Blog

Hello Everyone! My name is Devin and I will be one of your instructors for our upcoming adventure extravaganza around South East Asia! I hope everyone is as excited as I am to start learning, growing, exploring, and trying new things across our expedition. I just wanted to take this moment to introduce myself so we can all start to get to know each other. We are going to be traveling, eating, exploring, and basically living together for the next few months!  Ultimately,… Read more

It's been 60 days since we landed in Bangkok, and I've used exactly 100 pages of my journal to attempt to capture an experience that - I have a theory - might just be indescribable. Ticket stubs and brochures and stickers fatten the pages, threatening the binding, adding to its weight. And yet, even as I flip through, bits keep falling through the cracks in the white spaces at the edges of each page. Underneath my taped-down ticket stub exists an experience. Between the… Read more

*Sunrise* Watch me as I go To the temples, the trees, the Buddha statues that flow with the breeze Watch the sunrise as it grows The birds sing, the world begins Tell me how to know Where do I go? I walk the edge of Angkor Wat Slippery and steep Watch the sunset as it goes My heart beats Worry not, Don't you know? The birds will sing again *************************************************** We have been spending some of the last few precious moments together in th… Read more

Wow - we officially have 1 day left together. The past 9 weeks have flown past. Tomorrow we are heading back to Bangkok to finish our adventure together after Railay Beach. Looking through our itinerary the first few days, it felt like today would never come. I was in a place I had never been before with people I had never met. I found the first week very challenging - I cried in a tent in the outskirts of Chiang Mai because I missed my bed (lol). Since then, my friends… Read more

Whats up, family and friends back at home! I hope you guys had a good St. Patricks Day! I have been having a blast on this trip, and I am kind of bummed that we only have a week and a bit with each other before we all part ways. So far, I think my favorite part of the trip was the time we spent in Hanoi. Hanoi is a crowded, polluted city with tons of traffic, but it also has an irresistible charm that I can't quite explain. When our bus first rolled into the city, I imm… Read more

Hello! Now that we've been in Southeast Asia for almost a month and a half I thought I'd share 20 differences I've noticed so far between the culture here in Southeast Asia and back home. 1. The toilet paper - All toilet paper gets thrown into the trash bin instead of flushed. The main reason for this is the level of plumbing, and although it seemed kinda weird at first it has become pretty normal at this point. 2. The butt gun - Nearly every toilet has one. Think of i… Read more

Our time in Kampot between the 11th and 14th of March was, as with most of our activities on this trip, somewhat bittersweet. During the house-building project and movement workshop at the Epic Arts Centre, we witnessed both suffering and happiness, resulting in mixed emotions all round. Our morning started on the 11th March with fourteen sunburnt westerners sardined in the van. We took a rollercoaster ride through rocky, red dust roads into the truly untouched Cambodi… Read more

We spent our first three nights in Cambodia in a town called Angtasom at a wonderful homestay run by a couple, Siphen and Mach. They welcomed us warmly into the country, fed us great food (including pancakes), and shared with us their lives and their story. They are both teachers at a public school, where Siphen has been working to build up a library so the kids can continue studying and learning English on their own. We spent one morning reading with some of the kids, w… Read more

Vietnam is bucket hats and ice cream Vietnam is army helmets and opiates Vietnam is the Hanoi Hilton Vietnam is the Hoa Lo Prison Vietnam is tranquil rice fields Vietnam is loaded landmines Vietnam is pho and communism Vietnam is baguettes and imperialism Vietnam is forgiveness Vietnam is suspicion Vietnam is songs about your love going to war Vietnam is your love going to war Vietnam is blue skies and puffy clouds Vietnam is clouds of dark ash and gray smoke Viet… Read more

Exploring Vietnam's unique cities and history-rich culture has been incredible. Slowly making our way from north to south Vietnam, we experienced the diversity of Hanoi, Hue, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City. Taking the 14 hour night train from Hanoi to Hue was definitely one of the most interesting means of transport we have used here so far. From the fear of possibly being robbed if we were to leave the door unlocked, to the conductor's rough wake-up call ("Hue Hue, Hue Hu… Read more