To our lovely Borderlands family,
Hey! We have a fun fact for you all: we drove 4,375 miles in the last eight weeks! (Soooo, how many of those miles were spent singing Lady Gaga? Some of you definitely just said, “too many”, some of you definitely just said, “not enough”.) But seriously! Wow! 4,375 miles! And we never left Arizona. And why would we?! In lands as vast as Arizona… Read More
Written By Rachel and Elsie Hello! For our last week here in Arizona, we headed to the Dharma Treasure Meditation Retreat for a peaceful, reflective end to an amazing trip. Your captains of the week, Rachel and Elsie, are here to share our experience. Namaste 11/30 After a sad goodbye to our temporary home at Hacienda Corona, we drove into Tucson for a COVID-19 test. This time, we got a… Read More
Written By, Mari, Leila, and Eli Hey guys, it’s Mari! Leila, Eli and I were the captains this week and I’m here to tell you all about what we did! For our 4 day captainship, we went back to the Hacienda Corona Bed & Breakfast to celebrate Thanksgiving with four relaxed days. 11/26: Thanksgiving Day! This morning we all woke up refreshed after sleeping in, and super excited for the… Read More
Hello! This week was student directed travel, four days of travel and experiences fully designed by all the students on the semester! Since this week was planned by everyone together, the blog will also be written by everyone together. You will hear from each of our captains-of-the-day teams as they tell you about their day and the activities they planned. Rachel and Elsie – Saturday 11/21: Hi all! This is… Read More
Written By Lily, Freya, and Kerri Key:
* → fun fact
@ = look into this
% = facts we learned 11/16 Monday: Prepare mentallly for a transformative week: Arrive at Hacienda de Corona We are greeted by Jeff and 8 yo daughter Reina, who were kindly waiting to lead the way in their open-air black Jeep. At the main house, Nisa (co-owner of the 100 year old Ranch we… Read More
Written By Sophie & Petar Hey everybody, this is Sophie, one of the current team captains! This week the group traveled to the Canelo Project in Elgin, Arizona. When we arrived, everybody got a quick tour of the property and took a look at the Main House, Guest House, Poem’s House, Juanita’s House, and the Portable Straw-bale House. Each member of the group got to stay in one of these… Read More
Much Ado About Dirt
Our week as a playbook at Deep Dirt Farm & Institute Written by Rachel, Jacob, and FreyaMonday, Nov. 12Scene: The Carpe Diem van and Jeep arrive at the Deep Dirt Institute with Kate T(Owner of Deep Dirt) waving at the welcome center. After brief hellos, the group follows her to a spiral rock structure where they introduce one another and converse. Kate explains … Read More
Written By, Elsie, Petar, and Eli Hi family and friends!!
I’m Elsie, one of our captains of the week along with Eli and Petar. I’m excited to let you all in on what’s been going on here in Arizona. What a week it has been!! After lots of preparation and anticipation, we finally packed up our bags Monday morning and dove into a 6-day backpacking adventure. For many of us,… Read More
Written By, Lily Hello family and friends!
We finally arrived in the small border town of Patagonia, Arizona last Wednesday. Following the cold nights we spent in the Grand Canyon, the group is loving the warm weather down here. Once we settled into our accommodations at the old elementary school in town, we were anxious to start working with Borderlands Restoration Network (BRN). I’m Lily, one of the team captions… Read More
The group jumping after setting up our tents in Tucson. Super excited! Written By Kerri, Jacob, and Leila Greetings from sunny Arizona!
We have been spending this first week camping at two different sites, exploring, and bonding. Our first site was based in Tucson, where we set up after arriving and had a nice dinner of pizza. We spent the first four days getting to know each other, and getting… Read More
Greetings, Friends and Family!
The Borderlands group has safely arrived in Tucson, and have met with their group leaders, Kate and Adam. They have arrived at camp and are setting up tents before a first-night dinner of pizza and salad. They are in a beautiful setting; pictures to come tomorrow. Until then, be assured that the group is together and have already enjoyed an epic Arizona sunset.
You’ll hear from… Read More
Hello Borderlands Crew and all who will be following and supporting us on this journey!
With the excitement of our semester just around the corner, we are so excited to be writing this first blog. Although the students will be the usual voice on the majority of the blogs throughout our adventure, you will be hearing from us periodically too.
So, who are we?
enter Adam and Kate, the Carpe… Read More
Written By, James Simmons The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in drastic changes on an individual, community, and global level. Each of us has experienced at least some degree of change to our social and familial relationships, as well as having to make adjustments to our educational and/or career options. Many have personally experienced the effects of COVID-19 firsthand; others have loved ones who have suffered due to the pandemic. We… Read More
Written By, Doug Zaideman Learning To Trip Lead Becoming an Overseas Educator (OE) with Carpe Diem wasn’t something that I always knew I wanted to do, in fact, I hadn’t even heard of formal gap year education programs until after I had already made my way through school and had the opportunity to travel internationally for the first time. During a trip to Southeast Asia, I would meet student groups… Read More
Written By, Doug Zaideman Taking a Latitudes Year with Carpe Diem allows you to build upon experiences you had during your group semester, carrying those skills and lessons learned over to an independent gap semester spent volunteering for an international organization, a Focused Volunteer Placement (FVP). In addition to where Carpe travels during group semesters, our Latitudes Year programs partners with organizations in over 20 countries worldwide.
Finding A… Read More
Written By Maya, Latitudes ’20 Spain My time in Spain was spent either at my language school, cooking school or tasting the numerous delicious foods around my city -Bilbao. Spanish cuisine is Morrocan cuisine with a touch of France and a splash of the big bad ocean. Spanish food can’t truly be understood without understanding the history of Spain. So much of the influence in their dishes comes from the… Read More
Thinking about the impact your gap year abroad has on the planet? We are too. From international flights, to travel gear, to the types of activities you do, the products you consume, the businesses you support, and the places you visit while taking a gap year… the choices you make have an impact on communities, environments and economies. There is a lot to consider!
Is it possible to take a… Read More
Written By Tor, Latitudes Year ’20 South Africa“In South Africa, Poverty Alleviation Programs Show r-Eel Results” Everybody in this area knows and loves Anthea Rossouw, the woman who runs Dreamcatcher. She’s been at it for a long time, I gather, possibly since the days of apartheid. She gave up her status as a prominent community member in the white seaside town of Stilbaai (where her late husband was the… Read More
Like many of you, we are experiencing immense anger and sadness for the suffering of Black people due to the systemic, institutional racism that continues to occur in our country. We condemn the racist policies, systemic racism and police brutality that led to the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, and countless others.
We stand in solidarity with those who are protesting and those… Read More
