The only limits in life are the ones you set yourself.

In 2008 I visited Australia for a brief visit and as sson as I was in the Airport going home I was planning for when I would get back. Unfortunatly none of my friends wanted to travel so the idea of going on my own was daunting....thats where ISV came in....

As soon as i applied for the programe, Isv staff were in contact from the off. They helped enormously in the getting ready for the trip from flights to visas (the things that cause major headaches) the leaders who we were to meet when arriving e-mailed me straight away with a photo of themselves and a small bio...

Now to the trip itself...the only negative that i had was that the time went so quick...for the volunteering we were creating habitats fro re-introducing injured animals back into the wild. This involved clearing along riverbanks, overgrowth around bases of trees and planting new trees and such for increasing the safety of these animals. There is no denying that the work is tough at times but visiting local animal sancturies and getting visited by local community groups, the sense of how important the work you do is and how appreciative the people are in overwhelming to say the least...

The format for ISV is 2 weeks volunteering followed by 2 weeks adventure travel... At the end of the programe all the groups met in Cairns and the social scene hit the roof....a group of around 40-50 people of a similar age with similar interests from all over the world coming together...

we prtied, learned about the different habitats in the GBR great barrier reef and then got to see all first hand on a snorkling/diving trip....met native tribes...on an off day they helped myself and a few friends organise a horseback riding trip to the rainforest while others went sky-diving.... Kirsty out tour guide and tony the bus driver were nothing short of amazing,, they were just part of the group while maintaining a sense of professionalism that was second to none.... spending time on Fraser island...learning to surf in Byron Bay + getting up at 4.30am by choice to hike to the lighthouse at Australia's most eastery point to watch the first rays of sun hit the Australian coast.....sun-set cruise around Sydney's darling harbour and Opera house....absailing in the blue mountains... All of this just a snap shot of what actually took place.. and all already booked and payed for before I even left Ireland so the trip was stress free from start to finish, meaning all I had to do was ly back and enjoy it

I had spent years looking at what I would do when I went down under again, but the places that a trip with ISV takes you,i never would have thought of or come across when planning from home. and now i am glad i went with ISV as I wouldnt have changed any element of the trip for any money.

Now thanks to ISV i have made so many life long friends from all over the world...I have since travelled to London to have a small renunion with some of the volunteers from the UK, and am currently planning a trip to the US to meet up with some of the people from there while still looking into my next trip with ISV... I think i might go to New Zealand or South Africa next :) :)