Hands-on ways to deepen your immersion. Our 9 Program Components are the building blocks of every trip we offer. Each program blends a diverse range of activities and themes that help you immerse yourself and meaningfully connect with your surroundings. The program components are a great way to find a trip that best fits your individual interests. No prior experience is needed.
Independent Study Project
Get paired with a local mentor and dive into a question, craft, or cultural tradition of interest. The ISP is a great way to individually pursue your passions on your program. Past projects have focused on traditional weaving, Ayurvedic medicine, martial arts, and spearfishing to name a few, all enriched by a one-on-one apprenticeship.
Religious & Spiritual Traditions
Spiritual beliefs can give meaning to daily reality. Instructors help students explore local belief systems while living with their homstay families, visiting religious monuments, and observing local rituals. Our programs give firsthand introductions to practices such as Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, or other religious contexts.
Homestay
Tajik yurts, Bedouin tents, or Taiwanese apartments, every homestay is a uniquely immersive experience. Homestays welcome students into their homes as part of the family allowing for fast and lasting connections. Though students are often nervous for this part of the experience, we’re told this is the highlight of our programs.
Language Study
All programs include varied levels of language learning. Students do not need to arrive with any level of language experience—there’s no expectation to know Hindi, Spanish, or Mandarin. The fun is in trying out your new vocabulary.
Focus of Inquiry
Each of our programs are thoughtfully and intentionally built around a set of regional themes exploring pertinent topics such as the impacts of climate change, cultural survival, or the dynamics of grassroots activism. We dive into the focus of inquiry experientially by hosting guest speakers, visiting local events, and engaging in lively group discussions.
Learning Service
Our learning-centered approach to service helps ensure that community engagement is truly positive for all those involved. We listen, assess, act, and then evaluate: a framework that can be applied to successful learning service ventures in the future. We believe in having the humility to listen and learn first, and to act second.
Social & Environmental Justice
What variables contribute to quality of life? How does privilege shape our sense of global responsibility? What is our social and environmental impact on the world? These questions are central to conversations about equity and justice. Instructors introduce students to local activists and community members dedicated to these issues.
Trekking
From mellow day hikes to epic mountain ascents, trekking and wilderness exploration varies on each program. Hiking between remote villages, traversing alongside the Mekong River, or trekking through different ecological zones gives students the opportunity to explore nature and learn about pressing environmental issues firsthand.
Rugged Travel
We respect cultural norms by staying in family-owned accommodations, practicing low impact travel, and piling into tuk-tuks, train cars, and camionetas—side-by-side with the local community. Slow and locally inspired travel gives students room to really sink in and experience where they are, engaging in daily life as travelers, not tourists.
Living with a local family is a key component of most program experiences, and students often have the opportunity to live with 1-3 families over the course of their program depending on location and length. During this time, students practice communication skills (verbal and nonverbal) and join in the family’s daily routine, from cooking and eating to fishing and shopping. The group continues to meet for structured activities during the homestay period as well. For more on how we operate homestays, see this blog entry.
Homestay families are selected based on a checklist of safety standards; many have hosted students for many years. Participants are usually placed in homestays individually, but live near one another so they can build meaningful connections within both the host community and the group. Many students report the homestay as the most transformative portion of their program. Don’t just take it from us–the Yak board includes many reflections on the homestay experience, including these Yak Posts from Senegal, Nepal, Morocco, and China.
