Program Reviews

I held the rice ball up to her truck. Noi nah, a relatively new elephant hesitantly picked it up. A downpour started around us and quickly coated our clothes to us like glue. It seeped into my bones, but I did not care. I loved this moment, these creatures, and the friends around me as we ran back to the shelter. We all fell into a laughing heap and a sense of complete happiness washed over me. These are the kind of moments that are created here. Moments that will stick in your mind forever.

This trip was amazing! I've never had such an experience in my life. Part of this was because Thailand was the prettiest place I've ever been. Part of it was because elephants are awesome! But mostly it was because the people I was surrounded by were so great! All of the cute cute dogs also helped and I learned a lot.

Thailand 101 was an amazing experience to go on. I met so many people that will be friends for life. This trip is great for anyone who loves to travel and loves animals. I would recommend this trip for any college student, you will learn so much.

I have always dreamed of studying abroad and honestly, Loop Abroad exceeded my expectations. Not only did they provide me with a once in a lifetime opportunity, but it was a blast and worth every penny. The Elephant Nature Park is such an amazing place, and I think anyone who has a passion for animals should go there at least once. With Loop Abroad you get an entire week there with experiences not everyone gets to do. Not only that, but you get a second week exploring the city of Chiang Mai, which is gorgeous and full of unique experiences. I'm very happy I was able to learn about Thai culture through this program. The staff is exceptional and they make the program that much more fun. I would recommend this program to anyone who loves animals, and who has a strong desire to get the most out of studying abroad.

This trip is unique because it is a vacation and study abroad experience all in one. These two weeks were stress free and so relaxing, yet I gained veterinary knowledge that I wouldn't learn until vet school. I loved working with the elephant vets at ENP and as well as Dr. D (Dana)! Dr. D gave me responsibilities that my own vet that I have worked for for 2 years has not allowed me to do. This trip will open many doors for me and has strengthened my desire to become a vet!

This experience was a once in a lifetime. I had an amazing two weeks spent with really great staff. Not only is it hands on learning but an eye opener to the rest of the world. As a pre- vet student, it was awesome to work alongside a vet.

This program opened my life up to the world of travel while simoltaniously helping me persue my dream of becoming a veterinarian. It was so hands on with animals during the day and then at night you were emerged into the Thai culture. This honestly is a once in a life time experience and anyone that has a chance needs to take it. I was able to learn how to draw blood, learn the basics of a general check up, how to administer shots and many other veterinary basics. I spent a great deal of my time growing up volunteering at my hometown zoo and I was a very active member of FFA but Loop Abroad gave me a chance to really work one on one with animals. I came home with veterinary experience but even more important I was able to meet two girls who became my best friends and enough stories to last a lifetime.

To this day, I still claim that the two weeks I spent in Thailand were by far the best two weeks of my life. I had never traveled overseas by myself before so having all of us meet in New York and fly out together to Thailand was very helpful. I believe it also gives us a chance to socialize with one another before we get there. Once you arrive in Thailand, the hospitality begins from the start. I think that is one of the most significant things about Loop Abroad. They make you feel at home when you are thousands of miles away from the U.S. The dynamic duo of Spicy Thai and Loop Abroad makes your trip abroad a welcoming experience.

The first week, we volunteered at the ARK Shelter under the supervision of a veterinarian. Throughout the week, you are getting hands on experience every day. You have surgery days, blood drawing days, and a special day to visit the cats at another shelter. Not to mention, everyday spent in Chiang Mai you get some kind of cultural experience. You visit in town for lunch, dinner, and shopping in the markets.

The second week was spent at the ENP where elephants roam freely within the parameters of the sanctuary. There are special feeding times as well as bathing times for the elephants that you can partake in. Throughout the week, we switched off with helping out at the dog shelter on campus and learning medical knowledge from the elephant veterinarian. I can not explain the feeling of being so close to the elephants every day. They are gentle giants and it gives you a sense of ease when you are able to work with something so beautiful and so up close. Over the week, you begin to pick out your favorite elephants and, later, find it hard to leave them behind.

My trip with loop was by far the best summer of my life! I attended the summer in between my Junior and senior year of college, the year I was applying for vet school. Elephants have been my favorite animals for as long as I can remember, so when I found out that I was going to spend the summer with them, it was a dream come true. In the city the mornings start off with a quick instructional lesson of what we'll be doing for the day, vax, blood draws, parasite testing, spay/neuter etc. Then you spend the afternoon actually practicing and doing what you just learned alongside some great vets. I easily god 200 hours of supervised experience! Almost every evening we went to a different market and really got to experience the true culture of Thailand. While at the markets we got to break up into small groups and explore on our own, never once did I feel as though I was in an unsafe situation and we were provided with cell phones to call the staff if we had any concerns (which we never did).

At ENP we worked alongside the American vet we had been working with the whole trip but also the Indian and Thai vets that are on staff at ENP. I was expecting to 'look but not touch' and boy was I wrong! We worked with the vets developing diets, administering medications, performing treatments, cleaning wounds, and helping to diagnose problems with these gentle giants. We got to meet the founder of ENP Lek and spend lots of time with her learning about her dreams and visions for this park. While at ENP we got to treat and learn about a large variety of animals, not just elephants. At the park they have cows, water buffalo, bunnies, monkeys, birds, and a small animal shelter, we definitely had our hands full! However, it wasn't all work, we enjoyed tubing down the river, playing in the monsoon rains and bathing the elephants, which almost always turned into a water fight.
Our weekends were full of sight seeing trips to temples, mountains, waterfalls, a butterfly garden, and even a tiger park where we got to bottle feed baby tigers!

The trip was fantastic, however, the staff made Thailand feel like a home away from home. Our program director helped me edit my personal statement for my VMCAS application and the vet we worked with all summer even wrote me a rec letter. Noom and Aum, the staff and the hostel we stayed at were so great! They taught us so much about thai culture, they were pretty much like walking text books to us! They probably got so tired of hearing us ask...well how do you say this in thai. I became fast friends with all of the staff and the people on my trip, and I stay connected with them on a daily basis thanks to social media!

If you're looking for experience before vet school, a pre vet student, interested in vet med, or just an animal lover, this is definitely the trip to go on!

Going to Thailand through Loop Abroad's EEE program still remains the best decision I've ever made in my life thus far. Growing up, I was never really the kind of person to make any adventurous, out-of-my-comfort-zone decisions, neither for myself nor by myself; adjusting to a life in Japan to one in America, then vice versa, then reversed again, was the only substantial "adventure" I'd ever experienced, and none of those adjustments were really anything I'd brought upon myself. I never even tried summer camp because I always just assumed it wasn't "my thing."

So when I decided to go to Thailand, an exotic foreign country I'd never been to before, with a group of strangers and no family members with me, I was stepping way outside my shell. But I knew an animal- and culture-lover like me should never pass an opportunity like this, and I was right. No two weeks has ever been more influential to my life, in gaining experience and in growing as a person. I was a bum, and looking back now, I recognize I was probably at my lowest my junior year, the year preceding the summer Thailand trip. Somehow, the two weeks spent far from home surrounded by a beautiful country, met with waves and waves of pleasantly overwhelming new experiences, and with a great group of people equally appreciative of the experience left me with a great new group of friends I still have reunions with, loads of pictures, a memorable life experience that I can write papers and resumes on, and last but not least, a much better self.

(Rather than giving a detailed plot outline of my trip I decided to take the more empirical route, so I'm sorry if this turned into too much of a personal ramble.)

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:: TL;DR ::

・ Living with elephants for a week is amazing
・ Helping take care of elephants (et al) and learning about them and the environmental/political struggles they face are incredibly rewarding and enlightening
・ At the same time, you get to experience much more than elephants
・ Chiangmai is so fun and SpicyThai hostel makes sure you have a great time
・ I know you want those balloon pants...!
・ You're not living until you've tried real (Northern) Thai cuisine (s/o to khao soi, the actual love of my life)
・ endless #tbt material
・ I love Loop. You will too.
・ I cannot wait to go back some day