What to Do: Learn a Language

If you’ve ever dreamed of learning a new language, there’s no better time than on your career break!

August Flanagan, co-founder of Lenguajero.com, a startup that helps people practice conversational Spanish, has 5 tips on how to make it happen.

1. Go to a/the country where the language you want to learn is spoken.
If you are like me and want to learn Spanish, it is pretty easy to get to the Spanish speaking country of your choice from anywhere in the U.S. Frequently, flights into tourist hotspots like Cancun or Buenos Aires cost only a couple hundred dollars one way. Once you are there, you can catch either a domestic flight or a bus to just about anywhere for a whole lot cheaper than an international flight.

2. Settle down somewhere and spend time in a new community.
If you take a few months (or longer) and stay in just one place during this time you will learn a lot more of the language than if you just travel from place to place during that time.

Forming a routine means that you’ll see the same people day in and day out. You’ll stop to chat with the same store owner or vegetable vendor, get to know your neighbors, and, of course, you’ll make new friends. Which, in my opinion, is really the best way to learn a language.

When you first get to your new home try using CouchSurfing to organize a few nights out. Aside from being a website that helps you find a place to crash, CouchSurfing is a great place to meet new people in cities all over the world.

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How to Choose an International Volunteer Program

You’ve decided to incorporate some aspect of volunteering into your travels – now how do you choose the right international volunteer program for you? One of the biggest benefits of volunteering abroad is the opportunity to learn and experience another culture. So much of the travel experience is take-take-take and for many that rarely even involves a genuine cultural exchange.

But by including volunteering as part of your travels, you’re able to immerse yourself into a culture and give a little something back as a way of saying thanks. When I decided to take a career break in the summer of 2006, I knew that I wanted to include volunteering into my experience. And there were many factors that I considered that helped me decide what program was best for me. Read more

What to Do: Overview

If you are like me, you work hard – very hard. However, all of a sudden I was looking forward to a year of free time to do whatever I wanted – no work and all play! Yes, a dream come true but overwhelming at the same time. So many decisions to make.

My first instinct was to escape to a beach and relax, but I knew that I couldn’t simply ‘vacation’ for a year. And I knew it wouldn’t take long to get the ‘vacation bug’ out of my system. So after that, then what?

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Peru: Cusco

In 2006 I took a career break and volunteered in Peru for the summer.  This was the first time I really spent an extended amount of time in one place, and the experience was amazing.  The culture and people of Peru touched me in a way I never expected and this led me to my next job at Cross-Cultural Solutions.

For many years, Peru has called me – whether it was the spirit of the Incas, the mystery of Machu Picchu, or the magic of the Quechuan smile, I needed to answer the call.  In the summer of 2006, I did just that. But unlike other travels, where I tried to see and do as much as possible – never staying in one place for more than a few days – this time I wanted to have some roots.  I really wanted to immerse myself in the culture; experience life as the locals; and maybe pick up a bit of the language.

Cusco was the perfect place.  Chosen as the capital of the Incan Empire for a reason, Cusco has a spiritual essence that can’t be explained – it can only be felt.  But if I was going to take so much from this beautiful culture, I also wanted to give something back.  And that’s when I found Peru’s Challenge.

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Costa Rica: Surf Camp

We had an amazing time going to Surf Camp in Costa Rica. Here’s a sneak peak of our experience:

 

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What to Do: Photography Lessons in Laos

Not all activities on the road need to be planned in advance.  During her travels, Sherry explored the opportunity to take photography lessons from a professional.

I’ve had an ill feeling that has plagued me for the last year. I first remember it coming on in New Zealand. Then it hit me stronger in Vietnam. I was feverish about it in India. It is the feeling of being in some type of moving vehicle, traveling through a country, and seeing about 25 perfect photographs outside my vehicle window. I would feel ill thinking – “if only I could tell them to stop so I could get out and take a picture.” Yet I sat there helpless watching my beautiful shots go whizzing by, wondering if I would ever be able to capture this image again.

I would get queasy when I saw a group of people intimately interacting, simply being themselves, but I couldn’t get the nerve to go up and ask them if I could take a photograph. Instead, I would linger a bit, and then sulk off mad at myself for not having the guts to be a real photographer! The few times I did get the guts to go up and ask if I could take a photograph (fumbling through this conversation in broken English, pointing at my camera and smiling) they would normally say ‘yes’ and then give me some big, posed, toothy grin – transforming the shot from a nice little intimate, cultural gathering, to a Sears family portrait.

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What to Do: Volunteer (CCS Thailand)

“You can travel as much as you want and go wherever you want, but you may not find a more likeable people anywhere.  In their culture there is no hour for the dour and they go the extra mile with a smile.”

- Pacific Perspectives with Tom Plate, Asia Media Online

I have not come across a better statement when describing Thailand and its people.  I have had the opportunity to travel to Thailand on three separate occasions, and each time I have found this thought to be true.  The Thais are so proud of their culture and so honored to share it with visitors that you can not help but fall in love with their hospitality and their warmth.

For a year I had the opportunity to prepare volunteers for their Thailand experience through Cross-Cultural Solutions.  After many years of traveling, it was only in 2006 that I decided to combine my travels with volunteering, and did so in Peru.  Upon returning, I wanted to help others discover the wonders of combining traveling and volunteering, and found that opportunity with CCS.

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Thailand: Homestay with Andaman Discoveries

Michael and I traveled to Thailand as part of our 2007 career break. The following is an excerpt from our travel blog.

Of all the places we would visit on this trip, the last place I thought Michael would be able to relate to the most was a small Muslim Village in Thailand.  But surprisingly, he eased right into sleeping on a mattress on a floor under mosquito netting with roosters crowing at 2am, speaking a completely different language from anyone else around us, and feeding baby goats twice a day.  But he easily compared it to consulting – traveling endlessly from one hotel to the next, needing to learn a new dialect or corporate speak, and understanding a new corporate environment and supporting it.  Makes perfect sense.

Our stay in Tung Nang Dam was thanks to Andaman Discoveries – an offshoot of the North Andaman Tsunami Relief (NATR) organization.  As their website states “we started by doing relief projects FOR community members, then we progressed to development projects WITH community members, now we are assisting with projects led BY community members.”

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