By Maike van de Pavoordt
Time is flying by, with only two and a half weeks left before summer break begins. Soon, students will find themselves facing nine weeks of freedom. But what exactly will they do with all that free time? Most will spend it with another week of beach photos, a few predictable outings with friends, or simply returning home to the same old routine.
Yet, some choose a different path, one with even more adventure. From hitchhiking across East Africa to supporting rehabilitation efforts in Sri Lanka, these journeys offer more than just stories. Now, with another summer just around the corner, their travels might just be the spark that inspires you to rethink your own.
Hitchhiking in East Africa
For many, turning a plan into reality can be difficult, but not for Vyaan Shad (second-year Social Science major) and his friend. As they looked ahead and felt the years racing by, Shad suggested to his friend that he cancel his trip with his girlfriend and instead embark on an adventurous journey with him. After considering Asia and South America, they chose Africa as a destination for its greater challenge. They saw this as a unique opportunity they might not get with others by their side, or, as Shad says “something that might not be so accessible with different people”.
Inspired by The Alchemist, where a young shepherd named Santiago travels from Spain to Egypt to discover his true purpose in life, they chose to hitchhike. However, as the northern part of Africa is not the safest to travel through, they set their sights on East Africa instead. Starting in Nairobi, Kenya, they plan to set-off all the way down to Cape Town, South Africa, in just over six weeks. Although the trip will depend on where destiny takes them, Shad is set on one landmark: Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. After working as a rafting instructor in Norway and Austria last summer, he considers it a must-see. “Everyone was always talking about Victoria Falls,” Shad explains.
Aside from a few short rides, Shad has no major hitchhiking experience. Rather than being afraid of the challenges they might face, Shad is eager “to understand the world and different communities better”. Shad has family in both Kenya and Uganda, and has visited the region before. But this time he wants to experience it in a completely different, more first-hand way.
Shad wouldn’t necessarily recommend a journey like this to people still undecided about their summer plans. In fact, he wouldn’t suggest it to any particular type of person. For him, it all depends on the kind of experience you’re looking for. “To know what you want to do for summer,” Shad advises, “write down what you want to get out of it.”
Volunteering on a Farm in Tanzania
While their journey also leads them to East Africa, Ana Valdez (first-year Social Science major) and Natalie Hankins (first-year Science major) are heading down a very different path. After Hankins came over for dinner early in their friendship, she told Valdez that she wanted to go to Mongolia: “[I wanted to go] so bad, but I did not have people to come with me and did not want to go alone.” Valdez immediately volunteered to be her travel partner, and together they began exploring volunteering opportunities through Workaway, an international platform that connects travelers with hosts for work-exchange experiences. After extensive research on the site, however, none of the options in Mongolia felt like the right fit. Instead, everything pointed to Tanzania.
For a full month, Valdez and Hankins will volunteer at two different organic and sustainable farms in Tanzania. The first, located near Lake Victoria in a small town, focuses on beekeeping. The second, farther south near one of the national parks, is almost entirely self-sufficient. Five days a week, for about five hours a day, the two won’t just help with farming, they will also lend a hand around the house to ease the daily load of the farmers. Valdez has some farming experience, coming from a family of farmers, yet this volunteering experience will be a first for both, involving more responsibility and physical labour. Valdez and Hankins hope to learn a lot about sustainable farming and where food comes from, with Hankins especially eager: “This is part of what I want to study here [at AUC], so I have been really hoping to gain a lot of practical knowledge”.
Both agree the experience will push them far outside their comfort zones: Valdez emphasises that “we have never volunteered before, never travelled so far away for so long.” Considering this is the first big adventure they will go on together, Valdez says “If one of us feels strongly about something while travelling, we will be able to listen to each other.” Their advice for people who want to do something similar? “Go for it, but go for it with someone you trust.”, Hankins points out.
This summer may be too short notice for volunteering, according to Valdez and Hankins. With planning for the trip starting back in January, it is the perfect moment to start thinking ahead. The friends will embark on their first journey with Colombia already in mind as their next destination. Although there will be occasional excursions outside of the farms, “the point is to be there, and just to absorb as much as we can from the places we are staying.” After four weeks of hard work, the friends will head to Zanzibar, where they will recharge by the beach before returning to Amsterdam.
Biking and Wild Camping in Scotland
Twan Balk (first-year Social Science major) is also spending his summer break pushing his physical limits. He and a group of friends, including fellow AUC student Tommie Steenwinkel, are departing on a month-long cycling trip. After taking the ferry to Newcastle, they will make their way north into Scotland, an ideal destination for them, as wild camping is allowed. According to Balk, this gives them precisely what they are looking for: “We want to have the freedom to just do whatever we feel like doing in that moment.”
To state that Balk is familiar with cycling trips would be an understatement. As a nine-year-old, he and his family went on a year-long cycling tour in Asia, which made him fall in love with biking adventures. This summer will be a reunion, as the group previously cycled from the north of Norway to Barcelona in about three months. Since then, two years have passed, making Balk not only curious to see the changes in his friend group but also within himself. This first year at AUC has given Balk a lot of insight, and the time on the bike will allow him to analyse whether his old cycling identity and new AUC identity will clash or influence each other in any way.
”You have to deal with problems that come up,” Balk says. ”You experience a lot of different aspects of life that we sometimes do not really experience because we have the comfort of our home.” He is still seeking to push his boundaries, aiming for a sense of accomplishment that comes after a long day on the bike. Balk genuinely enjoys the cycling itself, but it is the small moments and the people he meets along the way that will make this experience truly special for him.
Balk advises those who want to pursue something similar to start easy with a short trip of around five days, cycling from 30 to 50 kilometres daily. Depending on the circumstances, Balk and his group plan to cycle around 100 kilometres each day, fully prepared and equipped with foldable solar panels to power devices. While camping is essential for Balk’s experience of touring by bicycle, he advises starters who want to save some effort to go for a hostel or hotel: “Do not hesitate to make it a bit more comfortable for yourself,” Balk says.
If biking this summer is not for you, but you do have recommendations for routes or sights in Scotland, or want to follow along on Balk’s bike ride with his friends, check them out on Instagram at @wildingwheelers.
Volunteering in a Rehabilitation Centre in Sri Lanka
Irene Pinato (first-year Social Science major) is about to set off on a six-week journey to Sri Lanka, where she will volunteer at a drug rehabilitation centre. In a small village about an hour away from the capital, Colombo, she and three other volunteers will help prepare 40 patients for reintegration into society. Working nine to five, five days a week, Pinato’s days will be filled with a wide range of activities: supporting staff as a therapist-in-training, participating in group sessions, and leading yoga and artistic practices. Even taking part in prevention workshops, including school sessions focused on addiction awareness, will be a part of her schedule.
Pinato saw that many people around her were making plans for the two months of summer break, so she started looking for opportunities herself. Nothing felt like the right fit until she saw a message in one of the AUC group chats recommending “The Health Project”. This project is led by AIESEC, which is a large student-led organisation supporting young people who want to contribute to a more responsible and healthier world.
Pinato, who is focusing on psychology at AUC, saw this opportunity as a way to combine her academic interests with the chance to immerse herself in a new country. In line with this, she hopes to build hard skills in clinical psychology and gain a deeper understanding of how therapeutic relationships work. Pinato is curious to see “how different cultures might approach problems in different ways” and how her “cultural assumptions of how to deal with people are going to be confronted with the fact that the people there might not be used to dealing with or talking to others the same [way],” as this is her first time going outside of Europe.
Aside from her volunteering work, Pinato is looking forward to going on small trips and enjoying the Sri Lankan culture and landscape. The whole experience, she expects, will bring her further personal growth, such as becoming more open and letting go of expectations. She feels lucky to have found this opportunity, but emphasises that it did not come quickly: “It takes time to find something that really feels like a [good] match,” she says. Her advice? Do not settle for the first thing that comes your way. Even if your field seems hard to break into, there are meaningful ways to gain insight if you want to volunteer. Most importantly, choose something that feels right to you, not just what everyone else is doing.
So, what should a perfect summer look like? As these students have shown through their diverse journeys, the answer is deeply personal. Each journey is not just a trip, but an opportunity for self-improvement, cultural understanding, skill-building, and pushing beyond comfort zones. From volunteering on sustainable farms in Tanzania to cycling wild and free through the Scottish countryside, these students deliberately chose paths aligned with their goals and reflected on what they hoped to gain. Their stories are here to broaden your perspective of what is possible and to show what might happen when you step beyond the familiar.
The Herring 