Best experience of my life

So you’re probably on here right now as you’re feeling a bit skeptical about this whole thing, don’t worry I was the exact same. Checking the ins and outs to make sure this is all legit. It is and I can tell you that this was the greatest decision of my entire life. I spent a little over 2 weeks volunteering in Sri Lanka and I could talk for hours about the experience I had, the people I met and my overall experience. One thing I wish I had when I was making my decision to go travelling was a post like the one I am about to write.

I got talking to a girl I worked with about going volunteering abroad, I just wanted to try travel and I mean why not do it with a little bit more purpose. I started to google absolutely every company and country to volunteer in, I then came across Sri Lanka and immediately I knew that’s where I wanted to go. I found plan my gap year and I started to look deeper into it. I thought it was all too good to be true with the price and the photos. I took to Instagram and trustpilot to help make my decision. After realising it was definitely real I just booked straight away, I didn’t even care how much my flights were going to be. Eventually I revived a handbook from PMGY and I actually think I read the whole thing as I found it interesting and it told me everything I needed about my trip. I also got added onto the Facebook group and I found people I would be volunteering with, I never looked too much but it gave me a sense of comfort knowing I wouldn’t be alone on my journey.

As you might only be here for the advice rather than my personal experience I’ll list off my top 5 travel tips for volunteering in Sri Lanka:
Don’t be scared to do it, just do it. I can promise it will be the greatest thing you’ll ever do.
Use your time wisely; enjoy every second of it because you will look back on it and think about how incredible it was. There’s a few things I regret not doing, try fit in as much as possible.
Be ready to try new things, it might seem scary but again it’ll be worth it. Try all the food you can, try surfing if you have the time and interest, Try meditation, try anything you get the opportunity to.
Learn their culture, be a little prepared before you go. There are 4 main religions in Sri Lanka so be prepared to respect them all (i.e take respectable clothing).
Most importantly you will be learning so many new things but HAVE FUN. You will feel so good about yourself after volunteering, that little extra help you’re giving might be small but it will have a big impact.

I also have a list of 10 things I wish I knew before volunteering in Sri Lanka:
I wish I knew how incredible PMGY were before going, they will literally do anything to make sure you have the greatest time.
It’s not just volunteering. It’s making new friends, new experiences, new feelings.
I couldn’t believe how cheap everything was out in Sri Lanka, I came prepared with a bit of money saved and I never even spent £300 on my entire 2 weeks there and that included a lot of food and drink. Not everyone will be in the same boat and might be budgeting but if you get the chance to tip a little more in the markets or that then it does go a long way and will be appreciated so much.
Although you’re staying in a safe place, be careful and trust everything Ash and the other guys tell you, they are only looking out for you.
Prepare yourself to see a different world, it is nothing like being back at home.
It really isn’t scary to travel alone. I’m still friends with the people I met out in Sri Lanka.
Try as much of their cuisine as you can, it is amazing.
Make sure to try their beer too, it’s also extremely cheap so try not get too drunk.
If you can, do the weekend trips. We done the organised one and it was amazing. We also planned our own one and I think it cost maybe £80 max including transport, food, and accommodation (we dined well).
Sri Lanka is still recovering from the Easter attacks and lost a lot of tourism due to it, when they see tourists you will be treated very well as they appreciate everything. Sri Lankan’s are some of the nicest people I have ever met so don’t be scared (still be cautious too of course)

A day in the life of a volunteer is different everyday, you’d wake up and get ready for project, have some breakfast made by the sisters. I liked to wake up that little bit earlier so I could sit out on the balcony and have my morning coffee whilst talking to a couple volunteers every morning. After project you’d come back and have lunch, it’s different everyday but it’s always delicious. After that you’d be free to do whatever you wanted. Some days we’d go to the beach, sometimes the pool house, others we’d visit the little town. You get the choice to have dinner back at the house or to go out and try new places. In the evenings the volunteers and I would go to the pool house where we’d sit and get to know each other and have a few drinks. Sometimes we’d just stay in and watch a film. Everyday was different but everyday was amazing.

I challenged myself to a lot since I wasn’t spending too long out in Sri Lanka and I overcame it all:
Visiting a new country and travelling alone.
Meeting new people, people I now call my friends.
Becoming an independent person, I now love doing everything alone, company is nice at times but I don’t feel the anxiety of doing things alone anymore.

I know this is a rather long sum up of my time in Sri Lanka but trust me I done so much I haven’t even wrote half of it down. I will leave my Instagram underneath for anyone who wants to see my pictures from my time in Sri Lanka

My experience
On October 4th I boarded my flight to Sri Lanka, 14 hours I think it was going to be. Eventually after a long and draining flight, I arrived in Colombo. I have never been to Asia before so this experience was so new and exciting to me. I did panic thinking “omg what if no ones here to get me” but it was all good and I was picked up along with another girl from London and we drove a couple hours to our house in Ambalangoda. After arriving we met everyone and got settled in straight away. Luckily we had a few days to try get used to the time difference and to meet all these new people. On the Sunday we had our induction and we got to visit a few local places (longest sleeping Buddha in Southeast Asia, moonstone mine, the pool house). Monday comes around and that was the day we all started our project, I chose to volunteer with the girls at the childcare. It was a lovely 40 minute drive in a tuk tuk (for someone who’s never been in a tuk tuk I loved it every single journey), the girls I met were absolutely amazing. The people of Sri Lanka were always so cheerful and happy to see someone new, it really made you feel good about being there. I continued my week volunteering with the girls, playing games, doing spelling tests, and just getting to know them whilst having the most fun. Getting your weekends off to be free to do whatever you want was a massive bonus too.

On the first weekend I signed up for the adventure and safari trip. There were around 12 of us that went on this trip so it was perfect time to relax and get to know everyone. It was the busiest and most productive weekend of my life. We visited an old fortress down in Galle, stopping for lunch right next to a beautiful beach in Mirissa. That evening we visited a giant temple and walked the entire place (it was huge). We got up early on the Saturday morning and went to Yala National Park for a sunrise safari, definitely one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. We even got to see elephants rather close up. We then made the journey up the mountains, a total different side to the lovely palm beaches on the coast. It was proper rainforest and absolutely beautiful. Before arriving at our hotel we made a stop to the Nine Arch Bridge, this was definekty one of my highlights (wear comfy walking shoes) although it was monsoon season and we were all walking down a mountain in the pouring rain, its an experience I’ll never forget. We stayed in the most beautiful little town called Ella, we had the evening to ourselves and went for the most amazing food (it’s been 6 months and I’m still thinking about this place). Sunday morning we had another early start, the thought of a 5am hike up little Adams peak might put you off but it was another amazing experience for me. A little time to reflect my first week in Sri Lanka and enjoy this experience that will become amazing memories. It was a nice bus journey home to chill out and prepare for my second week volunteering.

After my last week of volunteering, the friends I had made and I decided we were going to plan our own weekend away. We managed to get a minibus, organised by PMGY so it was safe from Ambalangoda to Ella. We just had to go back to Ella as it was such a beautiful little town and we wanted to discover more of it. We stayed in Ella for 2 days just chilling, eating, drinking and walking around. One of the things you must absolutely do in Sri Lanka is travel by train. Sri Lanka is famous for their trains. We booked one from Ella up to Kandy, a city in the mountains. The journey was 7 hours long and the only seats we had available were third class. I did panic about third class thinking it would be something like slum dog millionaire. Luckily it wasn't bad at all and for £1.50 I couldn’t complain. Yes that’s right it cost us £1.50 to travel 7 hours on a train, pretty amazing. After arriving in Kandy we managed to find the hostel we had booked, it was called ‘bunk’ and whatever you do, do not stay there. We arrived and literally found bed bugs in the bed. For £7.50 a night we couldn’t really say much as we weren’t that surprised. Instead we found another hotel up the road for just £10 a night and it had an infinity pool up on the roof terrace. We found a really cool British bar that evening a got a drink there before going for food. After we dined we got a tuk tuk up to the giant Buddha situated on top of a hill. As our lovely weekend came to an end it was time to say goodbye to the lovely people I met. Im shocked to say how emotional it was. I really did make friends for life there. To this day I still speak every few days to a few of the people I volunteered with. I actually think I cried my whole journey back to Scotland. I definitely had such an eye opening experience in Sri Lanka and it’s a country I would love to visit again. To anyone thinking about it, just do it.

Instagram: @laurenmcintosh_
If you need advice on places to try follow @reviewswithreb on Instagram too.

Sorry for the length of this post but I hope it may help with your decision for volunteering.