Written By Garret & Maddie
Hello from Cambodia! We started the week off by saying goodbye to Chiang Mai. Through a magical mystery tour created by our lovely OE Kayla, we walked around uncovering the last bits and pieces the city had to offer us. Many yummy drinks were enjoyed, many blowouts were had, and sooo much laundry was done. We had the best final dinner at a restaurant whose… Read More
Written by Jamie & Caroline
Sawasdee kha from Panya Forest!
Post orientation, we ventured into our first week at Panya Forest and the Hin Lad Nai hill tribe village. After a warm welcome from Greg and Ramphai, the owners of Panya, we dove into environmental consciousness and community building. We started our days with morning Thai language classes before heading to group activities, including visiting the Wat Thum Si Nil… Read More
Written By Dylan & Ruby
Since our last blog, we have completed our trek through the Via Francigena and made our way to Florence! The rest of our journey included a silent walk, as well as a beautiful riverside walk through Colle di Val d’Elsa. We finished with a day in Siena where we explored the cathedral and said our goodbyes to Lauren before continuing on to the first big… Read More
Written by Ruby
We explored the accent town of Perugia, and learned about the history of the city. After a local lunch at a well known sand which shop we further explored Perugia and tried new and unique gelato flavors. Back at Panta Rei, we explored wood working with Julio our host. We gathered kindling, chopped wood and learned how to make a cross fence. For dinner we made homemade… Read More
Written By Overseas Educators, Kayla & Malcolm
Hello from the beautiful and bustling town of Chiang Mai!
We can’t believe what a whirlwind it’s been already, it feels like we both have known each other forever and still have so much to learn and explore.
Our days have been full of delicious food, laughter, program sessions setting us up for the semester and deep exploration of both the city and… Read More
Written By Overseas Educators JB & Forrest
The group started their journey in Umbria, Italy at Panta Rei— an education center focused on sustainable development and intentional living. Orientation week has been full of activities hosted by the Panta Rei Center, including earth brick making, meditation circles, harvesting vegetables and exploring the nearby town of Passignano sul Trasimeno and the city of Perugia. As the first couple of days went… Read More
Sawatdii!!
Malcolm is an avid traveler who grew up on a school campus and has been passionate about education his whole life. He went to college at Sewanee and then became an English teacher, but left the classroom to lead student groups on educational journeys around the world. He loves to read, play board games, and spend time in nature, and is always excited to try new foods.
Kayla Watson… Read More
Just got to training and getting into the details of the program! We’re super excited to meet you all soon, and are here to answer any questions that come up before the program.
Our names are JB and Forrest— JB is from Charlotte, North Carolina but travels full time in the experiential education field. Forrest is from rural Arkansas originally but has had the opportunity to live all over the… Read More
Written by Abby and Mary, Overseas Educators on the Carpe Diem gap year Central America semester closing out their journey across Guatemala and Costa Rica
To our special unit of girls, what a treasure it has been to share this time with you, traversing Central America together. As we sit here and reminisce about our semester, we are overcome with bittersweetness. Firstly, we are immensely proud of each and every… Read More
Written by Aisha and Malcolm, Overseas Educators on the Carpe Diem gap year Italy Greece semester closing out their 10-week journey
Wow, what a trip! As we rest and recover from a busy whirlwind journey over the past 10 weeks, we are reflecting on the many highlight moments we experienced and beautiful relationships we built.
Beginning with our time at Centro Panta Rei above the picturesque Lago Trasimeno in Umbria,… Read More
Written by Hannah, a student on the Carpe Diem gap year Costa Rica rafting program closing out the final week in Quepos
Welcome back, friends and family!
It’s bittersweet to say… we’ve officially reached our final week abroad!
We’ve had incredible experiences not just this week, but throughout this entire journey. Last week we were in Mastatal, and this week kicked off with a relaxing day on Playa Dominical. After… Read More
Written by Sage and Madeline, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Greece ReGreen permaculture program completing their final week
We finished our week in Aegina and traveled back by ferry to Athens to start our last week of the program. We traveled to ReGreen and started off our week with a tour of the permaculture farm, hike up the mountain and daily drumming lessons with Nikos. We have eaten… Read More
Written by Jackie, a student on the Carpe Diem gap year Costa Rica Refugio program living at Villas Mastatal with the local family
Hello friends and family!
This week we touched down in San José, Costa Rica on a red eye flight from Guatemala City. After spending the night in San José, we loaded up our backpacks to head to Villas Mastatal, where we lived and worked on a family… Read More
Written by Reilly and Chloe, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Greece Aegina student directed travel week exploring Athens and the Mediterranean
Since our last blog we made it to our student directed portion of the trip. We decided to go to Aegina, Greece, which was about an hour and 15 minute ferry ride from Athens. We planned a few activities that consisted of Rail Biking our last day… Read More
Written by Lucina and Cece, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Guatemala Semuc Champey adventure before departing for Costa Rica
After a bit of a lengthy trek over to Laquin/Samuc Champey, we started the first day off strong by tubing the crystal clear waters of the land. Before we even got to the main activity we happened upon a rope swing chair where we leaped into the water. Needless… Read More
Written by Eva and Ella, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Greece Crete village program before exploring Athens and Aegina
Since arriving in Greece we spent a little over a week in a beautiful village in the mountains of Crete. During our time there we got to experience many different activities such as sunrise/sunset hikes, feeding goats with a shepherd, exploring ancient archaeological sites, doing greek lessons, swimming in… Read More
Written by Lauren, a student on the Carpe Diem gap year Guatemala San Juan program exploring Lake Atitlan culture before student directed travel
Two weeks in San Juan flew by all too fast. The city is absolutely stunning, right on Lake Atitlán, bursting with color, smiles, and culture. Between the murals and the markets, it felt like every corner had a story to tell. Getting to explore the city and… Read More
Written by Reilly, a student on the Carpe Diem gap year Italy Naples Pompeii semester transitioning to Crete and the start of Greece
Our last days in Italy were slightly hectic but also meaningful and lots of fun. We arrived in Naples at night after a long bus ride, including an impromptu bus swap an hour in. Having skipped dinner, the group checked in to the hostel then walked to… Read More
Written by Tala and Chloe, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Italy Matera culture exchange program with B-Link near Altamura
Since our last blog, we left Rome and made our way to the south of Matera. We spent the last 5 days in a monastery near the town of Altamura with the company B-Link. We got to learn a lot about this region’s Italian culture. Especially because we were… Read More
Written by Cece and Hannah, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Guatemala San Juan La Laguna semester celebrating Dia de los Santos
Welcome back family and friends to the adventures of CARPE DIEM. This week we started our Spanish classes in San Juan La Laguna! Along with regular Spanish class for three hours per day, we also got the opportunity to take art classes! Some of us chose embroidery,… Read More
