Best travel experience of my life!

My first volunteer abroad program with VFP was to an eco-village in NW Italy, near the border of France. It was absolutely magical! We lived and worked in a newly-restored medieval village and helped the village families harvest olives, tend the groves, gather wood, and do other odd jobs.

On one day off, we took the bus to town and the train to France.. On the other, we hiked to several miles over a mountain top into France and stayed the night in at an alpine hut.

All our meals were vegetarian. Breakfast (as is typical in Italy) was essentially coffee and toast (sometimes cookies). I like a big breakfast, so if I were to do it again, I'd bring a jar of peanut butter! Lunches and dinners were lovely, big Italian meals. Dinner (again, typical in Italy) was served late.. around 8-9 pm.

In this particular camp, we had beds in rooms shared with 2-4 other volunteers. We also had indoor bathrooms and solar heated showers, which is luxurious compared to a lot of other camps. If creature comforts are important to you, I'd advise you to pay close attention to this sort of thing when you are choosing a camp, because accommodations vary widely.

I met some of the most wonderful and interesting people from all over the world. We worked hard during the day and spent our afternoons and evenings cooking, eating, drinking, singing, dancing and forging strong, lasting friendships. I honestly didn’t want to leave when it was over.