Teen Travel Blog

Want to know about him? We’ve got the scoop on this ARCC Leader!

• Name: Nolan Wildfire
• Age: 25
• Schools attended & Degree: Elon University- Education, University of Tennessee: Higher Education
• Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA                                                                             
• What ARCC trips have you led: Alaska, Ecuador/Galapagos
• What ARCC trip did you go on/would you go on if you were a student? Alaska is life changing! Go there now!
• If you could meet anyone (living or dead) who would it be? Frank Sinatra
• Mountains or Beach? Mountains
• Item you would bring on survivor? Bear Grylls
• Essential travel item? Dr. Brommers Soap
• Favorite piece of clothing? Vibram 5 Fingers
• Sport you played in High School? Volleyball, Cross Country, Basketball
• Favorite Book? Where the Old Fern Grows
• What song would you sing on American Idol? Build me a Buttercup
• What would the title of your biography be? Cheese, Wedgies and the Finer Things In Life
• Favorite condiment? Heinz Ketchup
• What did you dislike about yourself when you were young and now love? Long Legs- I looked gangly
• What food could you eat for the rest of your life? Colby Cheese
• What is your best summer memory? Snorkling with seals in the Galapagos
• Longest you have been without a shower? 3 weeks, STANKY!
• What is one thing that you wish you knew when you were in High School? Girls are trouble!
• What was your first job? lifeguard
• If you had to move to another country, where would you move? Chile

Another of our 2011 ARCC Leaders, Toby Cohen, shares some fun factoids!

• Name: Toby Cohen
• Age: 25
• Schools attended & Degree: The Colorado College-BA History/Poli-Sci Minor: Education
• Hometown: Andover, MA
• What ARCC trips have you led: Africa Service, Costa Rica Service, Turkey/Greece Service
• What ARCC trip did you go on/would you go on if you were a student? Thailand
• If you could meet anyone (living or dead) who would it be? MLK Jr.
• Mountains or Beach? Mountains
• Item you would bring on survivor? iPod Shuffle
• Essential travel item? Baby Wipes
• Favorite piece of clothing? Boat Shoes
• Sport you played in High School? Hockey+ Lacrosse
• Favorite Book? Choke
• What song would you sing on American Idol? Mr. Big- Just to be the next to be with you
• What would the title of your biography be? I’m comfortable if you are.
• Favorite condiment? BBQ Sauce
• What did you dislike about yourself when you were young and now love? My smile
• What food could you eat for the rest of your life? Skittles
• What is your best summer memory? Summer Camp at Camp Young Judea
• Longest you have been without a shower? 3 weeks
• What is one thing that you wish you knew when you were in High School? That it goes by fast!
• What was your first job? Camp Councelor
• If you had to move to another country, where would you move? Barcelona, Spain

Learn more about ARCC Leader Andrea Holm!

• Name: Andrea Holm
• Age: 31
• Schools attended & Degree: University of Navarra- Masters of Education, University of Iowa- BS in Recreation Administration
• Hometown:  Bloomington, MN                                                                     
• What ARCC trips have you led: Blue Water Virgin Islands, Costa Rica Multisport, Cost Rica Service 2 week, Costa Rica Service 3 week
• What ARCC trip did you go on/would you go on if you were a student? Africa Global Action Wildlife Studies
• If you could meet anyone (living or dead) who would it be? Michael Jackson
• Mountains or Beach? Beach
• Item you would bring on survivor? Tooth brush
• Essential travel item? Tooth brush and an ability to adapt
• Favorite piece of clothing? Every zip up hoody I own
• Sport you played in High School? Track and field (400m), Ski Team, Cross Country Running, Soccer
• Favorite Book? Revolutionary Rd
• What song would you sing on American Idol? I can’t sing at all. But maybe “I Think Were alone now” by Tiffany
• What would the title of your biography be? One day I will be a wise old lady!
• Favorite condiment?  Dijon Mustard
• What did you dislike about yourself when you were young and now love?  Gangliness maybe? Being so tall
• What food could you eat for the rest of your life? Grapefruit, cottage cheese
• What is your best summer memory? As a kid- camping with my family in Northern, MN
• Longest you have been without a shower? 1 week
• What is one thing that you wish you knew when you were in High School? That High School is not the best days of your life as people sometimes say! It gets so much better!
• What was your first job?  Dairy Queen
• If you had to move to another country, where would you move? Mexico

Here in the ARCC office it is officially SUMMER! We may go by a different schedule than the rest of the world. Yesterday we welcomed three of our leaders who are leaving for China, TODAY.

Seasoned leaders, Sophia W, David M, and Pete R, spent all day getting equipment, making journals, going over all the details of their upcoming trip with Pacific Ridge to China. The three will fly to China today and meet up with Max C. who will also be leading our first summer trip. The group will have one week to further prepare before meeting the Pac Ridge students and teachers!

Goodbye to our China leaders and Hello to SUMMER!

Well the journey is quickly coming to a close – we are have the next two nights in Beijing and have realized that it is not nearly enough time to see and do all that the city has to offer.  Our plan is to do what the ARCC students do in 2.5 days in about half that time – I think we can do it.  We’ll be on a whirlwind tour of Beijing – seeing the parks and Tiananmen square in the early hours (hope to catch the flag raising) the spend the day at the Great Wall and the rest of the time checking out the hotels/restaurants for the groups.  Will be a busy schedule but then we have a 12 hour flight to sleep on!

Here are some pictures from our time in Shangri-La and Tibet….stories to follow when there is more time.  I am not usually a plane photo-taker, but the views flying to/from Lhasa were incredible….as you can see.

It’s true when they say the food in China is not the same as Chinese food that we are used to eating in the US.  I admittedly was nervous about this before heading over to China, as I am one who really enjoys food and did not really know what to expect – all of those concerns were quickly laid to rest as I have had some amazing food all over China. A few highlights include:

• Steamed dumplings for breakfast – filled with veggies and egg…. like a breakfast burrito but Chinese style, yum!
• Just about every type of vegetable dish you can imagine – spicy shitake mushrooms with eggplant, tofu with tomato, egg with tomato, spicy snow peas
• Fried rice – one of my favorites in the states…is way better here!
• Fresh Walnut bread (sort of like a Dunkin Donut munchkin with a walnut inside)
• Lots of pickled vegetables – they are super healthy (good for digestion) and people here eat them with most meals

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The journey to Zhaoxing from Chengyang Dong was an incredible drive through the mountains  – passing villages so small that if I had even closed my eyes for a moment I would not have known that we passed by another one.   Despite it seeming like we were in a place where few people lived, there were always people working in the fields each time I looked out the window – if not working they were walking to work, carrying buckets of water, bundles of freshly harvested vegetables and a metal tool with which they do their work.  Often the heavy loads were precariously balancing on a large pole over their shoulder.  The work ethic here is strong and even in the rainy conditions people were outside doing the day’s work – which also seemed to involve a long walk from their village. Read the rest of this entry »

In Chengyang Dong I got my first glimpse at what life as a celebrity must be like, more on that in a moment.  Michael and I spent the early part of the afternoon walking around and exploring the villages surrounding his home village – there are 8 different villages that make up the area where he lives.  Each village has about 1000 people living in it and all of the people are from the Dong Minority – I noticed Michael talking with the other villagers in a different type of tone and assumed that it was a dialect to the region, however I was then informed that it is actually an entire different language  – called Dong language, Michael speaks this, Mandarin and English! 

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One of our ARCC staffers, Ellery, is off on an adventure in China.  She reports in for us below!

I have made it out of the hectic Chinese cities and into the countryside – it is beautiful!  Our day started out with a 4 hour drive from Guilin (I had flown there last night from Shanghai) to Chengyang Dong – the home village of our local guide Michael.  Michael is great – he is filled with knowledge about China and especially his home province Guangxi.  The drive through the mountains was incredible – with terraced rice fields abound – the fog settling over the hills made it similar to the postcard you always imagine from this rice farming part of the world. I have learned a few things about rice so far in my travels.

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Spring is on its way, and for many, high school graduation is right around the corner.  Most graduates are preparing for college but others are following a different path.  A “GAP” year is an increasingly popular way for students to gain valuable real-world experiences between between high school and college.  As a leader in student travel, Adventures Cross-Country (ARCC) today announced its newest programs, GAP Semesters in Africa and Asia.

A common practice in other countries for years, the GAP concept is now finding popularity in the United States.  A recent survey of 300,000 freshmen at four-year colleges revealed that 1.2 percent waited a year to enter college, according to the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles. Read the rest of this entry »