Travel For Teens

My one piece of advice is to enjoy the trip as much as possible and make every second there memorable. Before you know it you will be sitting on the plane back home wishing you could have one more week, or wishing you would have done something better, or at least that's what happened to me. Even though you can't change how much time you will be going, don’t sit on that plane wishing you would have done something better, or enjoyed it more, instead do everything you can while you are over there, because, at the end of the day, those actions will become splendor memories that will live with you for the rest of your life.

The average day in Thailand depends on the place you are in. For example, the average day in Chiang Mai consisted of learning about the culture of helping out the community, while the average day in the Phi Phi Islands was spent going snorkeling or scuba diving in the morning, visiting the beach in the afternoon and going on an adventure at night. Every day was spent doing something out of the ordinary, that any tourist visiting the area would not have the opportunity to do as easily.

My biggest fear of traveling so far away and alone was that I would not have many friends, or that I would struggle to make friends. I overcame this fear the second I met everyone at the airport. At first, I was a little shy, but then I started talking to people from my group and making small talk, and before I knew it, I had made a bond with everyone there, including counselors, who were also extremely nice and welcoming. All of us became a family with whom we managed to share wonderful memories.

Witnessing the presence of bioluminescence lights during the night is an experience that will remain with me for the rest of my life. This experience is something that I didn’t know even existed, and it's so impactful to know the power that nature has, that it even manages to create tiny algae particles that create natural light, not only in full darkness but also in the water.

The best story I've ever heard from a returning student is that, after traveling on our Hawaii Sea Turtle Service program, he had started an environmental awareness club at his school--and he was the president! It was really special to me that this student had felt so strongly about what he learned about recycling and sustainability in Hawaii that he wanted to share it with others.

To me, that is what Travel For Teens is all about: exposing today's youth to the world and all of its different cultures, beauty, needs, and teaching them to respect these cultures, maintain this beauty, and help our world's needs.

I would go on the Hawaii program over and over again because I feel passionate about our planet and sharing my love for sustainability with them. You have the opportunity not only to work with an endangered species while on the beautiful island of Maui but you see a beach on the North Shore that is infamous for collecting hundreds of thousands of tons of micro pieces of plastics that have traveled from the beautiful beaches of Hawaii from California and Asia. It really paints a picture of where the plastic fork you leave on the beach in LA ends up.

We are unique because we allow our students to feel like a local instead of a member of a tour group. We don't travel in huge groups of 30 to chain restaurants and ride massive tour buses. We take local transportation and make food a part of our itinerary. It's important to us that our students feel like they've learned how to be a traveler at the end of their trip.

I was especially proud to be a part of this team when I was off in a small group visiting a museum a group of kids had wanted to see while a different group was at a market with a different leader. We ran into a different company who were all wearing matching backpacks following a leader with a giant pink sign in a straight line. They stuck out like a sore thumb and myself and my small group looked like a traveling family which, by that point, we were.

I think being honest and passionate about what you are selling makes all the difference in a successful company. The people that run TFT truly love what they do and believe in the product they are endorsing. This is enhanced by the natural honest the comes with truly believing in what you are giving and that leads to happy customers.