ARCC Gap: Southeast Asia - Vietnam, Cambodia & Thailand

The Southeast Asia Gap Semester experience was probably the most fun and most important experience I have had in my life so far. Being able to step outside of the normal American life and into the cultures and places of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand was nothing short of amazing and very influential towards me as a person. I personally think that doing things like this, and especially while young, is incredibly important because you are able to be exposed to things that would never even be thought about unless you were there. In fact, on this program I learned many important things that were never even taught in school whether that be about conflicts, the environment, or the depths to the different cultures we were immersed in. Not to mention the people that I got to experience all of this with. I have friends for life because of this program! Overall, I am very thankful that I was able to take part in this program, and I am so happy that I got to meet all of these wonderful people and got to do all of these wonderful things.

When I first signed up and got accepted into the program, I didn't really want to go because I felt that I was going to miss out on going to college with my friends and having a social life. Taking a gap year and doing this program made me realize that there's so much more in this world than we imagine. To have this opportunity is a once in a life time experience that I will never forget and I'm so happy that I did this trip.
I also took a gap year because I needed a break from school. I was mentally and physically exhausted and school was draining. This helped me just take a breather from the stress and anxiety school was doing to me.
I love my group and they will forever be my family. They are so supportive and loving, we have a special bond and it's so amazing how quickly we connected and got along. They were my rock and support system for three months, I won't find anything like this again.

I had an amazing three months on ARCC Gap in Asia. The itinerary was incredible, ranging from camping on the Great Wall of China to a Thai farming homestay. The group leaders were supportive and knowledgeable, and added so much to the experience. My group was full of friendly, passionate, and interesting people, and together we were able to have run no matter where we were or what we were doing. Our in-country guides were amazing, teaching us some of the native languages and showing us the best spots to eat. The program had a perfect balance of service projects, sight seeing, cultural immersion, and adventuring, with enough down time that we could be energized and well rested. My advice to someone going on ARCC Gap in Asia would be to go in with an open mind and to be very excited for a great three months of adventure and learning.

I learnt so much from service opportunities, but I grew from my reflective moments during bus rides. After a long day of work, I'd look out the window and observe how people interact with each other and their environment. Sometimes I'd laugh or frown, sometimes I'd think deeply about their actions. "How does this mother manage to balance her baby whilst riding her scooter?", I'd ask myself. "Ooh, I wonder what that fried dough tastes like!", I'd say. I thought I was only reacting to what I was seeing; little did I know I was slowly building character. Before, I did either of these three things whilst on a bus: read, listened to music or slept. But why would you want to waste the opportunity to observe? Don't let the world pass you by: pluck out your earphones, put your book away, open your eyes and look outside: now tell me, what do you see?

Before I graduated in the spring 2017, I wasn’t really sure if I actually wanted to go to college. I did get accepted into several colleges but was super unsure if I wanted to go. My mom encouraged me to look into a Gap Year. At that time I didn’t know much about gap years, so I investigated a bunch of different programs and came across ARCC on Go Overseas. I submitted my application for the ARCC Asia trip and I am beyond happy that I did. In the 3 months of traveling to China, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand, I learned that the world is much bigger then I ever imagined. I learned to immerse myself in many unique cultures. I experienced once-in-a-lifetime opportunities like camping on the Great Wall of China, watching the sunrise at Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and scuba diving on Koh Nang Yuan island in Thailand. I also got the chance to experience home stays to see what life was like for local families. It’s experiences like these that not a lot of people get to have in life, let alone at a young age. Aside from all these amazing opportunities I also got the chance to do service work such as teaching English to Chinese students, working with kids affected by agent orange in Vietnam, building water filters for local villages in Cambodia, and working with elephants at an elephant sanctuary in Thailand. While I was volunteering at these different places, I realized how fortunate I am and it made me appreciate my life back in the US. It also made me realize that you don’t have to have much money life to be happy life. I learned to make long lasting relationships and memories with the 12 other people in my group. it’s hard to answer the question of “what was my favorite part of the trip?” I would say all of it because every experience and every memory was one of the most extraordinary things that I have ever experienced in my life.

Here is a list of other amazing highlights of my trip:

China
* 4 day hike into Tiger Leaping Gorge
Dancing with the locals in Shangri La
High ropes course
Visiting a small rual village

Vietnam
Sleeping on a boat in Lan Ha Bay
Biking in the old towns
Exploring the city of Saigon

Cambodia
Riding in tuk tuks
Beach days
Visiting rual villages

Thailand
Scuba diving
Thai boxing
Working at a wild life sanctuary

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I am sitting at 35,000 feet on my final flight from Hong Kong back to the States. With only 3 of the 12 hour flight remaining, I know my time with my friends will soon come to an end. But Dr. Seuss said don’t cry because it’s over smile because it happened. I want to use this review of ARCC in asia to talk about all the fond memories and realizations I will take away from this portion of my gap year.

This trip has far exceeded any and all expectations. First I will focus on the experiences themselves. Over the last 3 months I have done so much… below are just a taste of all I have done!

Cambodia:

- Rode a Tuk Tuk
- Built Water filters in Cambodia
- Saw the sunrise on Angkor Wat

Thailand:

- Learned to Scuba Dive and loved Scuba Diving
- Worked at an elephant sanctuary
- Developed a strong relationship with my host mom during a homestay in a rural thai farm village.

China:

-Climbed and slept on the great wall of china!
-Hiked Tiger Leaping Gorge (7 miles a day!)
-Went to a rural village in Fu Gong China and built a toilet for a village with only 1 toilet

Vietnam
-Volunteered at Friendship Village
-Swam and relaxed at Halong Bay
- Said goodbye to 13 amazing people…relationships that will stick with me for the rest of my life.

But frankly the experiences would be nothing if it weren’t for the kids I experienced them with. Every single one of the members in my cohort are so valued. A great way to explain this is the words I shared with my group at our final evening circle closing circle. “ I came into this trip feeling a little insecure socially. I leave today thankful that I have made 11 new friends and more importantly have garnered the confidence to simply trust and be myself. I look forward to staying in touch in the future. Thanks for making these 3 months some of the best 3 months of my life.”

Indeed these last 3 months in Asia have been so much more than simply exploring and learning about Asia. It was about the social connections I made. It is about learning to trust and believe in myself that I can make friends I am liked for who I am. And it was about learning about the reality my life is just one small fraction of this world: indeed there are so many like minded people out there and it is just about giving them a chance to share their story because chances are you have more in common than not.

In sum, my time in Asia is one of the most coveted parts of my life and I am forever grateful for the places I saw, the people I met, and the new relationships that will last with me for a lifetime!

I went on the Southeast Asia program and it was by far the most enlightening, empowering and happiest 3 months of my entire life. Words can’t describe how incredible ARCC and this program is. My leaders were incredibly knowledgeable, passionate and really had the best interest for all of their students. ARCC was really good at providing a safe yet challenging environment for us and also informing parents of any travel changes/updates we may have had. I’ve come back to the U.S. feeling much more confident and grateful. Overall, if you are thinking about taking a gap year - DO IT! It’s so beneficial and I can’t thank ARCC enough for all of the wonderful friends and experiences I’ve gained.

Throughout the entire semester I had grappled with where my purpose lies in the web of complexities that comprise the issues we encountered abroad as well as those we face at home. It was not until sitting in a tree house at Our Land, being led in discussion by inspirational founder, Vijo, that I realized the answer was quite simple. Vijo clarified and deepened the understanding that the earth doesn't need us, but we need the earth. To some degree, every issue we face as humans can be tied back to this concept. We just need to dedicate some compassionate attention to thinking about ourselves - outside of the box.