Written by Julia M and Clivia, students on the Carpe Diem gap year New Zealand farm volunteer program near Napier and Wellington
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… Read More
Written by Maia and Ripley, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Guatemala homestay semester in XelaWhat’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… 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 Ash and Grace, students on the Carpe Diem gap year New Zealand Maori culture program in Raglan, Waitomo, and Lake Taupo
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… Read More
Written by Peter, Izzy, and Ester, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Italy Matera semester exploring ancient cities and Italian culture
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… 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 Ash and Clivia, students on the Carpe Diem gap year New Zealand Maori culture program in Raglan and Wellington
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… Read More
Written by Pepper Travers and Aidan Stier, students on the Carpe Diem Italy & Greece gap year semester
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.… Read More
Written by Laurie and Ray, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Guatemala homestay program in XelaWhat’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… Read More
Written by Hudsyn Toppenberg, a student on the Carpe Diem gap year Italy campsite experience at Paladini in the Garfagnana region
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… 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 Udaipur, India (we’re always on the hunt for a sweet treat).
Last week, after saying goodbye to our friends from Conscious Impact, we departed on a three-hour jeep ride with our guides, Suvash and Sandesh, to the beginning of our trek.… Read More
Written by Summer and Nico, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Central America program in Xela, GuatemalaWhat’s New?
Hello families! Sorry for the late blog post, the last 3 weeks have been packed with many adventures and laughs! We’re now writing from Lake Atitlan where we’ve been relaxing at the bamboo house and learning about Permaculture! We started off our first week in Xela at a local hostel… Read More
Written by JT and Julia M, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Australia Great Barrier Reef scuba diving program in the South Pacific semester
What’s New in Our Journey?
This week the SoPac group got to explore the Great Barrier Reef and earn our scuba certifications! We spent time building a connection to the water and learning how to navigate the depths safely. We grew physically and mentally,… Read More
Written by Grace and Gabe, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Australia Daintree program volunteering at ClimateForce in the South Pacific semester
What’s New in Our Journey?
Hello from your friends Gabe and Grace, the current leaders of the week!
It has been a whole week since the last blog, and boy oh boy, are there updates! Starting off the week, we completed our second food shop of the… Read More
Written by Ally and Malcolm, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Italy Via Francigena trekking semester through Florence and Siena
What’s New in Our Journey?
Welcome back! We just finished our trek on the Via Francigena, visiting our first two cities, Florence and Siena. The group enjoyed the beautiful scenery along the trek and admired the historic architecture in both cities. Along the way, we had the chance to… Read More
Written by India & Nepal Students, Ava Mendler and Stephanie Jones
After our restful and rejuvenating time at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, we embarked on a wild four-hour jeep ride through the winding roads of Nepal and arrived at Conscious Impact (aka camp), our new home for the next eight days.
I (Steph) arrived at camp riding the high of the sick jeep ride. The first thing on the… Read More
Written by Caroline and Susannah, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Australia Daintree conservation program volunteering at ClimateForce
What’s New in Our Journey?
Hello, world!! Greetings from your Leaders of the Week, Caroline and Susannah. We’ve had another great week here in the Daintree Rainforest and are excited to share our adventures with you. We started our week at SheOak Ridge and continued our work with our lovely hosts,… Read More
Written by Andy and JB, Overseas Educators on the Carpe Diem gap year Guatemala service project program starting in Antigua and ComalapaWhat’s New?
The program started in Antigua, Guatemala for orientation. The group quickly found its footing as we explored the town and created a culture amongst everyone. As the first couple of days went by, we explored markets, reviewed the itinerary for the next 10 weeks,… Read More
Written by India & Nepal Students, Nina Shear and MaeWhat’s New?
A Girls’ Trip + Anand
This is our first official blog of our journey to Nepal and India, and we have so much to share. Our adventure began at the San Francisco airport, where we met as a group for the first time. Mae and I had already faced our first airport challenges together, nearly missing our flight… Read More
Written by Hudsyn and Allie, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Italy sustainable community experience at Panta Rei in Passignano
What’s New in Our Journey?
We kicked off our journey at Panta Rei! It’s a beautiful community where we learned useful Italian phrases and how to live more sustainably within our surroundings. Building a community was a new experience for all of us—new people, a new environment. A strong… Read More
