Follow the Journey

By Kobbe Hey family and friends! After two amazing days in Sydney, the time had finally come for our six-day adventure in the Australian Outback. We arrived in Uluru after a three hour flight and met our GUYde who is a really cool guy named…Guy. He immediately took us into the wilderness and showed us around. Collecting firewood, singing songs around the bonfire, hiking under the Australian sun, stargazing, driving,… Read More

By Kathleen Hi everyone! Our week started out on our last day at our hostel in Katoomba. Our time in Katoomba was spent doing orientation activities while also going on hikes and exploring our surroundings. After Katoomba, we went a few towns over to Penrith to settle in before starting our volunteer work at a dingo sanctuary the next day. We showed up to the dingo sanctuary the very next… Read More

By Jacob We are having the best time here in the amazing mountain town of Katoomba. We went and explored the Blue Mountains yesterday and they were so incredibly beautiful and awe-inspiring. I’m having a ton of fun getting to know the group and our awesome leaders, Peter and Anya. I only have 10 minutes at this local library computer so gotta go for now but more to come later.… Read More

By Diana Carpe Diem’s South Pacific program is becoming a trip I will never forget. During the few days we have been in Australia there have been so many highlights. Our Overseas Educators have been extremely helpful and supportive. They have encouraged us to step out of our comfort zone and try new things. Just yesterday we went on hike and decided to keep going despite the fact that we… Read More

By Shelby, Emma, and Kobbe Hi family and friends! After two long days of travel, we’ve made it to Katoomba, Australia. So far, Katoomba has looked very similar to the U.S. We’re staying at the YHA Katoomba Hostel which is much nicer than we expected. We’re trying not to get used to the luxury of the hostel because we don’t know what our other living situations will be like. Yesterday,… Read More

By Kathleen, Max, and Boy Alex Hello! Today is our third day in Australia, and it has been a blast so far. After many hours of travel, we made it to the town of Katoomba, where we’re staying in a hostel and getting the chance to explore the town and surrounding areas. On our first day, we went to a local park, played some bonding games and had an encounter… Read More

By Program Director James Simmons The Walkabout crew is all here and getting checked in! They channeled the theme of “awkward family photo” to kick off the semester (haha). The group is missing one international student, who will meet them in Australia!… Read More

By Overseas Educators Anya & Peter Greetings from staff training in Portland! A big welcome to the friends and families that will be following our journey over the coming months. We are eager to begin our journey around the South Pacific with you all in just a few short days! We are in the midst of staff training in Portland and have been working hard to prepare for our adventure… Read More

By Scott P and Cammie Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and imagine: red desert sands stretching as far as the eye can see; thousand foot tall rock formations older than time itself; brilliant sunsets bathing the horizon in a fiery orange glow; and starry nights—magnificent clusters of constellations that remind you of the vastness of the universe and the endless possibilities that await. This was Walkabout 2017’s Outback… Read More

By Overseas Educators Eric and Lolly It’s difficult to imagine that all our students we have shared rooms, car seats, and experiences with for the past three months are now spread all over the world from Boston to Portland, Tucson to Long Island, and Adelaide to Sydney. We have been reflecting over the past few days of how hard leaving each other was on that courtyard of the Village Glebe… Read More

The Walkabout Crew during their conservation efforts at She Oak Ridge.… Read More

Our latest weekly update covers three separate locations throughout Australia that we’ve visited. The period that this blog covers begins in Chenrezig, the Buddhist retreat that we spent 6 days visiting. Our second to last day was spent in complete silence, a practice that is very common amongst buddhist monks. starting in the morning just after breakfast, we were instructed to say nothing out loud, to others or to yourself,… Read More

By Greg Pipher and Wynn Simmons So we left Fiji and as we got onto the plane we came across something most of us have never seen before. They made us empty our water bottles and all the drinks we bought after going through security! Then we got on the plane and when it was time to get off we did and went off into Brisbane too our hostel at… Read More

Throughout this entire trip, we have met some incredible people – people that we will be lifelong friends with and stay in contact with forever, and people that have taught us so much about different cultures and ourselves. But in Fiji, we became family with an entire village. Back home, you can knock on your neighbor’s door and ask for sugar. Most likely, they would give it to you, and… Read More

When we were on our way to Fiji, I didn’t know exactly what our stay would be like. Really, the biggest thing I knew about Fiji was that they had tasty bottled water, which is like their standard bottled water here. I knew that it was tropical, and that it had sunny weather and rainforests, but that was about it. I wanted to know what Fiji was really about. What… Read More

I, along with many of my other peers, am now scuba certified! It was a four day process to get our certifications. One day was spent in the classroom watching videos and taking tests, the second in an enclosed pool to practice the skills that we were learning, and the third and fourth in the Great Barrier Reef!  Beginning to learn and practice our skills in the pool was incredible.… Read More

We have spent our last few days at Sheoak Ridge. This is a beautiful reserve owned by a couple named Marcus and Claire. Both are biologists and spend their time working various jobs, gardening, rehabilitating wallabies, and taking care of their large property in the Daintree Rainforest. This Property has many kinds of ecosystems. It is a lot of work to keep this land in shape. So they put us to… Read More

Last week, we got to experience life from a Buddhist perspective. Our group stayed at Chenrezig Institute, a center for Buddhist learning. We were hosted by a wonderful nun who oozed kindness and happiness at all times. Her name that she was given when she got ordained was Venerable Tsultrim, which means ethical rule. She aspired to live up to her name – and from the little that we saw of… Read More

By Jenny Olea Hey everyone! It’s Jenny here, writing all the way from Australia. I would like to share my experience during the last couple of days in the village of Nakuku. On November 3rd, we went to visit the school Vuni Salusalu, where we got to meet a bunch of wonderful kids! Personally, I loved doing this because I really enjoy interacting with kids, getting to know them, and… Read More