Life Begins Outside Your Comfort Zone

Dear rad perspective volunteers,

To be honest, I was a little hesitant about going at first. I applied for the program one month before, but wasn't sure if I was going to go through with it. Traveling alone can be scary. I went to Bali for summer holiday and actually had a plane ticket back home to Hawai'i. Five days before I was supposed to go home, I canceled my ticket, bought a roundtrip ticket to Cape Town, and, I kid you not, emailed my parents saying "Hi mom & dad, going to volunteer in South Africa for 2 weeks, see you soon!" And of my 20 years of living, it was by far the best decision of my life!

I took a crazy leap of faith and ended up going on an adventure of a lifetime! My volunteer house was filled with 22 amazing people from all around the world, who share the same free spirit adventurous soul as me. We became a family. Today, we have an active group chat. Many of us have visited each other, some are coming to stay with me for Christmas, and we are all planning on doing another IVHQ trip this summer. Out of luck, my randomly picked roommates are now some of my best friends. One of them even became my roommate in real life!

You fall in love with these kids. They are the most genuine, funny, and happy children. You don't realize how attached you get to them. They touch your heart. I got to wake up every day and surf with these amazing children....what's more can you ask for? In the end, they were the teachers. They taught me to find the beauty in the little things in life. They were the ones inspiring me. I was the happiest I've ever been when I was with these kids.

In two weeks, I bungee jumped off the highest commercial bridge in the world, hiked one of the seven new natural wonders of the world, took a selfie with a zebra, went cave climbing, went on a safari, went to the most south-western point of the African continent and so much more. South Africa has my heart! It's my favorite place on this planet. If you ever get an opportunity like this TAKE IT! Because you might just make memories that will last a lifetime and meet the best people in the world.

Love,
Someone who really recommends you going on this