Program Reviews

A famous Chinese Philosopher once said "A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step." This is the quote I chose to perfectly reflect my experience with ISV. What was it that made ISV my first single step on my journey of life? Was it the dancing and cooking lessons I took while being immersed in the culture of Heredia? No. Was it the people that helped me climb over the mountains to our cabin in the middle of the most beautiful national park? No. Was it the scenery that was so indescribable that halfway through the trip I stopped taking pictures because they just weren't doing the place justice? No. Or was it the knowledge I gain from our project leaders and the hands on experience with my favorite animal, Sea Turtles? Again, no. This trip was my single step on my journey of life because it inspired me to keep doing good. For the rest of the summer I continued my hard work and dedication in my own local community and volunteered with a non-profit organization. I am proud to be one of the thousands of "active and global citizens" that ISV is inspiring every year.

My goal was to strip away my sense of comfortability and immerse into a new culture/language and meet new people in an exciting place. This all happened and more. Not only did I get embraced wholeheartedly by an entire village, I got to leave behind helpful structures for the community and take with me experiences that put faith back into humanity in my mind. On top of all the immersion and wonderful aspects of being fully accepted into a host family and community, being able to explore practically all of Costa Rica's wonderful destinations was a gigantic bonus.

If you want something new and exciting to spark your life, this trip will put you around good, like-minded people and might even guide your next step on your journey like mine. Hands down, experience of a life time.

Traveling to Australia was always my biggest dream. When the opportunity arrived via ISV I literally jumped on it. That was almost 10 years ago now and I still think about my time and experiences there regularly.

Traveling with strangers from all over your own country, then meeting people from another country; you grow as a human being and take away a whole different understanding of the world.

I had the privilege of volunteering at the Walkabout Wildlife Park. The staff there were amazing, and the experience of working around the park, being followed by free roaming kangaroos and wallabies was incredible. I love seeing how much the Park has grown and expanded since then.

The ISV staff do a great job keeping participants well informed, prepared and safe from the moment you sign up. After my trip with ISV I had a lot more confidence traveling on my own.

I started my 4 week adventure by spending 2 weeks on the coast of the otago peninsula in the south island of New Zealand preserving the yellow eyed penguin habitat. We were placed with our host smack dab in the culture, and we learned so much by living in the culture that I will never forget. They placed us with locals who showed us around the city and all told us a bunch of New Zealand knowledge. The 2 weeks volunteering were actually really fun! It's real work so don't go in expecting to not do anything, or else everyone will be mad at you. We had to cook local dinners together, do dishes, travel, and do everything as a group. in short, you will get VERY close to everyone on your trip. Our hosts provided us with a ton of activities to do in our free time so we were never bored (How could you be in one of the most beautiful places on earth????) The worse part was saying goodbye to our hosts, who basically became family over the course of the stay. We had a group of 6 people but then we met up with about 20 for our adventure tour.

The adventure tour to this day, is still hands down the most fun I've ever had in my life. We started off in Queenstown, then went all the way back up to Auckland. I went bungee jumping at the first ever commercial spot to do so. We did activities like rafting, caving in gloworm caverns, bungee jumping, skydiving, zorbing, spa pools, seeing the Lord of the Rings film set, going to a native tribe, and much much more. There's so much adventure and excitement in this tour I couldn't even try to put it in a single review. Overall amazing experience, already planning my next one, I would recommend doing the same because spaces fill up quickly!

There were countless things I loved about my five weeks in the Dominican Republic! Whether it was the beautiful scenery of the trees and beaches, the genuinely down-to-earth and kind locals, the amazing kids we worked with, or the friends I made; I will never forget this experience! Each part of the program had a rewarding component. The first week every 2 student volunteers were placed with a host family and taught about some of the local culture and the Spanish language. The second and third weeks consisted of the volunteer portion of the program where we laid down cement for local homes, built the foundation for a nursery, taught Dengue Fever prevention, and worked with the local children. The last 2 weeks were the adventure tour which involved all sorts of exciting activities such as white water rafting, waterfall repelling, horseback riding, and paragliding to name a few. Ultimately my favorite part of the trip were the people I met and the friends I made. The friendships I formed are some of the most meaningful ones I have ever had.

This company and programme qere absolutely fantastic. As cheesy as it sounds, it really was an experience of a lifetime. You make friends for life (which you get close to very quickly living in close proximity. .ie. learning how to use the squat toilet with trial and error was hilarious!). It was amazing to immerse yourself in the Thai culture, feel like you're really helping out and making a huge impact to the children's lives was very special and will always stay close to my heart.the adventure tour after the programme was insane and we saw Thailand in the most amazing ways! I always recommend this company to my friends when talking about my experience. You only live once everyone-go travel!

Do yourself a favor: sign up with ISV. I had the time of my life and for two weeks I was able to experience Australia with seven other wonderful individuals who were around my age and had similar life goals. I wouldn't take back this experience ever. It seriously changed my life.

Our second to last night in Ostional our Mama 'Tica and I were discussing her life and participation in the ISV program. She told how grateful she was to actually have someone take the time to ask her about her life. Most of her time with previous volunteers was made up of signing rather than actual conversation. There was usually very little to no discussion between them from the day they arrived to the day they left. Not too many volunteers put much effort in conversation. Never knowing much about them she was always nervous about helping them enjoy their trip. This time around she was so happy to hear it rather than interpret it. I gave her a hug and thanked her for everything. The next day was just so busy that we didn't see her when we prepped for bed. We woke up extremely early. Thinking that I missed my chance to say goodbye the night prior I got my luggage together only to find that she had slept on the couch just so she wouldn't miss us. I couldn't help but smile. Never will I forget her hospitality. Forever she'll stay just as a mother, my Mama 'Tica.

Going to Costa Rica with ISV was incredible. The language immersion was so much fun. I loved staying with a host family and being immersed in the culture. I spent time in the Osa Peninsula counting dolphins and time in the rain forest counting poison dart frogs. The adventure tour was amazing, we had so much fun. We did a variety of activities from zip lining to white water rafting. The program was incredible, so rewarding. I would recommend traveling through ISV to anyone interested in international volunteering.

The summer after my sophomore year in college I was looking to travel. I found ISV by chance and am so glad I did!! I was able to travel and do something good at the same time. My project was working with sea turtles. This experience was a life changing!