Program Reviews

There aren't many gap-year programs that offer the opportunities that Up with People does! it's the chance to travel extensively with people from many countries. Participants do community service projects and stay with host families. Travel includes at least 2 continents, and students visit cities and towns that tourists don't normally visit. Up with People is full of extraordinary , talented, driven young people. It remains a unique program that is life-changing.

I was in Up with People in 1988 after finishing university, and was privileged to work for the company for a few years after. The experiences and training and friendships I gained are beyond measure. I can't say enough about the program! Do it, you won't regret it, i promise!! =)

I traveled in this program when I was 20 years old. It was the hardest year of my life, but also the best year of my life. Between the lifelong friends I've made around the world, the host families I now call family, and the opportunities to serve each community through service projects and performing arts...I had an experience to draw from for a lifetime. I will make sure my kids travel in this program without a doubt.

January 1996- First flight to Denver.. Never been in a plane before.
Meeting my first and best hostfamily.The beginning of a great adventure.
During six weeks.. dancing, singing, like i've never done before. Talking English, meeting people from all over the world. Meeting my best friends since than. After six weeks our first show.. and i even didn't feel like a stage patato.. saying goodbye to my hostfamily and my best friend from Zwitserland.. There was anohter cast leaving the same day.
1 year.. laughing, singing, dancing, learning, feeling frustrated now and than, traveling, talking, meeting people.. staying with 75 hostfamilies, doing community service, performing during the openingsceremonies Olympic games Atlanta. feeling tired but didn't give up on it.
Doing different internships.. Admissions.. getting young people involved with Up With People.
Talking in front of 1200 German students without knowing that many words.. but i did it.
Speaking Enlish.. i did it. learning Swedish.. i did it.
Did the trustfall, travelled one year with one suitcase, slept after 20 minutes in the buss and i still can do that.

Nobody said it would be easy but it was Worth it!!

A whole year felt like a ride on a rollercoaster.. a rollercoaster of mixed feelings.. But it was worth it..

I was working on myself, for myself and by myself.... with 123 persons from 22 different countries..
If you have the opportunity.. Go and explore..It's 21 years ago for me.. but i remember it like yesterday..

It's been a while since I travelled, but this program definitely made a difference in my professional path. I learned to be flexible, I learned what I'm actually go at, I learned to solve issues with others in a peaceful manner. I grew up a lot on the road.

To me, the host family experiences are what make UWP memorable. It is something immensely unique and I'm thankful for the opportunities I had in UWP and the many that I have had because of UWP.

I traveled in UWP Cast A 2000, and was given the opportunity of a lifetime. The friends I met 17 years ago are life long friends. One cast member is the godmother to my son, and I still regularly see a lot of my cast members both in my own town and when I travel. The show creators are brilliant and they create music that tells stories and helps bring communities together. The Alumni Group provides many networking opportunities once you are done traveling. I highly encourage anyone to travel with Up With People. Open your eyes to the world, it will be life changing!

Up with People is without a doubt the best way to spend 6 months of your life. You'll make lifelong friends from all over the world, gain a greater global perspective, give back in more ways than can be numbered, and your heart will grow about 3 sizes. I would recommend it to absolutely everyone. I traveled at age 29 and grew in ways I thought I'd already passed through in life. My host families gave me invaluable perspectives, my cast mates literally became family, and the organizations we volunteered with have me a greater passion to live my life deliberately when I returned to the states.

Up with People it's a program were you are always learning. To practically live with 100 people from around 20 different countries it's a one life time experience, always having fun, learning from each other and breaking the walls between countries, building bridges and really becoming a global citizen. Traveling 6 months or a year, volunteering, living with host families, performing a show, getting to know friends from all around the world, everything it's an incredible experience that taught me so much.

I would have been a different person if I wouldn't have decided to travel with Up wit People. This experience made me open my eyes in every perspective. I am international, I know what is happening around the wold and why. I know how it feels. This because of the places I traveled to, but more important; the people I met and who I traveled with.

This is a crazy world, go out there. Get out of your comfort zone, and see how your full potential will surprise you.

After graduating college in 2010 I was looking for the next thing in life when the chance to UWP came along. To be honest I was reluctant at first, the program had so many components. I wasn't great at singing, dancing etc but I found out that was one of the smallest parts of the program.
What I really loved about UWP was the sense of empowerment I gained from it. After being selected as an Advance Team intern (they go ahead of the cast to help find food, beds, sponsors, etc) I looked at this challenge and said "how can this be done?" But piece by piece it all came together. I remember thinking at the end of it..."holy crap I can't believe I did all that!" That sense of accomplishment and empowerment has helped me out in my professional career so much.
Another skill I gained from UWP was the ability to be flexible and make the best of out of not great situations. In life and work you run into roadblocks and you have to get thru them to accomplish your objective. You will be in a situation at some point on the road where you have to make a choice...either be upset or frustrated by the situation or make the best out of it. After a while you see being upset doesn't do you any good and you learn to make lemonade out of the lemons. After leaving UWP I was quickly promoted to higher positions because of the positive attitude I kept when things went wrong

After high school I had a giant travel-itch, and I needed a program to scratch it. I had applied for Up with People a few years earlier, but at that point I hadn't decided if I wanted to do it or not. I gave it some thought and decided to go for a full year. I flew over to Denver, Colorado in july of 2013, and I knew within a day that I had made the right choice. Never before had I met so many open and welcoming people in such a short time. I remember talking to a ton of new people in the first few days, and even though none of us knew each other from before, everybody was so open and ready to connect.

After an intense month of learning our show, we got on the road and our journey had begun for real. We rolled into a new city every week, where we were greeted by new host families, new amazing voluntary organizations, tons of great food and phenomenal crowds at our shows. Every city brought a different adventure, whether it was staying by yourself in a Mexican family that spoke no English while you spoke absolutely no Spanish, or having to figure out the public transportation for you and your friends in Rome.

I was lucky enough to be able to travel for two semesters, which means I got to experience new and incredible things every single week for a full year. I stayed with over 40 different families, went to about 8 different countries on three continents, tasted food I'd never even heard of (I could go on for days about Mexico's spicy candy) and met so many absolutely beautiful human beings.

When I got back home people would ask me what my favorite place was, or if it had been fun playing shows in foreign countries. I could give them answers to those questions, but at the end of the day it was the people that made the experience so unique. That's also why all the people who have travelled with Up with People have had such different experiences. The people change, but the framework remains the same. I got closer with people that I traveled with for 6 months than I ever got with friends back home that I had gone to school with for 3-7 years. Being on the road, and out of your comfort zone brings you closer to the people you're with, and I wouldn't have missed it for the world!