The Best College Alternative Breaks

Most people think of Spring Break fun, sun, parties, and the beach. But not all college students thinking of that. Many college students are wanting a deeper connection with their global community. Over the last 10 years the idea of alternative breaks have gained a strong foothold and many college students are looking for places that they can experience a new culture while leaving a positive impact. The list takes into account affordability, accessibility, community service options, and a wide range of interests.

1) Dominican Republic/ Haiti

Why travel to the DR: It's been nearly two years since the devastating earthquake hit Haiti and many of the Haitians and Dominican Republican where affected by this tragic disaster. Thousands of Haitian refugees have crossed the border into the Dominican Republic seeking relief. With little food, clean water or work opportunities, many of the people are living in squalor. Students can help with medical clinics, water filtration, food relief efforts and a variety of other aid opportunities. With Haiti's condition continually changing its hard to get in and help long term, while aid in the DR can be a continual process, because there is some stability within this country. For more info take a look at this Dominican Republic alternative break video. - Dominican Republic Video



2) Costa Rica

Why travel to CR: Costa Rica with its tropical biodiversity provides the perfect place for students to learn about tropical ecology and help restore its natural ecosystem. Some areas of study that students will explore are the zoographical distribution of floral and fauna and the complex symbiotic relationships found in the rainforest. Additionally, students can help mentor street children and girls that have been rescued from street prostitution.
Contact Appleseed Expeditions for more information on this alternative break.



3) South Florida and the Florida Keys

Why travel to Homestead and the Florida Keys: Most people are unaware or have never heard of the ghost children of South Florida. Migrant families from Mexico and Central America travel to Florida to pick the crops and make money per bushel of vegetable or fruit that they pick. Along with these families come their children and due to their highly migratory patterns, the children suffer. These children cannot stay in school very long, and fall behind due to travel and language barriers. Most of these children dropout of school before reaching the 8th grade. College students can help by mentoring, provide tutoring, and help with technology skills. This type of aid may help students stay in school and gain opportunities to break this cycle of poverty. Along with this program students can also volunteer with environmental issues in the Florida Keys, from volunteering at bird sanctuaries, sea turtle rescue centers to helping at John Pennekamp state park.

4) Guatemala

Why travel to Guatemala: This country is a land of contrasts with 40 volcanoes and up to 17 being active. It has amazing Mayan culture and history, rainforest, and breathtaking beaches. However with all this beauty it has intense poverty with almost 45% unemployment. Many of the poor are the indigenous or Mayan people who have struggled transitioning into the Spanish culture. Many of these people lack bare necessities such as clean water, food, and access to education. Alternative break groups will help these struggling people by building clinics, help with mentoring programs and provide relief in a variety of ways. Here is avideo on the Guatemala program.

5) Hawaii

Why go to Hawaii: Most people think of Hawaii as a tropical paradise with La's dancing hula girls and warm Pacific breezes. What most don't understand is that Hawaii has the largest homeless population per capita. Mahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifny islanders from Tonga, Micronesia, Samoa, and others come to Hawaii looking for work and opportunities. They come to these islands, find work but are unable to find adequate housing while being paid minimum wage. These families resort to either living in tents in the park or living in homeless shelters. College students can help by providing reading, math and technology opportunities to the children of these struggling islanders. You may feed homeless, tutor kids or provide after school mentoring to children in need. You may also volunteer with rainforest restoration projects in Oahu.

For more information on alternative breaks, please don't hesitate to contact us about planning an alternative break for you or your college. We can be reached at www.appleseedexpeditions.com or info@appleseedexpeditions.com

How to stay safe when traveling abroad on an alternative break

What safety issues should I be concerned with during my alternative break? When traveling abroad you should place yourselves in the mindset of the locals. Many people in third world countries are in desperate need of medication, food, clean water and a variety of other resources. If you have traveled to some of these countries you are aware of how the homes and businesses protect themselves from crime. They put bars on their windows, broken glass on the their roof and walls and they use fencing to keep intruders out. Most theft in third world countries is not out of violence, but rather to provide immediate relief. Therefore, many desperate people in these countries either beg or steal to try to meet some of their needs. Most of the time the people in need will look for a weakness or try to take advantage of a situation in order to steal goods or finances. I have a story of an American tourist who was briefly visiting Quito Ecuador. He spoke very little English, but he felt he knew enough to get by Alternative Break to Guatemala
Alternative Break to Guatemala
. As he arrived in Quito, he was told he had to get to second section of the airport in order to meet his secondary flight. He went to a man that was in a uniform and tried to speak what Spanish he knew. The gentleman in uniform seemed very helpful at first and told him that he would give him a ride to the second airport area. As he got in the car the American man noticed that the ride was taking much longer than he thought. After 30 minutes of driving the uniformed driver stopped by a bank atm machine, pulled out a knife and told the American to pull out as much cash as he was able to get from the cash machine. He was only able to pull out $400 dollars. The uniformed gentleman took the $400 dollars in cash and abandoned the American in a rough part of Quito. This incident and many others occur in third world countries like Ecuador, because many American's are unaware that they are making themselves look like targets. The next question you might ask is how do make myself not look like an easy theft target? There are many ways to do this, but the most important is preparation. If you are going traveling abroad try to set up a contact that will meet you at the airport once you arrive. Once you have scheduled this pickup, make sure you have all their contact information. Also, make sure that they have a sign with your name on it when you arrive. Many unscrupulous locals will look for tourists who look lost or cannot speak Spanish well. They then offer assistance and in the end either rob you or ask for finances for their assistance. You can also hire an organization like Appleseed Expeditions to set up the alternative break or travel abroad program for you. Other tips would include;

1) Don’t wear baseball caps. (This is an American thing and foreigners know it)

2) Hide your passport and money deep in your backpack Appleseed Expeditions Alternative Break group
Appleseed Expeditions Alternative Break group
. Thieves like to cut your backpack under the outer section where many tourist keep their valuables. They do this while you have your pack on your back and you are not paying attention.

3) Wear your backpack, purse, or wallet on the front of your body.

4) Do not take an unmarked taxi. Always take the yellow, red or orange taxi’s that have clear markings

5) Do not look lost coming out of the airport. Always look like you are meeting somebody or heading in some direction.

6) If you must ask a stranger a question or for directions, always ask the people working behind a booth (I.E. Money exchangers, airline people.)

7) Do not use your broken English to communicate to strangers unless they are an official for the airline or somebody working behind a desk.

8) If your contact does not show within 30 minutes at the airport, take an official taxi to your destination.

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9) Make sure you have your hotel phone number and address before you travel to a foreign country.

There are many more hints and tricks to keeping you safe while you travel. Please email us at info@appleseedexpeditions.com for more info. You can also go to www.appleseedexpeditions.com for more information on our international alternative breaks.

Medical issues while on an an alternative abroad

Many third world countries have a variety of ailments that plague not only the local citizens, but the traveling tourists as well. Our best advice with Appleseed Expeditions is to check with the CDC (Center for Disease Control) before traveling on your alternative break abroad. Some countries deal with Malaria, Dengue Fever, Hepatitis, Cholera and a variety of other diseases. We also recommend that you contact your destination countries information website. If you email them and ask them about the regions you will be traveling to within their country, they should be able to tell you if there are any current medical warnings within those zones. For instance many of our student groups that travel with Appleseed Expeditions to Costa Rica journey to the central valley, La Fortuna, and Guanacaste, but never come near the southeast section near Panama Mentoring children
Mentoring children. This SE section of Costa Rica is known to have a few cases of Malaria annually. If you contact the Costa Rica tourist information website (Costa Rica information) they will tell you that the only region for Malaria and Dengue fever concern in Costa Rica is on the far eastern side of the country. If you are traveling to a high risk region, make sure you contact your doctor and specifically ask for medication that deals with the appropriate medical hazards before traveling to your destination.



When should I take Malaria medication?

We recommend that you should check with the CDC (Center for Disease Control). This organization will instruct you on medical precautions for the country that you are traveling to. Many countries like Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador and others have occasional cases of malaria. Because of these limited number of cases the CDC recommends that you take anti-malaria medication before you travel to these nations. In saying this we recommend that you take your own precautions with taking anti-malarial medication. Our experience with Appleseed Expeditions is that only this type of medication is needed when traveling to the wet tropics. For instance when we have a group serving in the Amazon or on the wet Caribbean tropical forest side of Costa Rica, we recommend the taking this type of medication. Secondly, if you are going to take a cycle of anti-malarial pills, make sure you are done with the cycle before you travel on your international trip. From our experience we noticed that many students or travelers start taking anti-malarial pills right before going on their alternative break abroad. Because of the medication, their immune system is slightly compromised and susceptible to food born bacteria or other viruses from that specific country. We once had a group of 25 travelers and 11 people where sick with flu like symptoms from the food they had eaten in the city. We asked the group how many of them where on current anti-malarial medication. To our surprise 10 of the 11 students who where sick where taking a cycle of anti-malarial medication. The other 14 non-sick students had chosen to either not take malarial medication or had previously completed a cycle previous to coming on the trip. Our suggestion with Appleseed Expeditions is that you study your itinerary before you travel to your international destination. If you are going a low malarial case region then do not take a cycle of anti-malarial medication. However if you are traveling to a wet tropics region that has had cases of malaria within the last 6 months to a year, take the medication, but complete the cycle before traveling abroad.




Can eating the food abroad make me sick?

Yes if you do not take the appropriate precautions, eating abroad can make you sick. When traveling to third world nations, you should take certain precautions before eating the local food. From our experience over the last 20 years traveling to many third world nations with Appleseed Expeditions, we have discovered how to prevent getting sick from the food we eat while traveling abroad.


Here are a few suggestions;

1) Peel all fruit before consuming it. Bacteria can attach to the skin of many tropical fruits. Many of us have instinctively been taught to bite an apple or pear here in the United States and when a fruit looks bright fleshy and tropical, we want to eat it in the same manner. Be cautious, because as you eat the skin of the fruit you might be ingesting parasites or bacteria that will make your stomach ill.

2) Do not eat washed uncooked food. I know our first temptation would be to eat a fresh green salad made in a tropical country, but remember that these greens are usually washed in tap water. The water born bacteria or parasites can attach to the leafy greens and make your stomach ill.

3) Do not eat the street food. In many third world countries street vendors will be grilling chicken or tacos right out on the street. The smell is delightful and our first instinct is to try and taste this amazing cultural food. We have to remember that most of these street vendors do not take precautions with cleaning their hands or make efforts to keep the food fresh.

We have had groups in the past adhere to these precautions for the first part of their trip but then give into the delights of the street food. One student said he had not been sick all week and that he was going to try one of the frozen slushy drinks sold by a street vendor because they looked so amazing. He said that it would be worth he risk because of how delicious these drinks looked. He proceeded to enjoy this slushy drink and then four hours later he vomited through the night and returned home extremely dehydrated and ill.

With Appleseed Expeditions alternative break programs, we schedule restaurants for our groups that provide clean fresh food that is cooked to the highest standards. We do this so that our groups will have an enjoyable trip rather than going home and just remembering how ill they got while serving abroad.



What should I do if I get sick from the water or the food while traveling abroad?

Many people have asked me how to treat somebody once they have become ill from the food or water while traveling abroad. First of all I am not a doctor, so my recommendation comes from my personal experience not medical training. If you get sick while on an alternative break abroad you should seek medical attention from a local clinic. Most clinics in third world countries will treat you with some form of ant-bacterial medication. This medication may or may not work. Our advice after you have seen a local doctor and started your medication is to let your body take its natural course in expelling the illness. In doing so, make sure you are consuming lots of fluids, even if the fluids are being repeatedly being expelled. Your body will absorb some of the fluids that you take in. Do not take an anti-diarrheal pill unless absolutely necessary. Your body is trying to expel the bacteria or parasite on its own and clogging your intestines with this form of medication will slow the natural process and may prolong the sickness. A natural substitute that will help slow diarrhea is bananas. They coat the stomach and help with the body’s natural defense while providing much needed potassium. Once your body starts to feel better after about 24 hours, we recommend going on the BRAT diet (Bananas, Rice, Apples, and Toast). This type of diet is gentle on your intestines, coats your stomach and will help your digestion system. Try to stay on this type of diet for a minimum of 48 hours after you start to feel better.

On and Appleseed Expeditions alternative break we try to prevent these type of illnesses by training our travelers before they go on their trip abroad. Let us know if we can provide additional information to help you plan your trip. Feel free to contact us at info@appleseedexpeditions.com.