Up with People On Tour Gap Year Experience

My Up with People experience was amazing and it made the world a whole lot smaller. Travelling for 6 month with the same group of people creates a very special kind of bound, with our own stories and inside jokes. I know for a fact that now my gap year is over, if I travel to the US, Japan or any other country one of my cast member is from, I will have a host family to greet me.

The reason we have such a good bound is because Up with People is not easy. After 6 months you will be physically and emotionally exhausted. This is not the kind of program where you travel around sight seeing. You will be asked to know your limits and go over it. A 17 hour day is not exceptional. And you will have those moment when you think to yourself why am I doing this to myself. And then you realise you've just performed for the president of Taiwan during their national day and he found it so good he asked to take a picture with the cast. That's when you read a post on Facebook from your host family saying that UWP had such an impact on their community that they've all decided to continue what we started and volunteer in their region.

Everybody also has his own reasons to do Up with People. Some are amazing singers, musicians or dancers. Other were really attracted by the volunteering part of the program. For me I just wanted to travel the world and see as many places as possible in a short amount of time. In 6 months I've been to the US, Taiwan, The Philippines and Mexico in 20 different cities. I could say that my wish was accomplished. But like everyone, I got more than that. I got to learn how to perform, stand in front of a crowd and not being scared. I learned the importance of volunteer work in a community. I learned about world issues like, climate change and immigration. And I think most importantly I learned first hand about the local culture.

In short I got to travel the world, make friend, learn stuff and eat local delicacies (as weird as they may be) and perform a show!

I travelled as a student for only 6 months but I knew this was what I was missing in my life. I was 25 when I travelled and my only regret was that I had not done it sooner! I worked with the organisation as a volunteer for 3 more years and still have friends (and family) all over the world because of this program.

I know without a doubt, I would not be the person I am today, nor would I have had the experiences in my life so far, if it was not for this life changing experience.

I cannot tell you how amazing or wonderful or fun it was.. There is not enough characters in here but all I can say is, DO IT!!!!

I had the honor of spending a month in Poland. Not only did I learn about the history and saw many sites, I learned that the wonderful Polish people also had dreams for a better future and wanted the same things for their children, etc. as I do. The visit to Auschwitz, a World War II Concentration Camp was overwhelming and an emotional experience. It's one of the reasons the Up with People program is so important, to help people see the good in people and not just the differences that can divide us.

There's no words for me o describe how amazing this experience was. Definitely the best six months I've ever spent. Not only did I got to know incredible people with whom I traveled with, but I got new families all over the world with who I still talk to. I grew so much personally, got to know myself so much better, while having the time of my life. I went to countries I had never been to and never thought I would go to. It surely is worth a shot to try this experience! No I can say I have family everywhere in the world.

The experience and personal development achieved during this program have lifelong impact! I made friends from across the world, experienced culture first hand by staying with host families, performed on stage, impacted communities through service and had a blast doing it. I am, even now, nearly 20 years later, in regular contact with many from my cast year and think of the organization almost daily with a smile on my face!

I just spent two months catching up with a best friend I met in UWP as she is on tour with another show that was staying in my city. What I can say first hand is that you will make the closest friends from all over the world and you will grow up with each other through the years. There is a very special bond that comes from this program.
See the world-you will see things through the eyes of local host families and really get to know the culture.
Serve the World - you will have a chance to build up a community and serve others, leaving a mark on each place you visit in a real and tangible way.
Meet the world-you will learn so much about people of all cultures and beliefs. You will be challenged at times as you stretch to understand different points of view and explain your own.
Change the world-you will be part of a long time tradition of people that cultivate world peace. You will join voices with others to stand for peace, positive change and build bridges that will last among communities.

You will be tired, inspired, overwhelmed, amazed, challenged, changed and grow in so many ways you never knew possible. You will learn that you can live out of one small suitcase, communicate without language, sleep anywhere, eat anything, and be brave enough to try anything that comes you way.

There is no reason to hesitate-go for this amazing opportunity. And be creative on funding. I put the money together by getting local sponsors, sending little updates and speaking about my experience upon my return to the groups that funded me.

I traveled 20 years ago and still count it as one of tn best things I ever did. And I've done a lot since then so that is saying something.

I was one of the first students to complete a year of the study abroad program that is linked with Florida Southern College. Throughout the year, those 6 classes not only enhanced my year in the program, but also made me a better student in college afterwards than I ever was before. I also created lifelong bonds with all of my castmates that allows us to pick up with our friendship at any time, like no time has passed. I have even been living with 2 of my castmates for the past 3 years since being off the road. UWP has the mission of bringing cultures together and that has continued in my own life today. It's a program that stays with you and makes you want to continue to make an impact no matter how small. I can't say thank you enough to this program.

Up with People is a program that is perfect for a gap year (or a gap six months), whether it is a gap between high school and college, college and the real world, or a break from the real world. I traveled with UWP after college--thanks to the encouragement from my mother who traveled with UWP in the 70s--with people from 20+ countries to over 10 countries in 2014. I learned more about myself in that time than I did in all of college, including how to LOVE giving and receiving feedback, how to speak simple phrases in a handful of languages, how to live outside my comfort zone for weeks at a times (try going to Cuba and living in housing the government chose for you to use with food the government provided--definitely eye-opening!), and how to make friends with strangers with just a hug and a few words in their language.

I saw friends who said "I can't sing" get in front of hundreds of people and smile from ear-to-ear as they found their voice. I saw friends who said "I can't dance" bring an audience to their feet after dancing their way across the stage. I saw friends who weren't sure they were capable of performing find a home backstage, as staff support, and more. There was a place for everyone, of every kind of humor, of every level of introvert/extrovert, and more--the cast was a 'family' for an entire six months, and even now that we are scattered back to our homes across the globe, I still keep in touch with them and look forward to reunions in the future.

I did not have a single bad experience in UWP. I had some hard learning experiences, and I had some situations that could have been handled better--by myself and others--but that is the nature of spending 6 months with people; there is bound to be a little tension at times. I spent a year trying new food, learning new things, meeting new people, doing community service that TRULY was making a difference in places we were living (not just visiting, because we lived with local families for the week), and performing a show that spreads a message of hope to THOUSANDS across the world in multiple languages. It was transformative, and the person I transformed into was more ready to return to the 'adult world', ready to make a difference in my community and ready to continue to search for that hope I felt while traveling the world with a cast of my closest friends for six months.