Written by Kyle Chang and Arianna Wilson, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Italy Greece semester during student directed travel week in Aegina
What’s New in Our Journey?
We have arrived on student-directed travel week! Since our last blog, we met as a group and decided on a location to travel to. Keeping the budget and all members of the group’s interests in mind, we settled on Aegina. Aegina… Read More
Written by Sarah Ross and Iona Asher, students on the Carpe Diem gap year India Munar trek through tea plantations before homestays in Kochi
What’s New in Our Journey?
Hi everyone!!! Sarah and Iona here, reporting live from a café in Kochi. It’s been a heck of a week here on this side of the globe!
After departing from the Sivananda Ashram, we hopped on a bus and drove… Read More
Written by Bridger and Ronan, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Guatemala semesterWhat’s New?
Since the last blog post in Xela, our group has been in Tzununa, Guatemala staying in a sustainably built hotel called the “Bambu House.”
This week’s focus has been centered around permaculture, man’s relationship with nature, and engineering. We’ve also been getting to know each other better because we are not using our phones… Read More
Written by Ally Hudsyn, a student on the Carpe Diem gap year Italy Greece Athens semester exploring ancient ruins and city life in Greece
What’s New in Our Journey?
Traveling to the city of Athens was an exciting adventure after exploring the peaceful towns in Crete. From the acropolis to hay markets there was plenty to explore. Walking on ancient ruins everywhere we went is an experience we will never… Read More
Written by Julia M and Clivia, students on the Carpe Diem gap year New Zealand farm volunteer program near Napier and Wellington
What’s New in Our Journey?
This past week, we volunteered at the Hart Family Farm, a livestock farm near Napier. We learned about sustainable agriculture practices and humane livestock farming from Greg and Rachel, who have owned the farm for almost thirty years! Along with Greg and… Read More
Written by Maia and Ripley, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Guatemala homestay semester in XelaWhat’s New?
This past week, we had the pleasure of continuing to explore Xela, but through a different lens—homestays! We were paired off with another person in the group and got to build one-on-one relationships while also building community and connection with the host families. Seeing Guatemalan life through the perspective of a… Read More
Written by Ava Mendler and Nora Thomas, students on the Carpe Diem gap year India Golden Triangle semester visiting Jaipur, Agra, and Delhi
What’s New in Our Journey?
Jaipur: The First Golden Triangle City
Jaipur was truly a shock to my (Ava) system, both mentally and physically. Immediately when I got into the Rickshaw after our long train journey from Udaipur, I was totally overwhelmed by the commotion, sounds,… Read More
Written by Ash and Grace, students on the Carpe Diem gap year New Zealand Maori culture program in Raglan, Waitomo, and Lake Taupo
What’s New in Our Journey?
Hello there from your LOW’s, Ash and Grace! We are sad to say we have left Raglan but are happy to report the many fun activities that have taken place since the last blog.
Starting off, we took a trip to… Read More
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 Mae Reinke and Stephanie Jones, students on the Carpe Diem gap year India Udaipur unschooling program before exploring Jaipur
What’s New in Our Journey?
We arrived at the Shikshantar campus after a long travel day from Kathmandu to Udaipur. The campus was full of eco-built structures, colorful murals, and a junglesque ecosystem. After crashing hard, we had an incredibly warm welcome the next morning by our leaders… Read More
Written by Ash and Clivia, students on the Carpe Diem gap year New Zealand Maori culture program in Raglan and Wellington
What’s New in Our Journey?
After a few wonderful weeks in Australia, we continued our journey by hopping on a plane to New Zealand! We flew from Cairns to Auckland, and then from Auckland to Wellington. We crashed in Wellington for the night, after wandering aimlessly through the streets… 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 Laurie and Ray, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Guatemala homestay program in XelaWhat’s New?
This past week, we had the pleasure of continuing to explore Xela, but through a different lens—homestays! We were paired off with another person in the group and got to build one-on-one relationships while also building community and connection with the host families. Seeing Guatemalan life through the perspective of… 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 Sarah Ross and Iona Asher, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Nepal trek Himalayas program before celebrating Dashain in Kathmandu
What’s New in Our Journey?
Hi everyone!!! Sarah and Iona here, reporting live from a café in Udaipur, India (we’re always on the hunt for a sweet treat).
Last week, after saying goodbye to our friends from Conscious Impact, we departed on a three-hour jeep ride… Read More
Written by Summer and Nico, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Central America program in Xela, GuatemalaWhat’s New?
Hello families! Sorry for the late blog post, the last 3 weeks have been packed with many adventures and laughs! We’re now writing from Lake Atitlan where we’ve been relaxing at the bamboo house and learning about Permaculture! We started off our first week in Xela at a local hostel… Read More
Written by JT and Julia M, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Australia Great Barrier Reef scuba diving program in the South Pacific semester
What’s New in Our Journey?
This week the SoPac group got to explore the Great Barrier Reef and earn our scuba certifications! We spent time building a connection to the water and learning how to navigate the depths safely. We grew physically and mentally,… Read More
Written by Grace and Gabe, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Australia Daintree program volunteering at ClimateForce in the South Pacific semester
What’s New in Our Journey?
Hello from your friends Gabe and Grace, the current leaders of the week!
It has been a whole week since the last blog, and boy oh boy, are there updates! Starting off the week, we completed our second food shop of the… 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 Ava Mendler and Stephanie Jones, students on the Carpe Diem gap year Nepal Conscious Impact program living in homestays in Takure
After our restful and rejuvenating time at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, we embarked on a wild four-hour jeep ride through the winding roads of Nepal and arrived at Conscious Impact (aka camp), our new home for the next eight days.
I (Steph) arrived at camp riding… Read More
