Started as solo traveller ended up with a whole international family on my back.

My experience in the IVHQ Bali Project has been unsurpassable, I started my adventure as a solo traveller but it was very easy to make new friends since most of the people there are also solo travelers with adventurous soul and friendly character.

I lived in a dorm with 4 other volunteers and even thought the room wasn't very big we managed to make it work out. We had our meals at the canteen and the food was delicious!!

I got to know a bit of their culture during the first week since we had a very complete orientation, where we visited the most important places in Ubud as well as learned bahasa, how to cook balinese traditional food, created traditional art… but the most part of what i learned about the balinese culture was shown by the local people and kids I teach, the people there are always smiling and willing to help you if you need anything.

During the teaching program my partner and I had to prepare the clases in a teaching center to make sure we found the best way to teach the basic english the kids were learning, since they are very energetic we always used games to catch their attention rather than normal clases where they had to just listen and write, and they enjoyed that lots!! As the days were passing by I notice how they respected, liked us more, in fact they would wait for us at the school door and welcome us with huge smiles and hugs. Those moments every day were just magic, and made me realize how worth it was, and how our little labor there meant so much to them.

Every weekend I would go on a little trip to some city, I had 3 weekends, so I spend one in Uluwatu which is a beach town where people from all over the world went to surf, once more it was very easy to get to know new people and my friends and I had so much fun there going to the beach to swim, tan and party. I spent my second weekend in Lovina, where we chose a relaxing plan, we did some snorkeling and hiking, and of course we couldn’t leave the city without a boat ride during the sunrise accompanied by dolphins. I chose Gili T to be my final destination, which is a small raw island where no cars or mopeds are allowed, and where amazing sunsets can be seen from its amazing beaches.

To be honest, this has been the best travel I have ever done, it made me realize how lucky I am to have what I have and how a little help can be so appreciated. I was a whole new person on my way back, much happier!! I loved it!