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 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 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 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 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

Written by Chelsea Van Eck, Overseas Educator on the Carpe Diem gap year Italy orientation program arriving at Panta Rei for the Italy and Greece semester Ciao! After months of preparing for this day, I’m ecstatic to say the group has successfully arrived at our first stop in Italy, Panta Rei! It’s been an eventful 48 hours as we traversed planes, trains, and buses to arrive at our destination and… Read More

Written by Maggie and Chelsea, Overseas Educators on the Carpe Diem gap year Italy Greece semester Some interesting tidbits about your leaders: Maggie calls both Colorado and Scotland home and is passionate about climbing, mountain biking, climate justice, and mental health advocacy. Chelsea, a Midwest native, has called Korea, D.C., Wisconsin, and Florida home. She enjoys spending time with her nieces and nephews, going on nature walks, and learning people’s… Read More

Written by Ariana and Megan, Overseas Educators on the Carpe Diem gap year Italy Greece 8 week semester ending in Athens Ciao for Now! It’s hard to believe, but the Terra group is on their last night in Athens! Did we really just do all that we did? Whatever motivated each student to step on that plane on March 5th and fly to a foreign country with complete strangers, we… Read More

Written by Ben Torregiani and Stavroula Skandalakis, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Italy Matera school program teaching English in the Sassi This week the Terra 2024 group went to Matera, a town carved out of stone. We started the week by visiting a school where we would be teaching kindergarten students English. In the afternoon, we made pasta in a house carved into the mountain and ate it… Read More

Written by Eden Tropepe and Kian Murray, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Italy Rome Easter semester exploring the Vatican and Colosseum This past week the Carpe Diem Terra group went to Rome and experienced the ancient wonders of Italy. We started our time off visiting the Vatican and seeing the Pope’s inspirational message to 1.4 billion Catholics for Easter. We then had some time to explore the city… Read More

Written by Sydney and Logan, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Italy trek Paladini program hiking the Via Francigena before a tech-free week in nature A few weeks back, we did part of the Via Francigena! We walked for 4 days and had great weather throughout! Lauren was our guide through it all, she was amazing! We met a nice gentleman on the first day who stopped us and… Read More

Written by Ryan Chun and Julia Rivard, gap year Italy Florence students on the Carpe Diem Italy and Greece semester, this update covers their first days in Firenze and the start of the Via Francigena trek. We went to Florence (Firenze) and made ourselves at home for a few days! We climbed the Duomo Bell Tower, explored the Palazzo Vecchio, and did a scavenger hunt of different city attractions, among… Read More

Written by Ariana Agrios, Overseas Educator on the gap year Italy Umbria semester, this update covers the Terra group’s first week at Panta Rei sustainable community before heading to Florence. The Terra group is off and running! We landed in Rome on Wednesday and made our way to Passignano Sul Trasimeno where we’re staying at Panta Rei, a sustainable living community in the hills of Umbria. This week we’ve enjoyed… Read More

Written by Ariana and Megan, Italy Greece gap year educators leading the Terra semester, this intro shares fun facts, travel stories, and what students can look forward to on their European adventure. Buongiorno from the Terra Overseas Educators! Ariana and Megan have enjoyed connecting with each of you over this past week in preparation for our European adventure, and we hope you’re as excited as we are that we’ll soon… Read More

  Written by Meg and Mary, Overseas Educators on the Carpe Diem gap year Italy Greece Terra semester closing at ReGreen in Akrata And that’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… Read More

  Written by Macey T., this gap year Greece Aegina island update covers a week of sailing, swimming, pistachio tasting, and island life on the Carpe Diem Italy and Greece semester. 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… Read More

  Written by Elizabeth R. and Liam S., this gap year Greece Crete update covers ten days on eastern Crete with Greek lessons, Minoan history tours, pottery classes, and daily beach swims before heading to Athens. 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.… Read More

  Written by Kate T. and Lillian A., this Italy Greece semester Matera update covers recycled book fridges, an Italian family Sunday lunch, a Halloween party, and the group’s transition to Greece. 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 “book fridges”… Read More

  Written by Zane and Justin, this gap year Rome Vatican update covers a walking tour of ancient architecture, a visit to the Sistine Chapel, and the best gelato spots in the city before heading to Matera. 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 we’re staying at by taxi. One group walked an… Read More

Written by Lillybeth and Amery, this Italy Via Francigena trek update covers a week of walking through Tuscan hills, wine tasting, bread making with Luca, foraging with Claudia, and finishing in Siena. Since the last blog post we have done and seen a LOT. It was the week of our trek so we started in Gambassi Terme where we met Luca, who showed us around his family’s bakery and taught… Read More