ISV (International Student Volunteers) Reviews

If you want to travel abroad and have an amazing time, all while learning "heaps", ISV is easily your volunteer abroad organization. While on my trip to Australia, We accomplished so much-including planting 5000 trees in just 3 days-and made a huge difference. The people in Australia were nothing but hospitable!

ISV does a great job at culturing you to the way of your host country, and makes sure you get the opportunity to "Do as the Romans do." While on my trip, we took a cruise through Sydney harbor at sunset, rappelling in the Blue Mountains in Sydney; Ocean rafting and surfing in Byron Bay; Whitewater rafting, Bungee Jumping, and Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns; AND SO MUCH MORE!

From the time I signed up in ISV, to the time I arrived home from my trip, I knew there was a great, supportive team working in the ISV offices always ensuring I was in nothing but the best hands!

I would absolutely recommend going on a trip with ISV to anyone, as it is by far...the BEST use of my money in my entire life.

We were able to work directly with gibbons and elephants during their rehabilitation while feeling extremely safe with provisionals. The people are amazing and staff leaders know so much about the country. Everyday there was an amazing experience be it kayaking around limestone mountains, or visiting "The Beach" from the movie. I loooved Thailand and can't wait to go back.

If you're thinking about travelling with ISV to Australia, I only have one thing to say to you: just do it! You're probably worried about being so far away from home, and I don't blame you. Before my trip I was so anxious I couldn't sleep at night. That all disappeared once I landed in Australia. The staff was friendly right from the moment I met them at the airport. These strangers that you're assigned with for your volunteer program become some of the best friends in your life with memories you will never forget. Our group is getting together for New Years this year !
For your volunteer trip, you get to work with local Australian programs. I worked with Conservation Volunteers of Australia where we did conservation work around Townsville, QSLD, Australia. It was a great learning experience.
For your adventure tour, you get to do so many amazing things you never even imagined being able to do in a lifetime, let alone in two weeks. I went scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef, Night bungy jumping, rafting and so much more.
I give ISV a 10/10. I had such an amazing time.

Some people say that in order to find yourself, you must lose yourself. You must take chances, step out of your comfort zone and test yourself. If I had not taken this initiative and gone to South Africa over the summer I would not be the person I am today.

I personally worked with children in South Africa; I went to help them when in return they helped me even more. We are all aware that poverty is an extreme issue. We see movies about it, study it, and do what we can to help through clubs and organizations from where we live. But we aren’t challenged enough to experience it, live it, and see it. I took that challenge.

Going abroad with International Student Volunteers opened my eyes. I am able to live my life with so much more happiness and appreciation then I have ever been able to before. I have become a better person and learned more about the world and myself.

ISV guided me and other volunteers through the entire application process, during the trip and even after. Everything we did and had a chance to do was beyond my expectations. The ISV staff, people who ran the programs we worked with, and the other volunteers have all been more than amazing and most of them are still part of my life today.

My experience is not something I can justify through a couple of sentences. All I can say to you readers is that if this opportunity is possible for you do not waste one more second deliberating it. It was the most fun and self-rewarding experience I have gone through and think I will ever go through.

Do not let this chance get away.

Apply, travel, open your mind, open your heart and you most certainly will be rewarded.

The ISV volunteer staff was very helpful. They demonstrated all of the work that we would be doing, such as realligning fence posts. I found that I bonded with my fellow volunteers through the work that we performed.

I have never imagined going abroad especially to Ecuador of all the other amazing countries out there. I originally wanted to volunteer in Costa Rica but I don't regret going to Ecuador at all. It's a beautiful country that I have fallen in love with. I'm so grateful for the opportunity that ISV had given to me. My experience was wonderful. There really is no word to describe it. I was in Las Flores, a small town in Ecuador for two weeks. I lived in the middle of the Cloud rain forest where I helped plant coffee plants, banana trees, did field work, observed and studied native birds, helped teach English to the local community members (Oh, they love learning!), played soccer with the kids, practiced my Spanish with the parents, learned how to make peanut butter, built a new playground for the deserving kids, and realized how happy one could still be without an ipod or a laptop. We take so many things for granted in America that when I actually saw these kids begging to learn English, something in my heart grew. This experience was literally a gift to me, and in addition to this, I was awarded with another two weeks of just simply traveling around Ecuador, learning how to surf, experiencing whale watching, climbing waterfalls, riding bikes around a beautiful canyon, climbing a volcano, standing at the equator of the Earth, and I took in all the beautiful art pieces at the largest outdoor market. I honestly didn't want to come back home! There is so much to see in an entirely different country that traveling is a must! This trip was worth every cent of the $3500 that I paid. It was worth an entire lifetime! Plus, the trip was so safe, I did nothing but enjoy my time in a breathtakingly beautiful country with beautiful people. ISV will always be a part of me, and Ecuador will always have a place in my heart. I plan to go back soon!

I had had some fun family vacations before travelling with ISV, but I never knew what a 'trip of a lifetime' was like. I found out in Australia with this group. Everything about the trip is perfect, from the format and planning of volunteering for two weeks and adventuring for two more. Tony the bus driver was the man and our tour leader Joe reminded me of my brother. I did my voulunteer aspect of the trip in a small town of 70 people. A group of 8 of us were there for two weeks so imagine how much we were able to help these people who just didn't have the time to do it themselves. The town was 6 hours north of Melbourne so not many people venture that way, we visited the school kids (all 12 of them) and played games and talked a couple times while we were there.
So after helping the community out for two weeks we headed back to Melbourne for our flight to Sydney where we met up with the rest of the groups to become a huge group of around 50! Now we were ready to take Australia by storm! We started in Sydney and made our way up the East Coast, all the way to the tropics and the Great Barrier Reef. We had stops along the way at the world's largest sand island (Fraiser Island) and Byron Bay (my favorite), just to name a few. So the adventure aspect was great, we all had so much fun, but the part I like best about the trip was the planning and ISV's reputation. Everything was planned out perfectly, Joe was on top of his game. We sat on the bus while Tony got us to our destination safely. We got off the bus, went to the front of the line, did what we were there to do, and got discounts all over the place. We were checked into the hostels before we even got there, dinner was waiting for us multiple nights. I don't know how much more I can say, you're gonna have to believe me and find out for yourself!

Traveling to Costa Rica with ISV was one of the most influential experiences in my life. Working hands-on with sea turtles for two weeks was a once in a life-time adventure, and living in a remote station in Nancite was incredible. Waking up to howler monkeys, trekking through a forest of crabs on the way to the ocean, and sharing my lunch with an iguana were just a few of my daily living occurrences. The staff, biologist, and ISV project leader were fantastic, giving us 9 student volunteers an amazing experience. By making friends, learning bad Spanish, and spending our days playing beach volleyball, swimming in near-10foot waves, and scouting for crocodiles, this trip would be nothing without the knowledge and experience of the local staff. I would recommend this adventure of a life time to anyone!! I LOVE ISV!!!!

International Student Volunteers is a wonderful overseas volunteer program. I went to Australia and volunteered in a small town called Lithgow, just west of Sydney. We had a wonderful host, Colleen, who helped us and taught us things about Australia every day. Our host program, Secret Creek, was also amazing and we took Dingoes on walks, played with emus, and saw some wallabies on their sanctuary site. We planted trees for most of our volunteer work and ended up planting 4,180 in our 2 week stay. I met some amazing people on this trip, whom I will remain in contact with and hopefully reunite with some day. The adventure tour portion of the trip was also a blast. There was sky diving, bungee jumping, scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, surfing, ocean kayaking, white water rafting, and even ocean rafting. It was incredibly organized and I felt like I did more in my 5 weeks overseas than I would have done in a lifetime. I also spent a week relaxing on the beach of Bounty Island Resort in Fiji with the people I met through ISV. It is an amazing experience that I will never forget and I recommend it to everyone I know!

Volunteering with ISV in Ecuador was life changing. I learned so many things about the environment and did so many things I could never do in my own state.
I met amazing people and felt like I made a difference at the Animal Rescue Center I stayed and volunteered at.
Safety was the number one concern when on site and I always felt that way. It was amazing to experience the culture and ways of Ecuador. I learned life lessons that I could never learn in a classroom.