Program Reviews

When looking at gap year programs post-graduating high school, I wanted to travel and be with a group of people my age to learn and experience new parts of the world together. Youth International was promising due to its constantly moving schedule and even though we were never settled in one place for weeks on end, the variety of cities and villages we visited has left a permanent footprint on myself and the future I want to make for myself.

I came into this program looking to involve myself into different cultures of the world, to open my mind to new places and people, and furthermore I wanted to become more thankful for what I have back at home. During my Youth International trip I was able to be a part of different cultures while seeing different places around the world. The leaders and other group members were great. I've had a great life so far, but doing this 3 month adventure was by far the best decision in my life.

Overall it was a great mix of different things. We had language and cultural immersion with homestays, volunteering, a lot of traveling to different places and countries (Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands), and some adventuring. It was not as "hardcore" as I had initially imagined. We were sleeping in nice hostels, nice homes in homestays and for the most part taking the nicest busses when possible. We only camped for a few nights total. If you are looking for an amazing experience while not necessarily roughing it, this program is for you. For me it was a nice stepping stone to something more.

I had an incredible time on this trip.

It all started with the dedicated staff that put in a lot of work behind the scenes and before the program started to make everything run so well. The itinerary was very well crafted. There was a great balance between home-stays, service work, and adventure.

The main reason though why I liked this program and why I would recommend it to others is because it constantly challenged me and ultimately made me a more confident and mature person.

If I hadn't taken this chance of a gap year, I would never have had this amazing opportunity with an amazing group of people. The three months we were abroad was incredible and I wouldn't trade Youth International with any other program. I had the time of my life getting to know new people and experiencing new cultures!

I am now CEO and Co-Founder of an tourism company. But 10 years ago when I went on Youth International to Asia, I was a very different person. Youth International changed my life for the better, even though I thought I was already on the right path. It opened my eyes, mind, and soul to experiences and a way of life I had never walked in, and I am forever grateful for the positive impact this has had on me since. The program is extremely professionally executed, and while I have traveled to over 60 countries in the past 20 years, Youth International has been by far the best-run program I have been involved in. I feel like one of the luckiest people in the world to have found, and gone on, the Asia trip with Youth International, and I enjoy sharing details of the experience, even to this day, 10 years later, about this trip of a lifetime, this learning experience I am forever grateful for.

Youth International was awesome. They were organized, and the trip leaders knew the itinerary inside out and backwards. They had a perfect balance between free-days and planned days.

My goals were to experience a foreign culture, to gain insight into my own person, and to see things that I would never be able to see otherwise (like Machu Picchu and the Galapagos Islands). My hopes were all met. The leaders were incredible, the places were breathtaking, and the excursions were challenging.

One of my favourite activities daily excursions was a hike up Tunari mountain in Bolivia. It was hard work, seeing as we were hiking a mountain, but it was one of the best days of the three months. Euphoric doesn't begin to describe it. And they kept us working out, and we hiked up to various landmarks, in nearly every town/city we visited (Christos and Condor's like noone's business). And when it came to hiking Machu Picchu, we were almost totally acclimatized. Experiences like that are so much easier to enjoy when you're not begging and heaving for a break.

As for the leaders, they had our back. Every step of the way. Our health and safety was so important.

And as for the volunteering, it wasn't us putting up a house and then the workers coming back later that night to tear it down and rebuild it. The construction supervisors made sure that we were doing it right. And if we weren't doing it right, they made us redo it. I am now very skilled at laying concrete.

This was two years ago for me now. I grew more than I realized over the three months. I wish I could go again. I saw so many things, encountered so many different people, learned so much. Learned about the world, learned about myself.

YI was instrumental in shaping my priorities and worldview by giving me the opportunity to challenge myself and my ideas about the world and my place in it.

A few key features drew me to this program over other programs:
- homestays: I lived with a teacher for part of this program and assisted in her classroom
- educational opportunities: I took Indian cooking and music classes
- physical component: I took yoga classes and we did a several day meditation retreat (no talking!)
- community service component: I liked that this program doesn't advertise that you'll 'change the world' because Brad and the program staff know that what you learn is so much more than the otherwise feeble work we can offer (besides lots of awesome cross-cultural understanding and some lifelong friends... made all the easier now in a tech world!)
- small group that is responsible for itself: this program is great if you can't find buddies to travel with, but don't yet want to travel on your own
- program coordinator Brad has longstanding relationships with country organizers and logistics folks which allows for greater impact and learning
- that we traveled to many places, but spend a few days to a week (or more) in each place (at this point in my life I didn't want to stay in one place for a long time but sample lots of new things)
- ecotourism: halfway through we took a week 'holiday' in Thailand and went scuba diving and relaxed... it was a welcomed break before India

The couple that led our semester were wonderful leaders who had worked for the Peace Corps and other organizations, as well as traveled extensively on their own. We had much independence on the program, this being a program for youth who want something more than traveling on their own, but don't expect people to do all the travel work for them (eg. we'd know where we need to get our train tickets, but we'd have to get there and get the tickets as a group... so awesome to have this support and team atmosphere when traveling in Asia for the first time).

One strength of this program is that they're small, but have also been around for awhile. I went on the 2002 program (I think it was that year... it was definitely awhile ago)! In the decade-plus since I've completed my undergraduate degree, thesis-based masters program, teachers college and worked for several years around the world, but with focused work in remote fly-in communities in the Arctic.

This program is a great stepping stone to independence, exploration, and adventure...

I participated in Youth International's South America Volunteer trip directly after I graduated from high school. My fellow participants were mostly around my age, 18-24, and were from parts of the USA, Canada, and Europe. It is because of Youth International that I fell in love with the world, learned to work with every type of person, and developed a compassion for disadvantaged communities. Although I have studied, worked, and volunteered with many other programs, Youth International was the most profound. I am still best friends with some of the participants and I have visited them and other travelers I met during the program all over the world. I will always recommend people to participate with Youth International. If you have never stepped foot out of your country or are an experienced traveller, it makes no difference. You will love your months with Youth Internationals and leave wishing you could stay.

This program launches you into new situations and cultures-- I got to understand and make bonds with locals. I now feel that I could go anywhere in the world (and have since travelled throughout many countries, including South America and Europe). My favorite part of the program was the silent meditation retreat in Dharamsala. This was over three years ago and I have yet to encounter a more expanding and enlightening experience, as cliche as that may sound.
My leaders were incredible, I still have occasional contact with both of them.
The greatest aspect of this program is that it is truly authentic. It is a small organization, and therefore each of us got the chance to meet the head honcho, Brad Gillings. He is a great guy and an incredible facilitator. He has travelled to each of the locations and has set up healthy and constructive relationships with small communities in each of the countries. I appreciate this more and more as I learn more about the way that other programs are set up.