Cultural Immersion:
Creating Connections across Borders
We travel to explore, to broaden our horizons and to immerse ourselves in new and different worlds. Cultural immersion is a deep dive into the people, place, and pace of life of a new country.
Culturally immersive travel is much more than a tour. For the open-minded, curious student it is an opportunity to connect on a meaningful level with others and contextualize the world we live in.
Becoming involved in another culture challenges students to expand their world view, while developing empathy for other cultures and people and is therefore essential to a holistic education.
Cultural Immersion on our Irish Programs: Community Connection
Students on our Gap Year Programs in Ireland will become part of our tightly-knit community, living and volunteering with locals in the small Irish town of Bundoran, County Donegal. Welcoming our students into the fold of daily life is a wonderful way to share the culture, history and current events of Ireland in an experiential way that very few visitors get to experience.
There’s no better way to experience a country than to live among its people for several months and our Gap Year Programs in Ireland offer just that.
On our expeditions around Ireland, students will set off for days at a time with their cohort and program leaders, traveling to Ireland’s world-famous heritage sites, cities, national parks and lesser-known gems offering a broader context of Irish culture and history.
Cultural Exchange on our European Programs: Creating Connection
The meaningful exchange of ideas, sharing of backgrounds and creating connections across borders is at the heart of our Gap Year Programming in Europe.
Through this exchange students will inevitably inspect their own cultural identity, expand their worldview and come away with a deeper knowledge of both themselves and European culture.
One of the main goals of our European Programs is to emphasize the importance of the human connection by getting to know the locals as we travel. Irish Gap Year has long-standing relationships with a range of unique and interesting people from each of our destinations who are happy to welcome us and share their knowledge with our students.
As we make our way across Europe, students will learn to appreciate the art of immersive travel by train and ferry allowing them to drop into the day-to-day life of locals as they make their way about their daily business. Public transportation in a foreign country is an excellent way to authentically explore another culture.
Cultural Exploration on our European Programs means taking the time to connect deeply with your journey, your fellow travellers and to look within. It means stepping off the beaten track and into the homes and lives of the locals, it is about creating connection.
