The most amazing experience of my life!

What can i say? 15 years on, my Raleigh expedition is still a defining part of my life. I made some firm and lifelong friends, but meeting so many people from diverse backgrounds also really helped to develop the networking and interpersonal skills that I rely on in my subsequent career (as a lawyer).

The experience of living and contributing to a community so very different to mine rocked my world. I'll never forget my Nicaraguan "family", receiving piles of ripe mangoes for an English lesson well delivered, the experience of pulling water from the well to "shower" in the open air under a hail of twigs from cheeky boys in the trees above, nor watching the sun rise over the steaming rainforest from the verandah of the village chief's house after 10 exhausting days of trekking through paths few other non-indigenous feet had trodden.

Raleigh taught me the power of my own self -belief - and awoke a thirst for new travels and experiences that has stayed with me. I recommend it to you without hesitation!