Immersion in Australian and New Zealand Culture

My trip to Australia and New Zealand with Travel for Teens has changed my perspective on traveling, I was not just a tourist when I visited these foreign countries but became extremely immersed in their culture, through experiences such as watching a ritualistic haka in New Zealand to camping in the Australian outback with locals. I felt at home in these countries and not out of place, which sometimes can happen when traveling. We stayed in hostels, not big chain hotels and got to meet so many locals that we could learn a lot from, such as where the best traditional places to eat were and where we should shop or visit if we had any free time (which luckily was not often because we always had some fun activity planned). Overall, I honestly had the time of my life on this trip and it really opened my eyes to truly experiencing different cultures, after I even told my Mom that this trip has showed me that I want-NEED to continue traveling to different parts of the world for the rest of my life.