Program Reviews

ISV is an amazing organization that makes planning for a long overseas trip a lot more manageable. As a student in college I could not have planned such an elaborate trip by myself while studying. ISV provided me with everything I needed, and made sure to give me ample time to complete this work when due dates were approaching. The trip itself was an experience I will never forget, and it sure changed my life forever. We partnered with Izizwe a local organization in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. They housed us, took care of our transport, and fed us as well. The love I felt from them was amazing, it was like they were family. They welcomed us with loving open arms, and had us leaving with tears in our eyes because of the impact they had on our lives. The kids were the best though, and I will say whole heatedly they are the happiest kids you will ever meet. The first two weeks went by very fast, looking back we did a lot of work for that community. But, I can honestly say I think they changed my life more than I changed theirs, I miss each and everyone of them everyday but I left a piece of my heart there that I will never get back, nor do I want it back. ISV then gives you an option to do a second two weeks of adventuring around this amazing country (plus Swaziland and Mozambique too!!) I conquered some fears and had the time of my life!! The staff with ISV is WONDERFUL!! Courtney and Graeme were by far the most amazing people I have every met! They make your time overseas a blast, and with them I never worried about safety! They were born and raised there and know the area very well. I cannot begin to explain to you how amazing this program is, I would 10/10 recommend traveling with ISV if you are looking to make a difference and have a ton of fun while you do it! Also add on the 2 week adventure tour and the OAP it's all worth the money and you have experiences you will never forget (Kloofing, Caving, Scuba Diving, Snorkeling, Swimming with Dolphins, Kruger National Park Game Drive, and so much more!) Check out their website for a great detailed list of everything you can do!

If you decide to do the volunteer program plus the travel portion, you'll spend the second two weeks thinking about how after all the sweat, dirt, and bug bites, you still don't feel like you contributed enough to a country that's giving so much back to you. I swam in volcanically heated springs, surfed the pacific coast, and hiked through the rainforest to cliff jump into hidden waterfalls... Yet when I look back, the best time I had was working for the community we got to live with. There is nothing I can say here that will do justice to my experience but I can say that after a year of college, I learned more in the month I spent in Costa Rica about hard work, appreciation, and living and loving purely. I've never met a more yu inviting people willing to share their way.

From riding on sketchy horses to trying to speak a limited amount of Spanish I would say my time here in the Dominican Republic was well spent! The immersion week was one of the many experiences in which I won't forget. The host family didn't know much English so it was a definite struggle in trying to understand each other, but we somehow were still able to communicate with each other! Getting to know the locals during our immersion week and our project site was quite interesting. Especially the boys in the Dominican Republic versus the American boys, the Dominicans were quite the tigueres (very flirty). Teaching the children and building a wall to block off a cliff on their school property is one memory in which I'll never forget. I'll never forget their kindness and willingness to put up with us Americans and our limited amount of Spanish speaking. This particular experince was very much rewarding to each volunteer. And the adventure week was well an adventure! Haha back to the sketchy horse riding, that was also quite an experience and learning to trust the horses and the locals. But my favorite adventure activity by far was kayaking through a tiny bat cave and a mangrove forest. The scenery in which I experienced while kayaking through a mangrove forest was definitely beautiful, and one I'll never forget.

I have dreamed of a trip to Africa for as long as I can remember and as my college graduation present, it finally came true! I was traveling for 28 days: 2 weeks volunteering and 2 weeks adventure programming. I had the BEST experience where I met the most amazing friends, got to interact with elephants, go scuba diving, bungee jumping, caving, cliff jumping YOU NAME IT! It was unlike any other trip. Besides just the adventures, I got extremely close to the community we worked in getting to know the young kids, teens and adults. I got to see my direct impact of helping teach in the schools, run programs for the kids, plant new gardens, paint old buildings and help teach adult literacy. It was the trip of a lifetime that I would recommend to anyone looking to make a difference in the world.

Tl;DR - It was the best trip I have ever taken and I highly recommend it if you are a student looking to travel to Australia.

I was sitting in class one day, when a teacher informed us that there was someone here to talk about volunteering and traveling in another country. When the representative mentioned Australia, I was very interested as I have always wanted to travel there. After learning more I immediately signed up for their 4 week program.

What happens then is you travel to your country of choice (pending availability) and volunteer your time for 2 weeks living with a host organization. These organizations are local to that country that need volunteers to help them with various tasks with he goal of making our world better. I was put on a conservation project working on a Wallaby Refuge and Breeding Program. What ever project you are put on, you get to live for 2 weeks immersed with that local organization with an ISV project leader which really helps you get a sense of what your country is really like.

After your 2 weeks of working with volunteers from all around the world, you really form bonds with them, and become great friends with them to the point where I still talk to mine. But after you are done volunteering, you get to spend the next 2 week touring around your host country, in this case Australia. We travel from Cairns to Sydney (North to South on the East Coast). ISV has a set of amazing activities planned for you to enjoy at each place you stop at. I defiantly recommend doing the Optional Activity Package as it is worth the money. They also have a bunch of activities outside of ISV that they have discounted with.

All of the people are very professional and amazing at ISV and I highly recommend this trip. And reservations I had about the value of this program were soon forgotten after all the fun I had volunteering and traveling around Australia.

During my two weeks in Ostional, Costa Rica I made some of the most amazing memories and experiences I have ever had. We stayed in the most welcoming host families, which forced us to be completely immersed in Costa Rican lifestyle. We ate a traditional meal of rice and beans for most meals, and there was no air conditioning which made things uncomfortable at times. Because you and these other volunteers are thrown into this together, you al become very close very fast and it made it SO much easier and a thousand times more fun. Our main work was at night doing patrols on the beach for turtles. Ostional is the second largest arribada (mass nesting event) in the world (only 9 total). The first night of patrol was not fun, it was a lot of walking and we didn't see any turtles. But my new friends and I encouraged each other to keep each other's spirits up and the next few nights of patrol continued to get easier. Each night after that we saw anywhere from 1-10 turtles. Finally on the second to last night we got to witness an arribada, in which 3100 olive ridley sea turtles all came up on the beach the same night! It was one of the most incredible experiences I could have ever imagined. On our days off we got to go to near by "touristy" beaches and spend time on the beach and shop for souvenirs for our families and friends. All in all, this experience was a once in a life time opportunity and I wouldn't trade it for the world. Any student who is considering taking this trip should go for it, because it is incredible.

Howdy!
This past summer 2016, i went to New Zealand with ISV. 2 weeks of volunteering and 2 weeks of touring the country! In the first 2 weeks my group and I went to a maori farm and lived there- no power, no internet, no problem! These 2 weeks were the best part of the trip, we all learned how to live sustainably while also being immersed into maori culture. The actual volunteer part was planting manuka trees on the hills, the point of this was to provide a better filtered water for future generations. Although the work was hard, it was the best part of the trip. Now the second 2 weeks was jammed pack with fun. From Aukland, we flew down to queenstown where i went bungee jumping, horseback riding, and exploring the town itself! Next stop was franz josef, a small town with extreme adrenaline- here you can do the highest tandem skydive at 19000 feet or take a tour of the franz josef glacier. You can also go to a kiwi experience where you can see two actual kiwis! From here, kaikoura was the next stop! Kaikoura is the marine wildlife capital of NZ. You can go whale watching, swim with dolphins, and fishing. If you can come here in the winter you can visit a natural seal colony and see seal pups play upstream in a waterfall. After, wellington is the next stop! here we went to te papa musuem. There are loads to do in wellington, I suggest cuban street- so many great restaurants and bars! The next stop was Rotorua, here we went to a polynesian spa, white water rafting on level 5 rapids (7 m waterfall!), and did OGO (THIS WAS SO FUN!!!). Our last stop before heading back to the US was the small town of waitomo. This town is known for their glo worm caves.
Volunteering with ISV led me to some experiences I would've probably never done myself. Although the adventure tour was crazy fun, the first two weeks of being on the farm, planting trees, and living off the grid was the best part of the trip!

My trip with ISV changed my life in so many ways. I was assigned to the Nancite sea turtle project, which meant I worked to tag turtles and count their eggs. The volunteer experience itself was amazing; the host organization was welcoming and really worked to educate all the volunteers. I learned so many new concepts, not only about sea turtles but also the state of our environment in general. The adventure tour was also an incredible experience. We got to see so much of Costa Rica, all while doing fun activities like rafting and zip-lining. ISV really opened my eyes to the world around me and how I can preserve it. I left with a new found appreciation for different cultures and their influence.

My trip to Australia for volunteer purposes is one that I can't even put into words. It was the first time I'd ever been out of the US and I was very scared, but thanks to the people in ISV, I have the desire to do it again. I worked really hard at the Walkabout Wildlife Park because that is the whole point of volunteering, but I also made new friends and got to experience Australian culture and beauty. Kangaroos hopped near my workplace and I learned new skills like chopping trees and working on an electrical fence. After working all day, we sat and talked while eating new dishes. All of us contributed and that is what made the whole experience fun and exciting. If you decide to go, it will be the best $5,000 dollars you spend for a 4-week trip. Make a difference. Learn a new culture. Be a good citizen. Volunteer and have fun simultaneously. You will never forget the adventure because I can't!!

After finally saving up to go to Australia, ISV gave me a trip better than i could imagine. Everyone has their ideal trip in mind before leaving, but ISV thoroughly overachieved mine. Walking along the coast seeing pods of Dolphins in Byron Bay, Skydiving in Cairns over part of the amazing Great Barrier Reef, and then just the next day Scuba diving in the Great Barrier reef. While in Australia i happened to get sick With Pneumonia, even with that in mind, id recommend this trip to anyone!!