Program Reviews

Global Leadership Adventures does the best high school volunteer trips hands down. From their staff to their housing everything is so well done! I got to experience life on the other side of the world and come home to apply what I learned into my daily routine. I participated in the Cultural Kaleidoscope program that worked in Thai classrooms to teach English. Even though there was a language barrier I felt empowered by my students and could see the impact I had made. Away from service work, I got the opportunity to be immersed in local culture-my favorite part of Global Leadership Adventures. We got to learn about local history, Buddhist religion, and the poverty issues Thailand faces. I can also now say I have ridden an elephant! How cool is that?!? If you are looking for a trip of a lifetime, a trip to Chiang Mai might just be the one for you!

This past summer I traveled to Fiji for three weeks with Global Leadership Adventures and I can honestly say it was the best experience I have ever had. Every new place we went we were greeted with the warmest welcomes and friendliest smiles I had ever seen in my life. The program director, mentors, and local staff were so incredibly helpful, supportive, intelligent, and fun. The food and housing were always great. The balance between service and adventure was awesome, we worked for long hours in the villages on a variety of projects but it was always fun. When we got back we had free time to jump in the ocean or hang out in a hammock. The excursions to see stingrays and the long mountain hikes were incredible. And the nightly meeting where we talked about leadership and our views on the world were so engaging and informative. While I was there I also became best friends with the other students on the trip, and since then have flown across the country to visit them. Everyone was so welcoming and nobody was left out, we all had so much fun together. My time in Fiji was without a doubt be the best experience I have had to date, and I know when I came home I was a changed person. I expanded my horizons and immersed myself into a new culture. I gained new knowledge of people around the world, and new insight into the vast world that is out there. My trip challenged me, it pushed me and tired me out but at the end of the day it proved to be so incredibly rewarding. I recommend this program so much to anyone who wants to do service in another country and expand their horizons. The spirit of the country was indescribable, one of the best things I have experienced in my life. The GLA staff did an amazing job organizing this and I'm so happy I was lucky enough to be a part of it!

Over the summer I traveled with Global Leadership Adventures to Costa Rica where we stayed for 10 days and did so many fun activities and meaningful service. We were located in Parrita and we worked at a local school and built a playground out of painted tires. Seeing the children happily playing was so life-changing and I am so lucky I was able to help. In Costa Rica I made so many wonderful friends that I still am close with today. Despite being nervous traveling alone to a foreign country, everyone made me feel so comfortable and all my nerves disappeared. The staff at GLA were so helpful and always answered any questions we had. The activities we did were so incredibly fun and thrilling, from zip lining to horse back riding to white water rafting we did such cool adventures. My choice to travel to Costa Rica with GLA was the best decision of my life and my trip was unforgettable.

This past summer, I went to Costa Rica with Global Leadership Adventures. My program was called Beachside Service Adventure and consisted of 10 days in Parrita. There were about 60 people in my group (mostly girls only like 10 boys) and we were split up into mentor groups of like 8-10 ish.

M y group worked with a startup plant nursery which was amazing. We worked with two locals, Nicholas and Mau who's nursery it was, and spent our service time basically hardcore gardening in the rainforest. One day we were clearing the land for the nursery and we got to be super cool with machetes and hack through the jungle brush which was awesome. Other groups did stuff like paint a mural at a school, build a tire playground, plant trees at a farm, build a garden at a school, etc.

One of my favorite parts was our nightly mentor group talks. Since gla does focus a lot on leadership we did discussion groups about leadership in our lives and how we can be a leader in our community and we talked about globalization and the relationship between developed/developing countries and some economics so it was really cool to get kinda a crash course foreign policy and how it applies to us kinda thing. And we totally had to open our minds to new ideas which was cool

Honestly the best part was just being immersed in the culture like eating rice and beans and drinking pineapple juice we ate SO MUCH fruit it was amazing

I thought the GLA people were really cool like every program has to have a native who works as an advisor so we actually had two: one woman who has just finished up in the peace corps and one woman who was from Parrita. They were really organized like being at the airport was stressful at first but once you find the GLA people they take care of you the whole time which was great and my parents weren't stressed at all

I would recommend on program length so I did a 10 day but I would recommend the 14 day ones just cause I really started to form close bonds right as we left and didn't really get the chance to develop those friendships. If you have any interest in the peace corps or mission work it's so great cause a lot of the staff did the peace corps or at least extensive volunteering so you get tons of cool people to ask lots of questions.

If you're nervous about doing GLA I'd definitely recommend the programs in Latin America/Caribbean. I know my parents were a lot happier knowing I was in the same time zone and it was easy to call me and my flight wasn't too bad. Plus it's less of a culture shock than, say, Thailand. I would definitely say whatever program you do, find someone who did that one before because there were a lot of confusing things just cause they can only fit so much in a brochure.

One of the lasting effects of GLA on my life is I feel a lot more down to earth and focused on nature and being in the present and I worry way less about social media or texting or television now which is nice.

-Miranda Wilson, GLA Ambassador

This past summer I had the privilege to travel to Costa Rica on the "Beachside Service Adventure" program with Global Leadership Adventures. From the moment I stepped on my plane in Miami to when I stepped back onto American soil, the experience was truly incredible. The adventures were so much fun: zip-lining over the jungle was awesome- so was kayaking through the Atlantic, and there was always opportunity for adventure living steps from the beach and with monkeys (literally) in our back yard. However, the best part of my trip were the relationships I established: I became incredibly close with several other teens on the trip and developed touching relationships with several Costa Ricans involved in our service activity. The ten days I spent in Costa Rica were some of the best ten days of my life and not only would I recommend a Global Leadership Adventures program to another student, I hope to go on another one myself!

I went on Global Leadership Adventures elephant conservation program this past summer and it was an amazing experience. first let's talk about the food because it was amazing, both the food we ate at home base and the restaurants we were taken to had amazing food. I learned so much on this trip, learning the truth behind elephant tourism in thailand was eye opening and it is an issue that need to be addressed by more people. The community service is demanding and consists of a lot of hiking but it was a rewarding experience at the end of the day, and the mentors and other students make it very fun. I would highly recommend this trip to anyone who is interested in doing service centered around these amazing animals and/or looking for an unforgettable experience.

I went to Moshi, Tanzania with Global Leadership Adventures for two weeks this summer and it was incredible! The local staff was absolutely amazing and we all got so close with them. The mentors were very supportive and fun to hang out with. Our service consisted of teaching and refurbishing a school, and was very rewarding and so much fun! The food on this trip was SO GOOD but, for picky eaters, the staff was always willing to make something that you like. We went to a coffee plantation, orphanage, batik painting lesson and saw cultural dancers perform as well as hiked to the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro! I really recommend this trip because it was honestly the most eye-opening time of my life, and was truly unforgettable!

This summer I went to China with a group of 24 students. Originally when searching for programs I found that none of them were even close to my price range as they were all too expensive. At first, I selected Global Leadership Adventures because of its affordable price and its service component. But it turned out to be so much more than that! GLA was an experience through which I learned to be more independent and confident. When out in the streets with other students we had to use our language skills to communicate which took a lot of brain power but also a lot of confidence. Making friends while on the China program was not hard at all. All the kids on my program were ambitious and they cared about making a difference. Since I found kids similar to me on the program it was really easy to make friends. Even though it's been a while since this summer we still have our group chat going strong and I even regularly meet up with two of the kids who live close to me. I definitely recommend GLA for other students because it really was a life changing experience for me and I think everyone should experience this great adventure!

This past summer I had the amazing opportunity to participate in one of Global Leadership Adventures' (GLA) Thailand service trips! I went for two weeks to Chiang Man, in northern Thailand, and created lesson plans and later executed them to teach English in public primary schools. Being able to see thoughts and plans become a reality, while also helping expose children to a new language helped create a strong bond and an experience that can only be understood by doing it. There's a lot of service but it's balanced with fun and cultural immersion. We visit temples and markets, meets monks, eat delicious new food, and interact with people, and animals, that you've never met before! The program directors do a great job of prioritizing the service but making it fun also. Every part of the experience has helped me grow, from fundraising to traveling internationally alone to immersing myself across the world. I hope everyone who wants to can have this adventure!

My past summer service trip was an extraordinary adventure that I looked forward to for months on end before summer of 2017 came. Throughout the school year my mother would use the trip as a common incentive for me to keep up to date on my school work while motivating me to be the best that I can be because I knew that I had such a big reward coming my way. When the day came to get on the plane, I was nervous about not really knowing anyone and being so far from my family for so long. I was comforted by the Gla facebook pages that allowed me to at least know some names and faces prior to the trip. If it wasn't for the amazing staff and opportunity that the company gave me, I would not be the same person that I am today. My trip was filled with amazing food, one-in-a-lifetime opportunities, and experiences and friendships that will go on to last me a lifetime.