Blog

via francigena pilgrimage route

Trekking the Via Francigena across Tuscany!

Written by Aiden & Naomi, Italy & Greece Semester Students  After sadly ending our stay in Florence, we made our way to Gambassi Terme to begin our Via Francigena Trek!! That afternoon we met Lauren, our guide for the trek, and prepared to begin our journey. Lauren guided us the beginning of the hike as we walked through the nearby town, noting all the via Francigena signs and painted pilgrims… Read More
paddleboarding boat lake mountain

Homestays & New Skills in San Juan

Written by Central America Students, April & Ozzy   This week we were presented with more of a mental challenge than a physical one. We traveled across the lake on a boat to San Juan, then went to our separate home stays and started Spanish classes as well as skill-based classes. Our top highlights of the week:   🎨 To start off the week, we all had different classes teaching us cultural… Read More
Shad giving us a farm tour and teaching us about permaculture

Atitlán Organics & Wellkind: Permaculture, Reforestation, and Food Security

Written by Central America Students, Izzy & Dylan  Since coming back from the very long and tiring hike, we all stayed at a hostel in Tzununa called Granja Tz’kinin, where we met Neal, who gave us his perspective on how permaculture can shape the way you view the world. With help from Shad, the owner of Atitlan Organics, we continued to learn more about permaculture and put it into practice.… Read More
Camping at Vitamin Air

Carpe Mundi: Mangrove Conservation & Life at VitaminAir

Written by Kat & Lucky, Southeast Asia Semester students In collaboration with our non-profit partner Carpe Mundi After our brief yet amazing time in Phnom Penh, we began our 3 hour journey. Jammed into one van with our belongings, we met up with our good friend Sela, who speaks great English, and his family. We arrived at VitaminAir! Upon our arrival, we were greeted with the peace of nature, complimented… Read More
Waimoku Falls in Kipahulu district in Haleakala National Park

Whispering Winds in Hawai’i

Written by Hawaii Students Nicole🐞and Jaidan🐝  We arrived at our new campsite at Whispering Winds, a bamboo farm where we got the opportunity to volunteer with River. We also were lucky enough to get a tour from Rich who taught us all about bamboo and the process of growing and preserving it! Our Top Three Highlights of the Week:  🗻 We took a long winding road to Hana where we… Read More
We did it!!!

We did it!! Lago Atitlán Trek!

Written by Central America Students, Justin and Addie  Second week in Xela! Moved in with our host families this week and got to immerse ourselves in the culture of Guatemala even further while practicing the Spanish skills we’ve been working on. Continuing our Spanish classes, we advanced our language skills even further. Throughout the week we spent time with our families, participated in group bonding activities such as karaoke, visits… Read More
Walking on a floating bridge

Carpe Mundi: Prek Toal, the Floating Village & Homestays!

Written by Dulce & Hayden, Southeast Asia Semester students In collaboration with our non-profit partner Carpe Mundi We started our week off by boat, traveling to the floating villages. We met our fun tour guide Yusef. Upon arriving, we got to the nonprofit, Osmose, who provided our meals for the entire stay. After a delicious plate of rice, veggies, meat, and fruit we headed to meet our host families. This… Read More
The lambs!

Hawaiian Island Land Trust: Baby Lambs, Birthday, and Bonding!

Written by Hawai’i Students, Izzy and Abby  On Sunday March 12th, we arrived at the Hawaiian Island Land Trust campsite in Waihe’e. We took some time to get in the water and watch the sunset after our arrival. Monday morning, we weeded with Demby in preparation for planting later in the week. In the afternoon, we got a tour of the land with Scott Fisher to learn more about where… Read More
Trevi fountain

Roma and Centro Panta Rei!

Written by Cat and Henry, Italy & Greece Semester Students  We spent this week at Centro Panta Rei. On Monday we embark by train towards Florence. We are all looking forward to being back in a city! We can’t wait to see and walk around the beautiful city of Florence and taste the world’s most recognized and flavorful wine. But we will wish a bittersweet goodbye to our beloved farm… Read More
Me (left), Nathalie (middle) and Vanessa (right)

When life gives you opportunities, take them! Kate’s Latitudes Year in Spain

Written by Kate Sandoval, 2022-23 Latitudes Student  Arriving on a beautiful Sunday afternoon (beautiful by the Seattle Washington definition), I settled in the small apartments in Las Rosas to meet my first roommate, Vanessa. Daniela and Misael of Biosean allowed me a couple days of downtime until Nathalie, our third roommate arrived. Vanessa showed me a little intro of the beautiful beaches and led me around to memorize the necessities… Read More
Da beach

Undeniably Grateful: Kelli’s Latitudes Year in Spain

Written by Kelli Parker, 2022-23 Latitudes Student  This semester was overwhelmingly empowering. I flew halfway across the country by myself and somehow managed to get myself to all the places I needed to be. Just for some context, I’m extremely directionally challenged. Like, extremely. So, just that was an accomplishment for me, but the other great thing was how out of my comfort zone it pushed me. I was forced… Read More
Splash

Small Island Adventures: Peyton’s Latitudes Year in Thailand

Written by Peyton Molacek, 2022-23 Latitudes Student  My first 6 weeks in Koh Tao, Thailand have been full of many, many, many unexpected adventures. I came into this experience thinking I was going to dive everyday and maybe input some data. I never imagined experiencing everything I have so far. Last week, the other interns and I spent over 6 hours snorkeling in an attempt to find a reported injured… Read More
First day of Spanish classes!

Fútbol, Clases, y Familia en Xela!

Written by Central America Students, Caedin and Menna This week, we arrived in the beautiful city of Quetzaltenango, aka Xela! After a 4 hour car ride, we finally arrived at our hostel Casa Seibel. We started off the week with Spanish classes at PLQ, a school within the city that has been around since the 1980s. We met our teachers and began our individual learning experiences. Some of us chose… Read More
Womens Day walk

Carpe Mundi: Gratitude & Growth at PTD

Written by Levi, Southeast Asia Semester student In collaboration with our non-profit partner Carpe Mundi This last week, we traded our cushy, air-conditioned rooms in Siem Reap for cozy cabin beds with bug nets in (near?) Battambang. We stayed at Pteu Teuk Dong (PTD), a school that is part of a NGO focused on international education access and community development. We were welcomed and introduced to the program by program… Read More
Planting Taro

From Hawai’i: Surfing, Hula, Taro, Worms, and, of course, Randy

Written by Hawai’i Students, Kayla Pitch 🍊 and Abdulaziz Albreiki 🐙 The past week has been jam packed with new experiences. Last weekend we went to The Blowhole, which is a massive hole in the rock where water blows through up to dozens of feet in the air creating a truly unique experience for everyone. The following day we went to the Lahaina Crafts Fair, where we were able to… Read More
Matera

Matera, Italy & our Farmstay at La Masseria La Fiorita

Written by Tai & Naomi, Student Leaders of the Week  This last week we were staying outside of a beautiful town called Matera. We were staying on a working farm called La Masseria La Fiorita. The farm had everything from horses and cows to rabbits and chickens. When we arrived we met 2 volunteers and another woman who worked on the farm. They were from Austria, Tunisia, and Reunion Island… Read More
canyoneering yellow helmet river new zealand

Hello from Down Under! Gavin’s Latitudes Year Journey in New Zealand

Written by Gavin Parker, 2022-23 Latitudes Student  Kia Ora! My time in New Zealand has been very much an eye opener in many aspects, either that be culturally, environmentally, and learning more about myself as well. While working with Whenua Iti Outdoors, they have helped me see these learning opportunities and have allowed me to see the beauties of this country, taking me on many of their programs and seeing… Read More