Dear Friends and Families, We received notice from staff that the BYBolivia group has successfully boarded their flight in La Paz and is headed back to the US. Just a note of gratitude for your support throughout this amazing and transformative......Read More
May 3-4 Tomorrow morning (Thursday, May 3) we leave Tiquipaya and head to Buena Vista! We arrive at night and then will spend the whole day on the 4th preparing for to trek. May 5-9 These five days/four nights will be spent in the magical Parque......Read More
The world was never ours to own, let alone exploit. Even though we’ve built permanent homes, the world is more like an apartment, the Pachamama is the landlord, and we’re the negligent tenants. Instead of paying our water bills, we continue to......Read More
On our schedule board, everyday of the week, it says “work.” The manual and basically most of the information I received disclosed that I would be doing service and becoming a volunteer. During the Princeton orientation, I also learned about how......Read More
My perception of the word travel has changed over the last three months. Travel used to be a time to get away, to experience something new that was a breath of fresh air from daily routine. No matter whether camping within a wild landscape, or......Read More
I’ve always relished any opportunity to carve my own path, to separate myself from others in an individual experience. Since starting summer camp as an adventure hungry ten year old, I’ve continually grown to see my life through a certain lense......Read More
There are things in life that you click with immediately, you try something, or do something, or meet someone and it’s easy—everything feels right. Daily transportation here in Bolivia, for me, has not been one of those things. The primary form......Read More
Hello friends and families, In just a week we will be heading into our much anticipated winter excursion. The excursion comes after a busy holiday season, and will serve as a time for us to come back together as a group. We will use this......Read More
I have completed a third of my time here in Bolivia. Just saying that feels strange. No matter what metaphor you choose to invoke in order to measure your time abroad, a third feels like a significant amount, whether it is one cookie eaten out......Read More
For my friends and family, the general sentiment around taking a gap year in Bolivia is a combination of disbelief and excitement. To them, it seems, the central components are the crazy things I’ll do: summiting mountains, becoming fluent in......Read More
Everybody and their mama knows that hiking is NOT my ideal activity. The feelings of physical exhaustion test my limits in ways that are highly uncomfortable for me. It just seems like the nature scene that should be appreciated as one hikes is......Read More
“Hey, Dad, did you eat all the cookie dough?” “No, there’s still some left.” “Where? I’ve been looking everywhere in the freezer, and it’s not there.” My Dad walks through our kitchen to look......Read More
Bolivia forces me to be present on the land, within the air, and with the people. Each time I pass a clear expanse I am reminded of the mountains’ powerful presence dividing the sky from the ground. Hiking high into these ranges, we pull the thin......Read More
A lot has changed since our arrival in Bolivia, the first, stomach-churning TRUFI ride to Coroico, and our preliminary, wholesome team-building exercises at the hostal Sol y Luna. First of all, I can eat a whole plate of Bolivian food without......Read More
So it goes: the first month of our journey has come to an end. A topic of conversation that has come up more than once in our group pertains to how our selves as high school seniors would regard this experience. “If someone told you last year......Read More
There are few scenes more powerful than those that you experience while standing on top of a mountain at 17570ft. You stand there looking out at the world, at the giant form of Wyna Potosí in the distance, at Lake Titicaca and at the other side of......Read More