank you for the travel bug! I would not be here without you. I am so grateful you allowed me to participate in this program. I cannot wait to see you soon
Headquarters: You have planned quite the itinerary! From the home-stays in Thailand to touring wats in… Read More
This trip has been the greatest experience of my life. My fellow group members have not only become friends, but family as well. This trip has shown me how big the world is and how fun it is to explore it. I want to thank my mom for her support in encouraging and supporting me to go on this journey. Without her this wouldn’t have been possible. I also want… Read More
First I’d like to send the biggest shoutout to my wonderful parents, Frank and Suzanne. Of course if it wasnt for you I wouldn’t be here right now. Thank you for being the best parents in the world and supporting me.
Brooke and Greg, our amazing OE’s, made this trip what it was- they took us to the river and inspired each one of us to drink from it, metaphorically.… Read More
Hello to everyone back home,
We’re wrapping up our time here and starting to prepare for the long trip back home. I feel so blessed to have had such a wonderful experience with an amazing group of people. None of this could have happened without the support of so many people back in the states.
My friends and family have been such an inspiration for me to join Carpe, and… Read More
The past week has been incredible and the cherry on top of our already delicious travel adventures. The week began with the closing two days of free travel. We used the penultimate day of free travel to embark on a day trek into the Phu Quoc National Park. From there we traveled to one of Forbes Top 10 Most Beautiful Beaches located on a remote part of the island. Though… Read More
G’day all! It’s Amy here checking in from Cairns (that’s pronounced “Cans”, for all those unaware) as we’re starting to wrap up our long and wonderful journey with Carpe Diem. This past week has been a whirlwind of activity. As Shelby stated in her blog, we spent the majority of the past week doing an outback tour with Wayoutback Tours. The week involved a lot of getting up early, hiking,… Read More
Whats good family and friends,
This past week or so we have been hiking along the Inka Trail. We passed through snow topped mountains, incredible waterfalls and then descented into the subtropical rainforest where we saw a coffee demonstration and saw all the flora and fauna of the region. We summited a mountain and saw Macchu Picchu face to face and tomorrow we are climbing up there to learn about… Read More
Hey there guys!
So during student directed travel we went to the Udzungwa Mountains, after our time in Mang’ula we got up at 4:20 am on the 27th, walked over to the bus station by 5:00 am and boarded our crazy train to Morogoro. We finally starting leaving around 6:30 or so and then no less than 10 minutes into our trip there was a problem. A truck somehow managed… Read More
G’day mates!
We just spent one of our final weeks down under camping in the outback and exploring Australia at its finest. Our days were spent battling flies in the hot sun and our nights were spent sleeping under the stars in the fresh outback air. We all slept in what’s called a swag: a “waterproof” sleeping bag/mattress combo; essential for every authentic outback experience. Our perpetually energetic guide, Tam,… Read More
Hello all you beautiful readers out there! Last week was yet another wonderful Carpe Diem adventure, this time we hopped into our rental van with Robbie and Katelyn at the wheel and set our sights on the Daintree Rainforest for a week full of yoga, meditation, vegetarian food and the occasional tarot card reading. A typical day at Prema Shanti looked something like this, We would wake up and go… Read More
Mambo, family and friends! This past weekend, our group said goodbye to Uganda, and flew back to Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania. After one night in this crazy, busy city, we got on a ferry and headed to Zanzibar!
As soon as we arrived at Stone Town, we fell in love with the island. The quaint, old-fashioned streets are filled with shops and markets, and there are no shortages of… Read More
It is hard to believe that a week from today we will all be back home.
This trip is flying by. Today we wrapped up our last day of free
travel, which started just over a week ago. Planning an entire week’s
worth of activities, transportation and accomodation for nine people
(while remaining within a budget) turned out to be a lot more
challenging than the group had anticipated. However,… Read More
To answer the question in the title, you don’t: there is nothing wrong with Maria. She is awesome as is. The Maria in question is one Maria Garcia: our tiny, feisty host during our time in Magdalena, Sonora. We rendezvoused with her and her husband Joe at a Home Depot in Tucson on Sunday where we loaded up supplies and then headed down to Mexico. We proceeded to spend several… Read More
