Volunteer Stories
We believe that the only people who can give you a true impression of Travel to Teach are our volunteers. Most of our volunteer stories are published in the Travel to Teach Newsletter, but are also concentrated on this page.
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Jan - Pokhara, Nepal
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February and March 2008 | |
| My only 2 criteria were that I was surrounded by natural beauty and that I work with children. Both wishes were granted when I found myself placed in Nimral Pokhari, a village high in the Annapurna’s, higher than the eagles flew, an hour from Pokhara in Nepal.... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Jan | |||
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Elmar - Gianyar, Bali
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March and April 2008 | |
| Today I found myself standing in front of a group of more then twenty teenagers passionately singing ‘my heart will go on' from Celine Dion. You might wonder how a 24 year old Dutch guy ends up singing the Titanic song somewhere in the periphery of Bali... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Elmar | |||
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Lotte - Shanghai, China
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November and December 2007 | |
| Shanghai is a city you should just experience - don’t think just jump in to it and you will see the most strange, but also the most beautiful things....... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Lotte | |||
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Niamh - Samara, Costa Rica
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October to December 07 | |
| The plane was smaller than a minibus and I had a wonderful view of the Pacific coastline as we approached Sámara-Carrillo. We landed on a dirt track among trees and colourful plants. I was surprised to see that the “airport” was no more than a bus shelter!... | ||||
| Read more. | ||||
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Maggie - Namsom, Thailand
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October to December 2007 | |
| Is 51 years too old to volunteer? Of course not, I had the time of my life in Namsom and enjoyed it from the first to the last minute. It's a great challenge and you get so much in return. Just go ahead and do it!!!!... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Maggie | |||
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Carissa - Vang Vieng, Laos
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Summer 07 | |
| It's not about saving the world, it has nothing to do with being a hero, it's not even about teaching. It's about learning, it's about caring, it's about trying to make a difference.... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Carissa | |||
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Robert - Nongkhai, Thailand
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January 2008 | |
| It is often said that it is worth doing something in our lives for the first time. With this in mind I decided to embark on a volunteering placement in Thailand.... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Robert | |||
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George - Sichuan, China
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March to May 2008 | |
| I arrive with the Headmaster who waited for me until 1.00am the night before and I am introduced to every teacher in the school of 2000 pupils. They have all made efforts to learn "Hello", "Nice to meet you" and "Goodbye".... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: George | |||
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Kim and Patrick - Xalapa, Mexico
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November to December 2007 | |
| Now home in Sydney, each time we pass the coffee table laid out with our unpacked trinkets brought home from our travels throughout Mexico, it is those that we collected in Xalapa we are continually drawn to... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Kim, Patrick | |||
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Lacy - Nongkhai, Thailand and Nha Trang, Vietnam
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February to April 2007 | |
| Desperate for a break after pushing myself to receive my masters by age 23, I decided that leaving home and my native culture was the way to do it... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Lacy | |||
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Hanneke - Shanghai, China
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March 2008 | |
| On arriving at Shanghai Airport I was heartily welcomed by Jessie who gave me immediately a safe feeling as she guided me through the first confusing day so well.... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Hanneke | |||
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Bart - Pai, Thailand
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September - December 2007 | |
| Volunteering in Thailand - enthusiastic is the best word to describe the feeling I had when I found T2T on the internet. Now I’m back in Europe and I can only say enthusiastic is still the best description! | ||||
| Read more. | ||||
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Lisa - Quito, Ecuador
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August - December 2007 | |
| I was in Ecuador a total of four months, took Spanish classes for one and worked for three. It was the four best months of my life, but also the four toughest.... | ||||
| Read more. | ||||
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Meghan - Xalapa, Mexico
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Winter 2007 | |
| It was so strange. My first time out of Australia and I was traveling on my own to a place I knew absolutely nothing about.... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Meghan | |||
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Marleen - Namsom and Nong Khai, Thailand
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October to January 2008 | |
| After 3 months I look back to a great, interesting and meaningfully period in Namsom. Namsom provided me with a great opportunity to really experience the Thai way of life...... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Marleen | |||
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Jess and Koen - Xalapa, Mexico
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August to December 06 | |
| What do I think that volunteering work means? Do you participate in volunteering work for your own benefit, or do you do it to help people who need it? | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Jess, Koen | |||
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Julie and Ryan - Nongkhai, Thailand
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January and February 2007 | |
| My husband and I decided to take an extended trip to Southeast Asia for 3 months. While we were deciding where to go and what to do we both felt it was important to give back to our world and volunteer during our trip... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Julie | |||
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Anina - Phnom Pehn, Cambodia
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January - April 06 | |
| I have been studying to become a teacher in Sweden for 3.5 years. With one year left to go on my teaching programme I felt that I needed a break and some inspiration. I wanted to travel but didn’t know how and with who. I found Travel to Teach on the internet and felt that it was just what I was looking for. I could travel and also get teaching experience..... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Anina | |||
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Janice - Xalapa, Mexico
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March 06 | |
| "Having traveled to so many places, it never really occurred to me that I can actually combine my backpacking with some volunteer work. I decided that why not give it a try... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Janice | |||
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Mike - Shanghai, China
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Summer 07 | |
| If you're reading this you've probably made the best decision ever and decided to volunteer to teach! It's been about 6 months since I got back from China but it all still feels like yesterday so I'll try and pass on anything that'll be useful for you...... | ||||
| Read more. | ||||
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Alexis - Nongkhai, Thailand
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February - May 06 | |
| Unlike many volunteer stories, this one begins at the end of my stay in Thailand. It was late at night when I took my taxi to the airport - a 15 hour flight awaited me and the shock of going back to ordinary life. As I stepped into the taxi I looked back at the people I had made and shared some of my greatest moments with.... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Alexis | |||
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Ann-Marie - Nongkhai, Thailand
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February - March 2007 | |
| There is no age limit to being a Travel-to-Teach volunteer. I would recommend this experience to everyone. I always felt safe in Thailand and arrived home fitter and healthier than I have been for a long time.... | ||||
| Read more. | ||||
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Alissa - Hanoi, Vietnam
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January 07 | |
| "I chose to come to Vietnam as a volunteer because I didn't want to be a tourist. I was looking for a cultural shock. A chance to live and work in a completely new environment. I definitely found that here during my stay... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Alissa | |||
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Cecile - Nongkhai, Thailand
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July - August 07 | |
| After my graduating University in Law I wanted to do something really different before starting a career as a lawyer. I decided to go teaching English in Nong Khai, Thailand, after hearing very enthusiastic stories from previous volunteers who had been there.... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Cecile | |||
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Leonie - Xalapa, Mexico
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March - April 07 | |
| This was my first time in Mexico, my first time away on my own and my first time teaching and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience than I had in Xalapa.... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Leonie | |||
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Rich - Phon Phisai and Nongkhai, Thailand
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January - May 06 | |
| Flying from winter in London straight into Bangkok is something of a shock to your average Englishman; and as I was lying in a hotel room after a first day exploring, feeling tired and far, far hotter than I'm accustomed to, I admit to thinking that I might have made a mistake in deciding to spend half a year in the land of smiles and overly persistant tuk-tuk drivers.... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Rich | |||
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September - November 05 | ||
| The past three months have gone so quickly I hardly can believe my volunteering period has come to an end. Looking back at it I honestly can say "it's been an experience I never ever will forget", I really loved every second of it!.... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Anouk | |||
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Lisa - Xalapa, Mexico
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January 2007 | |
| Although I only got to spend 2 weeks in Xalapa, Mexico with Travel to Teach, I had an amazing time and felt like I accomplished as much as I could have in such a short time... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Lisa | |||
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Daniel and Kim - Namsom, Thailand
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June and July 2007 | |
| If you don't like working in a big city, want to meet a lot of Thai people and don't mind power failures every once in a while, then Namsom is the place for you. In the summer of 2007 we took off to this little town, just 2 hours away from Nongkhai.... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Kim | |||
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North Carolina State University - Pai, Thailand
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May to June 06 | |
| It was a real eye opening experience for me because this was my first time in a different country. I came to Pai not expecting to teach the kids very much because of the language barrier, but it just made it all the more fun and exiting.... | ||||
| Read more. | ||||
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Karina - Pai, Thailand and Namsom Thailand
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February - March 2007 | |
| I volunteered in Pai and Namsom so got to see two very different areas of Thailand. Pai was just what everyone says it has such a relaxing atmosphere and is surrounded by green hills and mountains | ||||
| Read more. | ||||
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Anne - Homestay, Thailand
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September 2006 | |
| Nit noy, mai pen lai, reo reo” ... on the day I left, my Thai level was far to low the be of any use in saying goodbye and how happy my days Na Klang had been. I hoped that the students of Khamsaenwittayasan School could make one more step in improving their English skills and learn as much as I did during these 3 weeks.... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Anne | |||
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Maria - Kampot, Cambodia
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June 05 | |
| From every hut you pass you hear many voices yelling the only English word they know to you: "Hello" "Hello" "Hello". Some may say: "Where you go?" or "What's your name?" but look dazed and confused when you give them an answer as they probably don't even know what their own question meant. All the kids, and there are millions of them, playing on the streets or working say hello..... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Maria | |||
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Linda - Nongkhai, Thailand
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February 2007 | |
| It took me less than a weekend to make the Green Dorm my new home and Nongkhai my new hometown. The volunteer dorms are a nice place to stay. The balcony and its hammocks are a central place in volunteer life and it is here where the best conversations started from the 'is there romance going on between..' gossip, through to discussing the political issues in the countries where the housemate's are from...... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Linda | |||
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Daniel - Shanghai, China
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Summer 07 | |
| A day volunteering in China: I get up quite early, around 6, as school starts at 7am. After grabbing something to eat at the bakery I ride for 5 minutes to school... | ||||
| Read more. | ||||
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Dawn - Xalapa, Mexico
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September - November 06 | |
| For me what makes a trip truly special are the people you meet. From your students, to people you meet on the street... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Dawn | |||
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Corine - Pai, Thailand
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July - August 06 | |
| Although this was not my first travel experience in Southeast Asia, the choice to stay for longer and not as a tourist has been a wish for a long time. Travel to Teach was the only organisation I could find on the web with reasonable prices and opportunities for a long term cross culture experience in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia.... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Corine | |||
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Stefanie - Nongkhai, Thailand
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February 06 | |
| I was really looking forward to my time with T2T, even though I knew, once I would have settled completely, it would be time again to say goodbye.... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Stefanie | |||
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Karine- Xalapa, Mexico
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April 06 | |
| "I always wanted to travel; I always wanted to see the World. But a girl and by herself. When I found out about Travel to Teach it was my opportunity... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Karine | |||
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Caroline - Hanoi, Vietnam and Nongkhai, Thailand
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May 05 - August 05 | |
| With my last ever exams, together with a friend from Unviersity, I jumped on a plane heading for Bangkok. I wasn't quite sure of what lay ahead - I'd never done this before! I initially spent 10 hectic days travelling the islands in the south of Thailand (well recommend!) before reaching Nong Khai where I became ensconced in all things Nong Khai - the 'LA' bikes, the Tuk-tuks, Baranana, the 'cheeky' monks, Pad Thai from the street vendors, delicious banana pancakes, beer Changs at the kiwi bar, oh, and the teaching!.... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Caroline | |||
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Dipesh (Dips) - Nongkhai, Thailand
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March - June 06 | |
| My T2T experience can only be described as ‘phenomenal’. I arrived on the final day of the great festival of Song Kran in the beautiful land of smiles. I made my way to Nong Khai where I was welcomed by a great group of other T2T volunteers. Who would have thought that this was the beginning to a life changing experience?.... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Dips | |||
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Sue - Xalapa, Mexico
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January - February 07 | |
| I decided to head to Xalapa (pronounced Halapa) a week early to 'get a feel' for the place before I started my voluntary work. It didn't take long for me to panic about committing myself to spending 4 weeks here.... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Sue | |||
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Nicole - Nongkhai, Thailand
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December 03 - March 04 | |
| I knew I wanted to return for a longer period and not as a tourist, but as a volunteer. I wanted to get involved and get to know this wonderful people and their enticing culture. So I started to surf the net and although there were quite a few sites, Travel to Teach was the one which kept drawing me back.... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Nicole | |||
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Celia - Pai, Thailand
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December 05 - May 06 | |
| I arrived in Pai on the 1st of December. Driving further and further into the mountains to live in a town that the Lonely Planet had described as only having a population of 3,000, I wondered how I was going to be there for 10 weeks in such an isolated area.... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Celia | |||
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Cathrine - Xalapa, Mexico
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January - March 06 | |
| After several colorful postcards from friends in Mexico City, accompanied by enthusiastic invitations to visit them, I finally decided that I would have myself a Mexican adventure on my first uni summer holidays. Originally I just planned to visit my friends in the city and travel around for two months, but I soon started to feel that wasn't enough.... | ||||
| Read more. | Email: Cathrine | |||
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