Travel For Teens: Australia

My month-long adventure through Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji was truly one of the best experiences of my life—full of unforgettable memories, incredible people, and moments I’ll carry with me forever.

Australia quickly became one of my favorite parts of the trip. I absolutely loved being in the water, especially exploring the Great Barrier Reef. Every day felt like a new opportunity to dive into something exciting—literally. The staff on the trip were amazing; they always made us feel safe, supported, and included. I’m still in contact with some of the kids I met there, which says a lot about how close we all became.

New Zealand was all about adventure. Whether we were exploring the outdoors or trying something new, every day was filled with adrenaline and fun. It had such a different vibe from Australia, but in the best way—more rugged, more wild, and so beautiful.

Fiji was absolutely stunning. One of the highlights was getting to paint a school, which felt so meaningful. Unfortunately, a few kids on the trip picked up a parasite and had to go to the hospital, but the staff handled everything incredibly well. They stayed with them, made sure no one felt alone, and took care of every detail. Even with the unexpected challenges, Fiji remains one of my favorite parts of the trip.

Some of my core memories were made on the Fourth of July. We celebrated with our own barbecue, swam in the pool, and sang USA songs—it felt like a little piece of home while being so far away.

Overall, this trip was unforgettable. From the adventures to the friendships and all the moments in between, it’s something I’ll always treasure

I absolutely loved traveling with the Travel For Teens organization. They are highly knowledgable about any location that you are traveling too. Little things such as knowing which restaurants have the best dinner or knowing the locals goes such a long way. They are able to keep everyone organized and safe at all times while giving lots of freedom to enjoy your time there. They also provide two meals a day which are breakfast and dinner so the only one that you need to worry about is lunch. Everyday they would give out free time in new areas to go out on your own to try the local cuisine on your own. This was such a nice way to meet new people from the place as well as the new people you are traveling with. I have several friends from all over the world that will always be my best friends from these trips!

In the Summer of 2018, I had the amazing opportunity of traveling to Australia and New Zealand. It was absolutely amazing. I got to do once-in-a-lifetime activities such as scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef and the Sydney Bridge Climb. These are memories that I will never forgot. for community service, we volunteered at a wallaby sanctuary. This was absolutely amazing, The wallabies were beyond cute, and they reminded me of my dog that I missed dearly. I never once imagined that I would be able to spend so much time with wallabies, and it was amazing.I had the most amazing counselors and met friends that I still keep in touch with. There was not a day that I did not love. If you have the opportunity to do this, you should, I can guarantee that you will not regret it.

I visited Australia and New Zealand with TFT and words cannot explain how amazing it was. I experienced so many new things and met so many people that are now some of my close friends. There wasn’t a moment where I wasn’t smiling. The counselors were so fun and very responsible. I felt safe the entire time. Everyday was jam packed with sight seeing and thrilling experiences. One of my most memorable experiences was paragliding in New Zealand, it was so amazing. Another great experience was climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia. The view was nothing like what I had seen before.I would recommend any TFT trip to any teen who’s willing to step outside of their comfort zone and explore the world. In fact, I even plan on traveling with TFT to Thailand this summer.

From paragliding in New Zealand to snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia, I had the best 21 days of my life with Travel for Teens. I will never forget looking out the window on Air New Zealand as we flew through the snow-capped mountains to land in Queenstown. The beauty of this foreshadowed the once-in-a-life time experiences I had the privilege of doing on this amazing adventure. The counselors made me feel so at home in places I’ve never been, and the friends I made gave me memories I will cherish forever. I recommend this trip to anyone who loves adventure and lives for the moment. While in Australia, we visited Cairns, Brisbane, and Sydney. We completed our service at Sheoak Ridge, which took us deep into the outback of Australia. The service portion of the trip brought our group closer together and, in my opinion, was the best part of the trip!

This past summer, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Australia and anew Zealand with Travel for Teens. I was nervous to go, because my group contained 17 other people going with me. However, once I got there, the people I was with made me feel at home. I made friends easily. Those people I am still in contact with. Besides the friends aspect of the trip, we did so many amazing things in these countries. My personal favorite was scuba diving at The Great Barrier Reef. Another favorite aspect of the trip was our last stop, Sydney, Australia. The city was beautiful and I had so much fun just wandering the city with my amazing new friends and my amazing counselors. I recommend this trip to anyone who is interested, you definitely will not regret going on this trip of a lifetime.

For the summer of 2018 I traveled with TFT to New Zealand and Australia. It was probably one of the most fun and exhilarating trips I’ve ever had. I traveled solo and made so many new friends. The counselors were great and I felt safe the entire time. The whole trip was thoroughly planned out, with each excursion being a way to break out of my comfort zone and be adventurous. Every singe day I was so happy and looked forward to seeing the new bits of culture out in the beautiful countries I visited. In New Zealand, I was fortunate enough to go paragliding. The view was spectacular, I felt like I could graze over the mountain tops. The mountains looked like a photo out of a photoshopped post card. I enjoyed every second of the experience. One of the highlights for me wa the service part of the trip. We worked at Sheoak Ridge, a nature reserve in Australia. We built pathways and played with wallabies. It was so much fun and warmed my heart knowing that I was making a difference to the different animals at this reserve. Besides the fun activities during the trip, the people traveling along with me was what really made my trip with TFT so special. There were around 18 people in my travel group and each and everyone person was full of life and shared the same passion as me to travel. The friends I made are long lasting and the experiences we shared is what will bond us forever. I highly recommend traveling with TFT especially to New Zealand and Australia. I felt as if I was living my best life each and everyday. I plan on traveling with them again next year.

There are so many amazing and breathtaking moments from my Australia and New Zealand trip, we did so much from seeing the Sydney Opera House to paragliding in Queenstown. We immersed ourselves in the culture going to Aboriginal and Maori Hakas and some of us even got to join in. There was also the fulfilling volunteer work where we got to help at a nature reserve by making trails and clearing areas full of weeds. We also got to have a little fun with the animals, getting to feed the wallabies, going on bird watching tours, and a nighttime nature walk.
During our volunteer work, we camped in the Outback, some of us even slept in hammocks under the stars. At nights after a hard days work we would sit around a campfire cracking jokes, telling stories, singing songs, and playing games. We were so disconnected from technology we got to just enjoy the nature and the company of our new friends.
The counsellors were also amazing, leading us on these adventures and taking care of any of the few problems we had. There were days when things didn’t go to plan, but they made it work.
Overall, it was an unbelievable trip with unforgettable experiences, culture, volunteer work, and people.