You Never Know Where Life Will Take You

Meet Jessica, one of United Planet’s trusted International Programs Coordinators. With her extensive experience traveling and working all around the world and her warm personality, volunteers always feel safe and supported on their Quests.  Below, she gives us a peek of her adventurous life and inspires us to embrace spontaneity: “You never know where life will take you.”

Meet Jessica

Working at United Planet and speaking with people who are about to embark on their life altering journeys is an amazing experience.  As one of the International Program Coordinators at United Planet, I get to talk to prospective volunteers who remind me of myself, before I got hit with the “travel bug.”

It’s an amazing experience to be able to reflect on how I felt the first time I left the comforts of home and the lessons learned along the way. When I was 19 (almost 13 Years ago – yikes) I worked in Spain for a summer (my parents didn’t want me to drop out of college and become a global nomad quite yet). As soon as I stepped off that plane in Madrid, my life changed forever. It was like a scene you see in a movie- the crowds parted at the airport and there she was, my host mother Yolanda holding a picture of me.  Yolanda was a woman who worked in the office I would be working at and lived with her husband Paul and their 4 year old daughter Itziar.

I remember that first day of them picking me up, going to their “flat” to take a nap and them asking me if I wanted to go meet their family for a drink.  I said of course, thinking it was her brother and maybe her parents. When we arrived, I was in shock- apparently their whole family (Grandparents, Parents, Cousins, Aunts and Uncles) got together each week.  As soon as I sat down, 30 people started speaking in rapid Spanish to me, and I remember feeling so out of my comfort zone but loving every moment of it. I spent that summer working in an office, exploring Madrid and being immersed in the Spanish culture. I mistakenly ate pig’s feet at a tapas restaurant, attempted to learned how to salsa dance, and mispronounced my Spanish vocabulary.

Birthday in Tanzania

Since eating those delicious pig’s feet that first summer in Madrid, I studied for a semester and worked at a camp in southern Spain. I traveled to Italy, France and Thailand. I have spent the last 8 years getting paid to work throughout the US, Canada, Scotland and Tanzania and meet people from different cultures. Who would have thought that could happen, right?

This past summer I had the pleasure of working in Tanzania, a country in Southeast Africa.  To be honest, I had no idea what to expect when I arrived.  What I experienced over the few months of working there was amazing.  People in Tanzania have a passion, thirst for knowledge, and a sense of pride for their country that was incredible.  Their desire to welcome you and share bits of their culture, was one of those special things.  I spent my birthday in Tanzania looking at elephants during the day and spent nights with my hotel staff doing a conga line around the dining room, singing traditional African songs. I had conversations with one of my favorite guides about gender roles, and while I didn’t agree with what he said, I was so lucky to have those conversations. And on Christmas Eve, I ate fried termites with my guests, laughing as we looked at each other’s faces. I have never laughed harder or developed such a deeper bond with people than I did when I was in Tanzania.

So my advice to everyone who travels: Expect the unexpected, Enjoy every moment, realize it’s okay to mispronounce words, eat weird foods, attempt to dance even if your hips don’t move that fast. When you volunteer, work, or travel abroad you discover parts of yourself that you never knew existed and that in itself is a wonderful thing.  Life is truly a journey, Not a Destination.

Jessica in Tanzania

Has Jessica inspired you take plunge and explore the world? Check out our website for more information about our Volunteer Abroad Quests and Internship Abroad opportunities.  Or you can call us 1-800-292-2316 – Jessica and our other coordinators would love to chat with you!  If you are interested in internships at our Boston office, please see our current opportunities or contact team@unitedplanet.org.