It was less than two months after I graduated high school, that I was packing a bag to get out of my hometown and make a difference elsewhere in the world. My life has always been so full of adventures and giving back. Before this, I had already traveled to over 20 countries and volunteered almost 500 hours in America! I just knew that I wanted more.

June 2016 was the beginning of my year-long travels with the program called “Up with People.”

Up with People is an educational organization of 100 people from 20 different countries. These people come together to impact lives and spread a message of hope through performing arts. All 100 people make a difference by volunteering in each community that they visit. The travel is worldwide and you can join for either; 6 months or a year. And one of the best parts is that we stay with host families to indulge more in the culture as we travel.

Traveling With 100 People From 20 Countries

If it wasn’t obvious, traveling is the main part of the program and the tour.

Up with People travels to a new city each week.

When I was on tour for a year, I traveled to 30 different cities throughout the U.S., Mexico, and Europe. And most of our transportation was done by bus. But occasionally, we took planes, ferry’s, and trains!

And you wanna know what was my favorite part of the traveling with this program?

It was by far, the host families.

Yes, that is right. Random strangers from around the world let me live in their home, feed me, and drove me places for a week and they soon became family. I now can say I have families all around the world because of the connections I made with them! This was the best way to literally dive into the culture and live in it. It provides much more learning and experience than any other form of accommodation.

How rad…!

Read more about My Experience Staying With 35 Host Families In One Year

Performing With 100 People From 20 Countries

Imagine turning on the news channel right now.

How likely do you think you would hear something positive and uplifting?

Not likely, huh?

Well, Up With People has always had a goal to change that. We follow our mission and for over 50 years now, the program has put on a professional show spreading peace and happiness everywhere that they go.

This program tries to be the good news to look forward to in your town!

I absolutely love the production and goal of the performing part of the program. The show itself can be almost “life-changing” because of the message we are trying to get across. Up with People spreads hope that we can put an end to any type of violence, disagreement or issue at all. We fight for an equal world where we can all accept one another and get along.

I mean, its not very often that I watch a show where there are 100 people from 20 countries. Staring at a group with all different traditions, religions, beliefs, cultures, etc. singing towards the same goal. It is breathtaking!

Being on a tour throughout such a variety of different places around the world was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. We had the opportunity to perform in huge, beautiful auditoriums and then a week later we would be performing in a small, sweaty high school gymnasium. As a group, this really taught us to be adaptable to certain settings and audiences.

We put on at least one show at the end of the week, but sometimes we did up to four!

Performing is a large part of this program and it is what makes this unique. Not many travels abroad groups offer to perform on a world tour!!

Impacting With 100 People From 20 Countries

Last but definitely not least, making an impact was a major part of the program. Over 1000 volunteer hours were done each week between all 100 people that traveled together. What we did each week was particularly set on what that specific city requested and needed help with.

There were so many opportunities that began to show up out of helping others. I got the chance to feed the homeless, paint many places, plant hundreds of plants, and I even got to sing about refugees in a refugee home!

Speaking with the youth is one part of volunteering that we really focused on throughout my travels. We would do different classroom activities, sharing and teaching about our cultures. Also, we did different activities and games to get their opinion and feelings of certain issues in the world today.

I enjoyed leaving a little mark and a small difference everywhere that I have traveled to. It made this program and trip so much more unique and special.

My thoughts for when I traveled and now

Touring with this program was unbelievable and still, I love and support it so much. Up With People has been life-changing for me. I learned much more than all four years of sitting in a classroom in my high school years.

It actually provided me with real-life experiences that I could learn from and see with my own eyes, which made it much more interesting! So much knowledge that I can use forever was gained from this experience.

Here are just three out of a thousand ways that I have grown.

-I became much more flexible in certain situations. Living in a new family each week with new roommates helped me be able to adapt to them and their style of living.

-Becoming more open-minded was another big feature that I gained. I already was pretty accepting, but this program really opened my eyes to see things in other perspectives.

-Up with People taught me to fight for what I believe in even if not many others believe in it. To have big goals and keep reaching for them no matter how many people doubt you.

There are also so many bonuses and exciting opportunities in this program. I gotta add in that studying abroad is also an option!

Only 13 of us took classes on my tour but I am very glad that I decided to do it. I learned a lot and the classes were only on one full day of the week. They were much more fun than sitting in a classroom!

Traveling with this group has been a blessing to me and I am so happy and proud to be a part of this program.

Even though it has been around for over 50 years, I don’t think it is known well enough. I will continue to spread awareness about how this program changed my life and can change others. Even if they don’t join, but just by encountering the program.

The world needs more positive people spreading peace. Don’t forget that mindset is key!

I hope you enjoyed my travel story and I would absolutely love to hear any questions and/or comments below!

Don’t hesitate to check out Up with People’s Website or personally contact me if needed!

Have you ever traveled with a group? Is that something you would be interested in?

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