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. In response to growing interest, VT2T (through Sweet Mango Tours) has come up with some unique Low-Budget, Low-Impact Adult and Family Trips to Northeast Thailand:
Central Vermont “Grown-Up” Tour – Designed for adventurous travelers who seek true cultural immersion, with an emphasis on food, culture, environment and the arts (~$3,200 includes airfare from BTV or NYC) (date to be determined by interested parties…sometime between September 15 and December 15, ’08…how about over Thanksgiving? Let me know your preference.)
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)
Or…For Young People interested in Gross National Happiness – Apparently, sometime in 2009, somewhere in France, the fourth International Conference on Gross National Happiness is going to be held. GNH is a concept offered by the King of Bhutan that challenges the traditional economic and material-centered tool, Gross National Product for measuring development. Interest in GNH is growing and now is an exciting time to help define and measure it. Youth are encouraged to attend the conference and participate in a special seminar before the event. Let me know of your interest and we’ll keep you posted about the details.
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
Please enjoy yourself as you peruse this site. It explains much of what's involved in pulling off an effective and meaningful travel project. This kind of travel involves much more than picking a destination and buying a plane ticket. Many VT2T travelers are seeking something indefinable, and say that their experience was life-altering. This site invites you to support their curiosity and adventurousness.
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 VT2T creator, Linda Wheatley, visit her Weblog: http://sweetmango.typepad.com/weblog