ISV (International Student Volunteers) Reviews

I had some frustrations personally and with people I knew caused from lack of communication to group leaders from ISV or to participants from group leaders about what was going on, girls with back problems were put in my group which needed to backpack into the park a few hours.

All in all: Incredible time in Santa Rosa National Park on an isolated beach seeing milky way while patrolling the beach for turtles late at night.

Adventure tour was really touristy- very separate from rest of Costa Rica's society. Rafting was awesome.
Very worthwhile and memorable experiences!

Traveling with ISV to New Zealand was life changing for me. It gave me direction with what I wanted to do in my career. I learned so much from the other students as well as the locals I got to work with. We lived on a farm and everyday we traveled to different sites. We did trail restoration, removed invasive plant species, learned about the Maori culture, went to elementary schools and worked with children. I have established life long friends from this experience.

Where do I even start? I still talk about this day 9 years later. I meet so many great and amazing people. The one thing I remember is making walking trails, planting trees, and working with the local children. It was an amazing trip that I will forever be grateful. If I didn't go on this trip I wouldn't have meet my husband. He is from another state and we both signed up for this trip. 9 years later we finally got married and even friends we meet on the trip came to the wedding. I will always remember this trip and be so grateful for it letting me come out of my shell and see a whole new world.

My trip to South Africa was life changing. While I was there I met the most incredible people and got to experience the true culture of the villagers. It was a very authentic experience as we got to work with the locals as well as the wildlife. My favorite part of the trip was out group leader. He made our stay amazingly memorable.

My experience with ISV in South Africa was amazing. You get a hands-on experience that is hard to find anywhere else. I would recommend this to anyone who feels adventurous and wants to make a difference in the world while also having one of the best times of their lives. The interaction with cheetahs and lions was the biggest highlight for me as well as just the society and culture I got to see.

My first international solo trip was with ISV to the Dominican Republic. This program gave me access to an experience unlike any other. I was able to witness extreme poverty and begin to see how organizations work to address issues related to poverty. This trip was also a great way to meet like-minded people from different countries - my trip was in 2011 and I just went to a wedding of a friend I met and have continued to travel with and keep in contact with.

Overall, the trip was very well organized and the guides we had were amazing and contributed to the experience. Our mentors or team leaders during our projects were also awesome and very easy to relate to.

Based on my other travels overseas since then, this program does seem to be fairly overpriced and the NGO seems to have very high overhead.

One suggestion I have is considering longer term projects...2 weeks was not enough for me and I would have loved to do more before going on the adventure tour.

New Zealand via ISV was an amazing way to explore the country.
We started off by planting trees for our volunteer program. No doubt it was manual labor. I felt a bit strange paying so much to travel to volunteer, but they set up food, lodging and you have an instant social circle. The trail reconstruction part of the program felt more rewarding and as an avid hiker I felt as though I made a larger impact.

I absolutely loved every minute of my time in South Africa. I loved not having cell service or internet for almost the whole time as it brought us all closer together and made us focus on what we were there for. For the adventure tour, I was blown away by the activities we were able to do. One crazy thing everyday and sometimes more! The leaders were all fantastic as well. The biggest impact it had on me is that I now know generally what I want to do with my career life. Working at the nature reserve inspired me to pursue conservation.
Thank you to everyone involved for making it a trip of a lifetime!

I did this trip in 2009 when I was 18 years old. It was the first time I'd traveled outside the continent and the first time I'd traveled alone. It was the greatest thing I've ever done with my life. I'd since traveled to 3 other continents and nothing can compare to this amazing country and incredible volunteer program. The people I met have become life long friends and still keep in touch to this day. I will be talking and thinking about this amazing experience for the rest of my life.

It has been 2 years since my unforgettable visit to Costa Rica with ISV, and not a day goes by that I don't reflect on the valuable lessons and experiences that I had there.

From living with a local family, interacting with the local ISV staff- learning about how much they value the environment as a whole, to drinking fresh pipa's ( coconuts) by the ocean, there was never a dull moment while I was there.

Beyond the incredible opportunities such as working directly with sea turtles under the most astounding starry skies I have ever seen, I made my most cherished friends on my trip. We were all from different places in the world and to this day we still get together every summer an travel some place new together. Trips like ISV are worthwhile not only because you get the gratifying experience of giving back to the global community, but also because it unites you with people that have similar values, dreams, and pursuits. No one 'gets it' the way my trip friends do, and I am forever thankful to my ISV leaders, my host family, my friends, and to all the experiences I had while I was there. It changed me at my core and I know if you go into a trip with an open mind, you can't help but be inspired!