The world got a whole lot smaller

My Up with People experience was amazing and it made the world a whole lot smaller. Travelling for 6 month with the same group of people creates a very special kind of bound, with our own stories and inside jokes. I know for a fact that now my gap year is over, if I travel to the US, Japan or any other country one of my cast member is from, I will have a host family to greet me.

The reason we have such a good bound is because Up with People is not easy. After 6 months you will be physically and emotionally exhausted. This is not the kind of program where you travel around sight seeing. You will be asked to know your limits and go over it. A 17 hour day is not exceptional. And you will have those moment when you think to yourself why am I doing this to myself. And then you realise you've just performed for the president of Taiwan during their national day and he found it so good he asked to take a picture with the cast. That's when you read a post on Facebook from your host family saying that UWP had such an impact on their community that they've all decided to continue what we started and volunteer in their region.

Everybody also has his own reasons to do Up with People. Some are amazing singers, musicians or dancers. Other were really attracted by the volunteering part of the program. For me I just wanted to travel the world and see as many places as possible in a short amount of time. In 6 months I've been to the US, Taiwan, The Philippines and Mexico in 20 different cities. I could say that my wish was accomplished. But like everyone, I got more than that. I got to learn how to perform, stand in front of a crowd and not being scared. I learned the importance of volunteer work in a community. I learned about world issues like, climate change and immigration. And I think most importantly I learned first hand about the local culture.

In short I got to travel the world, make friend, learn stuff and eat local delicacies (as weird as they may be) and perform a show!