Being in the middle of nowhere, with no way to contact those I left behind, created a space for growth. I found it both exhilarating and challenging—being disconnected from the world I was used to felt like flipping a coin. On one side was the thrill of living entirely in the moment, unattached to the steady ping of messages or the urgency of news. On the other side was the gnawing awareness that those I loved were still living their lives without me, and I couldn’t instantly be part of their moments or share my own. This experience, however, taught me something profound: there is beauty in this disconnection, a freedom that opens space for the unexpected and the new.
By: Cat Murphy, Ithaca College
Within five minutes of that turn, Lucy’s wheels lost traction and halted. A beast of a car, defeated by very soft, silty ground. For the entire five hours Lucy was stuck, I found a permanent smile plastered on my face. To be stuck in the mud in Botswana is where I’d choose to be over anything else.
By: Henry Hagen, St Lawrence University
Join Henry and the Patagonia Spring 2026 crew for their first backpacking trip in San Lorenzo!
By: Katie Loomis-Adams, Middlebury College
It was a misty November morning on the day that we arrived at our farm homestay outside the town Puerto Guadal. Stepping out of the Round River truck, I knew that I had landed somewhere special.
By: Stephanie Holmes, Carleton College
Seeing incredible wildlife on transects is cool, but have you ever had them wreck your camp? This was the predicament we faced in Mababe, our last concession of the semester, where baboons, hyenas, mice, and even the weather teamed up to destroy as much as they could.
By: Panya Cao, Reed College
I was apprehensive, tired, and more than a little worried about our project: two days of environmental education field trips for the fifth grade classes of Cochrane. It had only just hit me that I would be communicating with fifth grade students all day in Spanish…