Meaningful travel and service opportunities for Vermonters
Travel Opportunities for You! For several years the Montpelier to Thailand Project has been exposing young people from Montpelier Vermont to the joys and wonder of village life in Northeast Thailand. Woodstock High School’s April ‘08 journey has expanded our focus to “VT2T” (Vermont to Thailand). Stories of our returned travelers’ adventures spread and the power of our well-structured, cross-cultural immersion experience is undeniable. For Families – How about a truly different kind of holiday season this year – the one you promise yourself and your family every year? How about celebrating a simpler life with a host family in a rural Thai village on the Mekong River? We’ll be gone about two weeks. In addition to our home-stay over the traditional Christmas holiday, we’ll explore Bangkok’s temples, Chinatown and massage schools, overnight in a tiny Buddhist temple in the Isaan jungle, take a Thai cooking course, and join feisty revelers in Ubon Ratchathani for New Year’s festivities. Wouldn’t this be a powerful and memorable, less-material way to enjoy the holiday season? ($3,200 air included; $2,750 if 13 years or younger) (December 19, ‘08 to January 3, ’09 We can create your own village get-away, too. Sweet Mango Tours has a voluntour program through which you (and friends, family, etc) can spend between 3 weeks and 6 months in a rural rice-farming village in Northeast Thailand. For a pretty reasonable fee, we provide an intensive and comprehensive orientation prior to placement and your own personal language and cultural interpreter for up to the first month of your village stay. Arrival dates are available each month. See www.sweetmangotours.com for more information. We can truly put you off the map where you can absorb the best of village life and the Thai people. For more information, contact Linda Wheatley at 802.535.8383 or Linda@sweetmangotours.com
If your school or group (adults included!) would like to plan a powerful adventure, please contact the project director, Linda Wheatley through her web site: www.SweetMangoTours.com. Montpelier to Thailand has a MySpace Page - please check it out. To think about meaningful travel with V2T creator, Linda Wheatley, visit her Weblog: http://sweetmango.typepad.com/weblog | How you can help M2T5 Planning ~ Montpelier (2009) M2T4 ~ Montpelier (2008) - also our photo gallery and thoughts about our trip! W2T ~ Woodstock (2008) M2T3 ~ Montpelier (2007) M2T2 ~ Montpelier (2006) M2T1 ~ Montpelier (2005) Our FaceBook Page ~~~~~ When we first sat on their floor in their house, Marcella and I exchanged confused glances as our host family rattled off in Thai. Awkward laughter followed. But as the days went on and I acted out what I had just done, like swimming or playing soccer, they would laugh to signal they understood. I felt surrounded by this loving culture that was so excited to share their life with someone who was willing to absorb it all. I didn’t realize how deeply all these little moments touched me until the last morning as I hugged my Ma goodbye and felt her tiny body start to shake as she cried in my arms. I, of course, started sobbing, as I realized how much I actually meant to this village woman, and how much our stay impacted, not only us as a group, but the whole community. And, in tears and happiness, we drove away from our new home. Elisa Otter MHS Class of 2005 Went on to Evergreen College |
