Travel Awards news

Declan Burgess is a fifth year student at Cashel Community School, Co. Tipperary and he is on his way to Vermont, USA as a part of the EIL Travel Awards. In his busy schedule he still managed to meet with the journalist from the local paper Tipperary Star to give this great interview. 

TA winner Declan Burgess

We had a Transition Year student, Courtney, on work experience in PR and Marketing last week. Rather than having her running around, making tea and going on sandwich runs - we decided that we best throw her in the deep end to conduct an interview with one of our past winners, Orlaith - who visited the Suwa region in Japan in 2011 with the EIL Travel Awards.

TA Winner Japan

In 2011 Damien Thomson, from Firhouse, Dublin 24, embarked on a life-changing journey after winning the Travel Award to Ecuador.

The EIL Travel Awards has proven to be life-changing for previous winners. Have a look at some of what they had to say about their experiences.

Travel isn't just for college students and volunteers. EIL offers exclusive travel awards for people between the ages of 16 and 18, and it's unlike any school trip or summercamp you've ever heard of.

The EIL Travel Awards are now open for 2013! Get your applications in for the opportunity to win a fully-funded trip to Japan, Thailand, Ecuador and a host of other locations.

Hi there!

I'm just back in Dublin from the 2-months volunteer experience in Mexico, and after the flight from Mexico City to New Wark & New Wark to Dublin, still jet-lagged and not realising really that it has ended. I just know it was extra-ordinary in every sense of the word, and how much it meant it will 'sink in' only after some time.

For anyone who is interested to join in a volunteer activity like this, the following is a short summary abut the areas I volunteered.

Today is my last day in Mexico. I leave at 9 o´clock tomorrow morning, but part of my heart will stay in this place. I´ve fallen in love with everything here, the wonderful people, the scents, the sounds, the street vendors, the crazy metro rides, the BC taxis, the tamales, the work I´ve done, the family I´ve created. I am not a different person from the girl who arrived here two months ago. I feel like my friends and family won´t recognise me when I get back home. But, the change has happened on the inside, my thoughts, my way of perceiving the world, my world. All of it for the better.

I'm having a really tough time writing this blog post. It's my last blog post and I really am stuck for what to say. Japan was amazing. Simple as!!

I cried leaving my host families, like a baby! I am usually much better at leaving people and saying goodbyes but it was so difficult to leave my host families because they did so much for me and I got so close to them. I loved them and they made every single day in Japan a great one.