Definitely a life changing experience!

So I went to Thailand for two weeks through the GVI Chaing Mai program. While one of the main attractions was experiencing elephants close up, there was a lot to do within the community of Huay Pakoot!

The fees you pay to GVI do include housing, transportation to the village from the airport upon arrival, and your return. Additionally, you are fed three proper meals a day within the village (the food is INCREDIBLE) that is typically prepared by your host family. Their website can better explain exactly where the money goes, but just know that it is possible to get by without lots of extra money. With that said, I’d recommend bringing at least some to spend at local businesses (there’s a snack shop, a laundry store, a smoothie shop, a coffee shop, and a few others that all cost a few extra bucks).

The homes in the village were wooden huts with multiple rooms, essentially a typical home with a gap between the roof and walls to allow air to flow in the bedrooms, but the common area was a more open concept. In my homestay, I was given a private room with a thin mattress/thick mat, a pillow, sheets, a blanket, and a mosquito net that was draped over the bed (surprisingly beautiful). There was a small table near the door with a journal that previous guests wrote in, but other than that the furniture was sparse. My bathroom was across the small gravel road from the main home and consisted of a basic squat toilet, a large barrel of water to bathe with (I mostly used wipes I had brought with me from the US), a small shelf, and a few hooks to hang towels/clothes. Each home within the village is a bit different, but there is no air conditioning (which I learned to love). I was there at the start of the rainy season which meant rain nearly every night and it got pretty chilly which made sleeping comfortable.

As far as safety goes, when in the city or at airports, the most important thing is to be aware of your surroundings, stay with or near people you are familiar with (other GVI people), and exercise the same precautions you would anywhere in the US. Avoid leaving your things unattended and if you feel lost in the international airports, anyone with a uniform on will be able to help you, but they were relatively easy to navigate. People are usually very friendly, so it’s fun to get to know those around you, but it’s best to be precautious. Once you are in the village, safety is more about avoiding physical injuries from the uneven roads (especially if you’re clumsy like me), plethora of insects and animals, and dehydration. Most of the animals are pretty indifferent about you being there, but the dogs and cats can be fairly interactive if you pay them any kind of attention (they do have fleas from living outside, but they are vaccinated and cared for). The locals are some of the sweetest people I’ve ever met and they are so accustomed to strangers coming in and out, they don’t have high expectations for you to completely understand their culture, but I’d highly recommend doing your absolute best to try! You’re expected to show basic respect which looks a bit different there, especially as a woman, but I never felt unsafe or like I was compromising my morals or character.

I would do it again in a heartbeat! I’d definitely pack much lighter, spend less money on the side, and relax a bit more than I did, but it was definitely a life changing experience.

When I went in May, we were at max capacity with about 20 people (staff, interns, and volunteers). I met a girl that happened to be at Texas A&M that was going on the same trip, but other than that everyone came from different corners of the world (Colombia, England, Ireland, Australia, Canada, and Belgium to name a few). There were four other American volunteers, one American staff member and one American intern, but that was an unusually high amount according to the staff members.