Hey and welcome back to the blog of the Walkabout Crew!
We have been a busy bunch these past 9 days. We started in Wellington where we got to be in a big city for the first time while being in New Zealand. We got to have time to explore, eat great food and be independent. We had a few options of some things that we got to choose to… Read More
Kia Ora. Hello everyone, it’s Jackson and Trish and we are so excited to have the opportunity to blog for you all again. Tonight we have the official changing of the guards which means that tomorrow we will have new jobs and will no longer be the group bloggers. I know we only had the opportunity to blog twice but I am so happy we have been able to give… Read More
Written By Meredith & Tyler
On Sunday we left Banos and travelled to the city of Tena in the Amazon. We arrived late in the afternoon and got settled into our beautiful new hostel, previously picked out by Ava and Joey.
The next day we met up with Stephanie from Amazon Learning and she taught us all about the Amazon and what they do as a company. Following her presentation,… Read More
After trekking through the treacherous olive fields and weathering the daunting paved and unpaved roads of the Camino, we arrived in Cordoba. The light at the end of our tunnel, our flower in a dried up flower bed, our Harry to our very lonely Sally. We had found our salvation. We were saved.
Dramatic sighs of relief exchanged and many cups of Joe drank, we pressed on, running blindly through… Read More
Officially one month in! We left Chico Mendez last week for our three day trek to the lake. It was a challenging trip but everyone worked really hard and it was also lots of fun. It was so rewarding to look up at a mountain knowing we had just climbed it that day! On the last day, we got to see an amazing view of the sunrise over the lake.… Read More
Deciding to take a gap year after high school or during college is a big decision! That’s why we asked some of our gap semester program and Latitudes year alumni to share their experiences with you.
Introducing…Alex, Emily, and Patrick!
CDE: Hi, everyone! Let’s start with an easy question. In which gap program did you participate?Alex: Latitudes Year: South Pacific group semester, and FVP in San… Read More
A trek in the hills of northern Thailand. What a wild five days it’s been! Leaving our home in Ban Apa, we started our four day trek on October 6th. Our first destination was Ya Fu village. On our first day, we had a one and a half hour trek to the first stop at a waterfall where we got a delicious lunch wrapped in bamboo leaves. Paulina was a… Read More
Your semester is finally here! You’re leaving for your gap program in a few weeks and it’s time to start packing….but you don’t know where to start. You’re not alone – don’t worry!
I find packing to be a pretty fun process but I know a lot of people would disagree with me. I can’t promise that packing for your gap year semester or year is going to be fun… Read More
The past few days, we’ve been treated to a lavish smorgasbord of religion. On Tuesday, we began the day by attending a lengthy meditation service with an English-born Tibetan Buddhist monk. Rather than talk about religion, he spoke to us about the environment, saying that everyone needs to learn to “settle for less” – a very Buddhist statement, even though his speech could equally have come from the mouth of… Read More
Hello from the Highlands of Ecuador!
This past week we took an 8 hour bus ride from Tabuga to Baños in the mountain region of Ecuador. We had our first hot showers since arriving, as well as access to restaurants, nightlife, and as we are sure most of you know, the internet and telephones.
Baños is named after it’s thermal baths, natural hot springs that flow from the volcano at… Read More
Kia Ora loved ones! This past week we have all taken a step into the indigenous culture of New Zealand to learn the history of the people, the language they speak and most importantly, what it means to be Maori. Throughout the week, we were led on a journey of cultural immersion by a Maori native named Tiaki. Tiaki speaks with a gentle eagerness to share his knowledge and… Read More
After an exciting yet exhausting week at our first homestays in Thailand, it was time to say la gon (goodbye in Thai.) We packed our bags, bought some snacks, and our families sent us off to our next adventures.
The leadership team, which consisted of Joe, Bryley, and Claire G., coordinated transportation and bought bus tickets to Chiang Rai. The four-hour long journey, although boring at times, was breathtaking the… Read More
Hola everyone,
Hayden here, writing about our time in Quetzaltenango! (If you can’t quite say that you can call it Xela instead) We’ve spent the last week there, in the second-largest city in Guatemala and the home of the biggest parades and parties in the whole country (according to the locals). The focus of the week was practicing Spanish one-on-one with the great teachers at PLQ, but we also had… Read More
Bula and Hello!
My name is Jackson Tahmoush, and my name is Trish Pizzica. Today we are sitting in an amazing hostel in Nelson, New Zealand but this is the recap of our past weeks with Hongi Fall 2019. After a beautiful and sunny orientation in the Tubakula Beachside Bungalows right outside Sigatoka, we made our way to Suva for a day and eventually all the way up to a… Read More
Bienvenidos a nuestro blog de Finca Mono Verde! Welcome to our blog from Finca Mono Verde! This week we lived together in a bamboo castle surrounded by coffee crops, chickens and three adorable dogs. While we continued to practice our newly learned Ecuadorian slang, we learned about environmental conservation, effectively utilizing natural resources, permaculture, coffee production, local businesses, indigenous culture, and remembering to close the lid when using compost toilets.… Read More
Picture this: Granada, Spain, September 2019. We walked the long, arduous path up to the historic Alhambra Castle. Shan shrieked with excitement; he was overjoyed, for this was his childhood dream. The architecture was miles beyond our comprehension, but we admired the intricacy of design as our guide explained the cultural and power shifts that lead to such a diverse range of décor. We walked across the grounds listening to… Read More
Greetings from New Zealand,
So far our trip has been amazing! We have all been having a great time exploring the country, getting to know each other, and learning the ins and outs of the Kiwis.
Orientation was jam-packed and we were able to learn a lot about each other and establish a baseline for the coming trip. Being based in Raglan gave us a lot of opportunities to explore… Read More
Sawatdii kha!
After one week of Thai lessons, we can hold a simple conversation, but everything starts with this greeting. Combined with a “wai,” a short bow with your hands in a prayer position, when you are greeting someone older than yourself, “sawatdii kha” (or “sawatdii khrop,” if you identify as male) is the proper “hello” here in Thailand!
What a week we have had! It started last Tuesday, when… Read More
Hola from Las Delicias, Ecuador!
We’ve had an amazing jam packed week down here in Ecuador! Leaving Quito, we took our first long haul bus toward the small town of Santo Domingo, watching Spanish-dubbed Hollywood movies played on the bus and ogling at all the snacks offered by the local vendors each time we stopped.
We ended our journey in the small town of Las Delicias where we met up… Read More
Greetings from the Shanti Group!
We are pleased to report that we have had a great first week in India, full of new sights, sounds and warm connections with our local hosts.
After nearly 48 hours of airplane and airport time, we hit the ground running with two full days of orientation in Delhi. Highlights included: exploring the beautiful Lodhi gardens with tombs from the 14th and 15th century, tasting… Read More
