Southeast Asia Gap Semester Program | Pacific Discovery

The Southeast Asia Semester Program with Pacific Discovery was the best decision I have ever made. The trip was a perfect balance of cultural experiences, volunteer service, outdoor activities, and free time. There is no replacement for actually traveling to a place and immersing yourself in the culture.I learned so much about the history of Southeast Asia as well as the people. Our leaders, Josh and Rebecca, were absolutely amazing! Along with being so knowledgeable, Josh and Rebecca were simply great people with great values. Pacific Discovery has such a terrific thing going and I am so happy that I had the privilege to be apart of it. I made lifelong friends and unforgettable memories. I grew so much as a person. It was the best nine weeks of my life!

Pacific discovery is more than a tour company. It's a close family embodied with the true spirit of travel. This adventure is unique in that it doesn't fall u see any category. One day your relaxing on a cruise hip in Ha Long Bay (Google pictures) the next your trekking through the location jungle an sleeping in a native hill tribe village. The variety of activities offered is incredible. Each day of the itinerary was through fully planned. You can tell that Rachel and Scott really care about the experience they are providing for their participants. The program offers a great balance between group and independent travel. There is the perfect ratio of structured to free time where we can make this trip our own. For example while not offered as an official activity with Pac Disco, I found the time to go waterskiing on a river in Cambodia. PD accommodates all skill levels activity wise. Many participants feel comfortable enough after the trip to extend their stay. Weve learned the skills of independent travel. Some travel with friends they made on the trip and others travel on their own. I spent a week living in Bangkok learning Thai massage and went on a ten day silent meditation retreat in southern thailand. PD was more than helpful with preparations such as my visa extension paperwork. I remember while packing to go on the program was shopping in REI and asked Rachel a question about something I was deciding to get and she responded to my email while I was still in the store. This is only one example of their passion and dedication. I'm bringing home a deep understanding of southeastern asian culture, great memories and friendships that will last a lifetime. You will grow in ways you'd never imagine. You will learn what you never could inside a classroom. Come for the adventure, you will get so much more.

The best decision I ever made was to come on the fall Southeast Asia semester with Pacific Discovery before starting college. My leaders, Josh and Rebecca, were so fun and caring and knowledgable. I made lifelong friendships and had incredible experiences. The program was so organized and went beyond my expectations. It balanced activities and relaxation perfectly. We were able to trek through the wilderness, stay in remote villages, bond through group activities like rock climbing, work on service projects with local people and also take a break and explore beautiful places. the amenities ranged from clean, comfortable hotels and hostels to more rugged home stays and villages. I always felt safe and never worried about any sort of health problems. At the same time, I was pushed beyond my comfort zone and challenged everyday with new adventures, which resulted in tremendous personal growth. I look back on my journal and pictures from my time in Southeast Asia and wish I could go back. Truly a life changing experience.

Taking a semester to travel with Pacific Discovery was- to date- the best decision I have ever made. Confused about what to do after high school, I was thrilled at the thought of taking a gap semester, something that was not introduced or recommended to me as I was completing high school. I signed onto Pacific Discovery's Southeast Asia semester program without knowing one bit of information about S.E.A. The extremely organized program helped me to prepare in every way necessary. Each day traveling with Pacific Discovery was different, but we always had some amount of time to do a more structured group activity- whether it was shopping, visiting a market, visiting a temple, building a house, or just going swimming. After the planned portion of the day was complete we always had some amount of time to do some activities on our own. Our group got very close very fast and usually spent most of this free time together anyways. I made friends traveling with Pacific Discovery that I know I will keep forever. The difficulties we encountered only made us closer, and it was nice to have a large group of friends that made me feel so comfortable while I was so far away from home. I developed a new found love to travel, I now have plans to see the whole world and experience all these new cultures and cities that I want to see and hear and smell. Pacific discovery taught me how to see and love the world as an educated traveler, skills I will hold with me forever.

As someone with limited international travel experience I was a little bit uncertain as to whether or not the Southeast Asia PD trip was right for me. Not only was I unfamiliar with the region and culture, but I really just wasn't sure of what to expect. Luckily, Pacific Discovery has an incredible reputation in the Chicago area and I talked with numerous past participants and parents who strongly encouraged me to put my worries aside and go. They raved about the expertise and skill of the leaders as well as the incredible variety of activities during the trip. The day I decided to accept a position in the Southeast Asia program was terrifying, but undoubtably one of the best decision I've made thus far in my life.

One of the many wonderful things about PD is that the programs appeal to a wide variety of people. Those who feel that they need structure in their trip will appreciate the detailed schedule book that every participant receives at the start of the trip with guidelines for each day. And those who crave independence will love the free time participants are given to wander and explore new areas after the scheduled events for the day are complete. In my opinion, this approach gives participants the best of both worlds: the opportunity to see the tourist highlights (such as Angkor Wat and the Cu Chi tunnels) and then the ability to plan their own mini trips where some of the best memories are made. Rogue tuk-tuk rides, impromptu karaoke, wandering the Chiang Mai night market, finding grocery stores...these are the memories I look back on and laugh about! This level of independence has made me much more confident in my ability to travel solo and push myself outside of my comfort zone in foreign places.

Before I get too carried away, I need to address the two incredible Pacific Discovery leaders on my trip: Susan and Ellie. Their level of knowledge and expertise in Asia was invaluable to the success of our group. Nearly every time we changed location, Susan and Ellie called the group together for a meeting to discuss historical significance, as well as cultural norms and expectations. In our scheduled books they had restaurant recommendations and activities we might find interesting during out free time. Witnessing the many relationships Susan and Ellie had formed with locals in Asia only increased my growing respect for Pacific Discovery. Hotel workers, our bus drivers, tour guides and host families remembered having PD programs in the past and were excited to see our leaders. I always felt safe and comfortable with Susan and Ellie, and their personal connection with area and relationship with locals allowed them to problem solve instantly. You're going to hit roadblocks in every trip, but Susan and Ellie handled each scenario with authority and confidence.

All in all, I cannot recommend Pacific Discovery high enough. I had the time of my life on this trip and I want to encourage as many people as possible to take the leap and sign up. You will be challenged mentally and physically, but you will also have a fantastic group of 14 participants there to support you. I am so impressed with the level of detail and attention that every aspect of the trip is given, from transportation to credible tour guides. Rachel and Scott are incredible resources who answered my every question and calmed my anxious parents. Thank you! The people I met in PD are lifelong friends and the types of people I feel lucky to have been able to meet; they all have that innate passion for travel and adventure that I love to be surrounded by. This is a fast paced trip and you cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time. I looked at every gap semester program available before committing to PD and I never found one with comparable levels of organization, dedication to students and experience. PD offers the perfect balance of adventure and culture that is hard to find in semester-long programs. You'll do everything from cooking classes in Thailand, sampling street food in Chiang Mai, kayaking through Halong Bay, motorbiking in Hue and an amazing service project in Camodia. You will have the best experience of your life with Pacific Discovery and begin to create those memories that you know will last a lifetime. Go on a Pacific Discovery trip! You won't regret it!

I had the most amazing time on my Pacific Discovery trip in Southeast Asia. Having traveled before with my family I was looking for a program during my gap year that would provide me independence and support while traveling in a new and foreign place. Pacific Discovery did just that-there is a range of people that come on their trips and they offer a lot of flexibility in their travel schedule to accommodate that. This meant that our schedule was well-balanced with group activities with everything from volunteering to rock-climbing to kayaking and free time to explore the night markets or go out to bars to meet other travelers. This isn't a program where they are going to caudal you and keep you in a "western bubble" but they don't just throw you in without any advice and guidance of how to navigate the new cultures and cities either. I was lucky to have two leaders on my trip and both of them were well traveled in the area and one of them had already led the trip before. I felt like they were very knowable about the history, culture and sites that we visited throughout the entire trip.

One of the things I think is very unique to Pacific Discovery and that I valued so much is the effort they put in to maintain ethical travel practices. It has become so common for people to travel that I think people sometimes forget about the impact they have as travelers in another country. Pacific Discovery makes it a point to encourage their participants to learn about the history and culture of the countries before arriving as well as while traveling (there is information about each location along with language tips and more in the thorough travel itineraries they provide you!). We had group discussions and readings as well as lessons in basic Thai and how to bow properly. Our leaders also taught us some of the more nuanced elements of the the cultures-things that I would have probably missed had I traveled alone. Knowing these things while traveling makes the experience that much richer.

Pacific Discovery is also very intentional about their decision to participate in service activities while traveling. After traveling with another group where I felt like I would just show up in a community and teach english (completely unqualified) for a few days, it was refreshing to feel like the service projects we participated in were with organizations PD had relationships with and knew our help would be useful and welcomed. I also really appreciated their commitment to leaving as small of an environmental impact as possible. The small size and strong ethical practices of this company makes these things very unique.

Also-our accommodations were extremely comfortable and I always felt safe, this is not really roughing it (if you don't count the occasional holes in the ground for toilets!). But after all these small details i don't want to forget to just say how AMAZING every single day of this trip was. The mix of adventure, volunteer and just exploring was perfect. I would repeat this trip in a heartbeat-it sounds so cheesy but honestly every single day I learned so much about myself and about the countries and cultures we were visiting. We had a great group dynamic and the perfect balance of group activities and independent travel. OH and the food in Southeast Asia, especially Vietnam is AMAZING (and so cheap!). I could go on and on about how much I loved this program and I would say if you are thinking about PD-just do it! Every program member comes from somewhere different and PD somehow has a way of meeting everyone where they're at and providing an amazing experience.

We hopped on tuktuks, jumped on motorbikes, and climbed on trains with one objective: to explore. Wandering through bustling city streets, sampling the sweetest pineapple, learning Muay Thai, cooking green curry, practicing meditation, trekking through northern Vietnam, visiting local schools, roaming through temple ruins, kayaking in Halong Bay, and repelling into natural caves we're just a few of the adventures that made up our nine week journey through Southeast Asia. We explored much of what Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia have to offer all while learning to be independent travelers who are culturally and environmentally conscious.

Pacific Discovery taught me many things, but the greatest lesson I learned can best be summed up by a quote from Alexandra Stoddard, who wrote, "Slow down, calm down, don't worry, don't hurry, trust the process". The experiences I had while exploring Southeast Asia challenged me to take a step back, take a breath, and really experience everything and everyone around. We learned to be mindful and open to new ideas, and we learned what it means to truly live in the moment.

I've always considered myself adventurous, but running through the streets of Hanoi in the rain or trying fried chicken feet at a street market in Sukhothai would not have been possible for me without Pacific Discovery. At the risk of being trite, I realized in my time away that the world is as big or as small as you choose to make it, and PD certainly helped me to expand mine. The program and the leaders, in my case Rebecca and Susan, encouraged us all to open ourselves up to experiences like meditation, kickboxing, and art classes that many of us would not have been able to find or have an open mind about on our own.

SE Asia defies description; never have I visited anywhere that has instilled in me such a vibrant and immediate sense of place, somewhere that was at once vividly away and yet so welcoming that it challenged my notions of the word "home". This program gave me the confidence to try everything, do everything, and process it all in a safe, supportive environment. Simply put: go.