Blog

students walking with backs to the camera raincoat

Scuba Diving, Friendsgiving, & Corcovado National Park

Written by Central America Student, Sophie N.Ā  This was our last full week as a group, we spent it in Drake Bay mostly scuba diving. We met great directors that guided us along the way and met our needs while diving. On Thursday, since we wouldn’t be spending Thanksgiving with our families, we decided to plan a Friendsgiving in which everyone was split into pairs and asked to make a… Read More
group photo on the porch

A Final Letter from your Walkabout Overseas Educators

Written by South Pacific Overseas Educators, Soumya & Forrest To my beloved superpoopers, We came together like the Daintree River and parted ways many moons later like its many tributaries. Along the way, we lived and laughed through seventy beautiful, challenging, sweaty, hilarious, eye-opening, wild and wonderful days. There are so many moments I look back on… a befuddling, chaotic few hours at the Sydney airport when we realized we’d… Read More
looking into distance mountains clouds

A Final Farewell from your Overseas Educators: Terra

  Written by Italy & Greece Overseas Educators, Meg & Mary And thatā€™s a wrap! The Terra group has officially come to the end of its journey. This past week we stayed at Re-green, an amazing village nestled in the mountains of Akrata. The volunteers and village members that live there practice and promote permaculture principles, and were generous enough to let us into their community for a week. Our… Read More
group pic at the rancho

Micro Ecosystems of the Maztatal Farm

Written by Central America Students, Lily & Matilda This last week we rode, climbed and scrambled up the steep Permacultures farm sides of Maztatal Ranch! From herbal tours to chocolate adventures, night walks, and even cooking with our host family, it really feels like we did it all! But thatā€™s so broad, so what did we get yo to? In more specific terms: We started off fighting the brutal sun… Read More
students in a group after cave hike

Caving, Hiking, & Sea Kayaking: Whenua Iti

Written by South Pacific Students, Madeleine N. & Treavor O. Our group traveled to our last contact, Whenua Iti. We spent the next 9 days caving, hiking and sea kayaking. With our leaders Joe and Michael, we participated in many group bonding activities; we learned more about the Maori culture through these activities. What have been the three highlights of the week? 🪨 Caving – We went to a cave… Read More
students hiking

Student Directed Travel from Wellington to the South Island

Written by South Pacific Students, Asa & RJ We drove from Raglan down to Wellington over a few days while doing a practice run of our student directed travel. We spent a day in a very culturally significant museum in Wellington before we departed towards the South Island. What have been the three highlights of the week? 🌎 The first highlight of the week was on our first day of… Read More
thanksgiving meal by meraki group students

B-Link, Thanksgiving, & Olive Harvests in Matera

  Written by Italy & Greece Students, Katie M. & Conrad I. Since the last blog we’ve moved away from the city of Rome and have been staying at a farm right outside of the city of Matera. For the past week we’ve been working with volunteers from the organization B-link, olive harvesting, visiting the local primary school, and learning about different duties on the farm like cleaning up after… Read More
laughing on boat students shoreline

Student Directed Travel in Aegina (Greece 🇬🇷)

  Written by Italy & Greece Student, Macey T. This past week our group got to spend time on the beautiful island of Aegina!🌴Our wonderful group leaders on Crete, Elizabeth and Liam, booked a picturesque 3 story house, right on the ocean. The weather was on our side as well, allowing us to swim almost everyday! It truly was a little patch of paradise. Aegina is very famous for pistachios,… Read More
Church ceiling taken on the Tuscany trek

From Panta Rei to Roma

  Written by Italy & Greece Students, Iris & Rob Since last week, we have finished our stay in Panta Rei. Doing day trips into town and learning Italian by a very patient Chiara. We got to explore the surrounding area and learned about sustainable living, such as water conservation, and learning various other ways to live in accordance with principles of self-reliance. We met many great people that took… Read More
pink sky over new zealand plains

Māori Community, Surfing, & Sweat Lodge in New Zealand

Written by South Pacific Students, Talia M. & Madeleine N. Over the past week we had our final stretch outside of Raglan with the Māori. We spent time with knowledgeable Māori community members, Tiaki and Madisyn. We also spent two days at the home Rob and Rangi Marie who combine many Native American and Māori beliefs and customs. What have been the three highlights of the week? 🏄🏽‍♀️ Our group… Read More
close shot of students in group photo together

Life in Crete & the Many Highlights of Greece!

  Written by Italy & Greece Students, Elizabeth R. & Liam S. We arrived on Crete! Over the past ten days, we spent time in a small village on Eastern Crete! We started off the week with Greek language and culture lessons from our teacher Manolis. We learned the essentials of the language as well as Greek history and Greek dancing, which we all enjoyed! Then Carly taught us all… Read More
making heart craft with pink hearts kite

DĆ­a de los Santos & Birthday Celebrations

Written by Central America Students, Lily & Anantya We continued our second week in San Juan, a small town on Lake AtitlĆ”n. We continued our Spanish classes at Eco Spanish school, and also enjoyed several new events and cultural activities. We ended the month of October with a very personal archaeology tour. On the tour, we were able to meet a very honorable woman from the community. She graciously welcomed… Read More
students smiling bue background

Book Fridges, Halloween, & our Last Night in Italy

  Written by Italy & Greece Students, Kate T. and Lillian A. Since the last update, the Terra group has completed our time in Matera and travelled to Greece! In a farm outside of Matera we were tasked with designing and painting recycled fridges to turn them into ā€œbook fridgesā€ as a sort of lending library for a nearby town, Altamura. With the help of local contacts, at the end… Read More
students group photo with host families

Artistry & Group Bonding in San Juan

Written by Central America Students, Matilda & LeilaĀ  This week we pushed off the shores of San Marcos and landed ourselves on the opposite side of the lake in a small welcoming town with the name of San Juan. Here, we began our Spanish lessons at a local Eco School where we grow our skills in one on one classes in the mornings followed by alternating days of art classes,… Read More
meraki studnet looking out over the country during the trek

Sword Fighting, Ravioli, & Halloween in Italy

  Written by Italy & Greece Students, Rob & JosieĀ  Roads knotted and paths forked, the rebellious stature of hundred-year-old cypress trees, and the subtle sound of bushes on our path whispering out the name of the wind. This is the picture we would like to paint of our few days spent tracing the cobbled steps of history on the Via Francigena. Along they way, we took took a trip… Read More
collesseum tour of rome

Navigating, Learning, and Eating from Siena to Roma! 🍝🍕🍨

  Written by Italy & Greece Students, Zane & Justin We arrived in Rome after a four-hour FlixBus ride from Siena and split off into two groups after sending our bags to the monastery weā€™re staying at by taxi. One group walked an hour to the monastery and got Chinese food, and the other took the metro and got some Italian food. The next day we had lunch at a… Read More
students in a group photo looking out and on picnic bench

Paladini & Tuscany Trek

Written by Italy & Greece Students, Marielle M. & Katie M. After our time in Florence, our group travelled to Paladini to spend the week camping. This provided us the opportunity to spend time in nature within a community that focuses on living sustainably and is open to host many volunteers. In the mornings we would help with a variety of projects such as paving, chopping firewood, collecting chestnuts and… Read More

Lago AtitlƔn, Big Spiders, & Improving Spanish!

Written by Central America Students, Ashlyn & Jonah We made it out of Xela! This week, we got to spend at Lake Atitlan learning about permaculture, hiking through the forest and farming. Our Top 3 Highlights of the Week: 🥗 Great fresh food straight from the farm! 💦 A beautiful hike to the a waterfall that we were able to go in. 🏡 Lovely accommodations in the bamboo house. What’s… Read More