In August 2011, I spent four truly incredible and adventurous weeks on GVI’s ‘Teaching English to Buddhist Novice Monks and Local Communities’ program in Luang Prabang, Laos. Just like everyone else, I felt unprepared and very nervous about the task of teaching an actual class- but just after a few days I felt comfortable enough to teach by myself. I was fortunate enough to have a more experienced volunteer with me for the first two weeks, and in some classes we were also working with a Lao teacher. Even though I am currently studying English and French at Uni to become a teacher, I would not have expected teaching to be so much fun! The students were simply amazing- they were motivated, funny and working quite hard. Even though I couldn’t always get them to do their homework, they participated well in all of the lessons, and they always turned out more lively and funny than I had expected. Of all the wonderful memories I made in Laos, teaching was simply the best.

What I most recommend is to just go with whatever comes your way- planning is really not needed and often things go very differently from what you expected. Exactly this is what made this trip the best experience I’ve ever made- it was exciting and surprising, and I did and saw things I would never have thought I would or could!

This project was truly life changing. I read a ton of testimonies before departing for this program, and thought they were nice but they do not have a lot of meaning to you if you are still rather skeptical about the program. As I was just typing, I went to write "as soon as I arrived in South Africa I felt at home," but then I realized I read the exact same thing before leaving. But, it really is true. The program is well organized and meaningful. I never even left the country before this August, but I know I had been waiting for the perfect opportunity, and this was. When I first learned we would be at the orphanage I was a bit nervous. I had experience working with children, but I didn't think it was enough to take to Africa with me. However, once I met the children it was impossible to feel anything but love for them. There was also no need to be nervous, they were so eager and happy to play and learn. The spirit of those children, as well as the people within the community, will stay with me forever. Aside from the amazing time I had at the orphanage on weekdays, the weekends were just as amazing. From cultural tours to wine tasting to safaris, you really cram as much experience as possible into 2 weeks. Overall, this trip was far above my expectations. I will forever remember the experiences I had and the amazing people I met.

The expedition base is incredible, set back from the beach, miles from civilisation with a wealth of wildlife, not just on the doorstep, but in the dorms! The environment just got better as we adjusted to the temperature, early starts, cold showers, spiders and snakes.

I was pretty relaxed for 10 weeks, so I am pretty sure I extended my life span by about 10 years! As I have never done any conservation work before I learnt a massive amount about survey techniques, birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians. I also gained a level of fitness, which is going to be super hard to retain.

Nothing can beat the jaguar encounters. I was well aware that we were very unlikely to see a jaguar. I saw FOUR. Dave and I were on the early morning nest check; we saw jaguar prints on the sand. I told Dave they were pretty fresh prints, maybe a half hour ahead of us. He was less optimistic. In between checking the nests we followed the prints, joking about seeing a jag. All of a sudden Dave was signalling for me to look left. There, almost under my feet, was a jag, sat with it’s back to us. As we tried to find cameras another jag peered out of the vegetation and winked at his friend before moving off. Then the first jag glanced over his shoulder, calmly stood and wandered off as well. It was amazing.

As I was packing my bags for my long awaited trip to Mexico, all I had in front of me was my gear list. These were the only clues I had about my lifestyle for the next 5 weeks. For the last 3 months I had been emailing 3 girls who I had got in touch with through the GVI website. We had all become good friends from winding each other up about what we were to expect. As soon as the 4 of us met in Playa Del Carmen with the rest of the group it felt great to know that the waiting was over. Everyone was already chatting to each other, and the staff were very friendly and clearly keen to get to know everyone. As the taxi’s pulled up outside our new home, I couldn’t wait to get out and explore my new surroundings. The base manager gave us a tour of Pez Maya, showing us things like the bucket flush toilets, the “showers”, the iguana’s that would be running round our feet for the next 5 weeks and the large amount of mosquitos. So far my first impression wasn’t great. I didn’t have strong enough mosquito repellent, probably didn’t have enough clothes bearing in mind we would be showering 3 times a week and the bucket flush toilets really didn’t smell too great. Although, as soon as we were shown the view we would be enjoying for the next 5 weeks, my impression dramatically changed. It seemed so surreal; I couldn’t quite believe we were going to be living on a beach, relaxing on the hammocks under the palm trees, diving twice a day and seeing some amazing sea creatures. From then onwards my first perception was changing, even the negative points I picked up on when we had the tour, began to change into fun challenges.

I left Australia expecting to spend 16 weeks of my life volunteering with GVI in Ecuador. Instead, those 16 weeks were just the beginning. GVI has inspired me to dedicate my life to improving the quality of the lives I touch through my volunteering both overseas and here in Australia. To be involved in the GVI community where everyone has the same passion and determination to be the difference is truly something unique.