ARCC Gap: Southeast Asia - Vietnam, Cambodia & Thailand

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.

This experience was the perfect start to my gap year. I was hesitant about what to choose as my first program/activity, and decided to apply for the Fall Gap Semester in Asia. Asia was my first choice because I had been interested in meditation and Buddhism, wanted to get lost in the language barrier, and the east vs west cultural differences. I was not disappointed! ARCC does an amazing job of balancing cultural immersion, backpacking, and service learning. I realized on this trip that I am a city person. Our days in Beijing, Hanoi, Saigon, Phnom Penh, and Bangkok were my favorite. The guides that ARCC uses have their itineraries planned very well. We did have time to explore each city on our own, going on morning runs(unforgettable and a great way to see a city) and walking through countless night markets. We also spent a fair amount of time in more rural areas where we did service projects such as constructing water filters and teaching students. What I greatly appreciated is that we got to interact with these people in a way where we call each other friends. You can't escape the reality of it all. The most striking example for me was in Meile, a village in the poorest region of China. Our guide, Alex, gave us a talk right as the school children were exiting their classes for recess. He told us how one of out every twenty of these kids would make it to high school. We then played games with the kids and had a lot of fun, but the nagging thought of limited opportunity stuck in our minds long after.
In terms of safety, it needs to be said that Asia is incredibly safe from what we saw. We felt comfortable walking in groups in night markets, or even on night runs there was little concern of any danger. It is ARCC policy to have students remain with at least one other member at all times but this was not a big deal.
The personal development I experienced on this trip had surprised me in ways I was not expecting. A piece of advice I received before going on this trip was to buy into everything, team building exercises and cultural engagement specifically. I can trace fundamental changes in myself back to specific places.
One last thing: I journaled for at least half an hour every night simply because we had so many meaningful experiences each day. The only negative is that normal life will pale in comparison once you return home. :)

This gap semester was incredible. I was paired with 11 strangers and 2 amazing leaders that have changed me in ways I can't describe. Many people ask me what my favorite part of the trip is and I literally cannot choose one. Was it the time we hiked 7 hours to the most breathtaking view I've ever seen? Or the time we spent a few days building waterfilters and then implementing them into people's homes in the poorest region of Cambodia? Maybe the time we were night swimming in the Gulf of Thai and we came across bioluminescenct plankton. I have learned so much about the world and its struggles and also how we are overcoming them. I have learned about service and how to stop "othering" people and cultures. I have always felt perfectly safe and ARCC did such a great job pairing students with each other and choosing leaders. I don't recommend you do this course, I urge you to do it. Without a doubt this was the greatest experience of my life. Saying goodbye was the one bad aspect of the trip.