Thanks for the checking out the blog for this Global Leadership Adventures program!
Here are a few things to know and expect:
- Blog posts are written by onsite program staff and/or students and sent to our Headquarters team who will post the blog on this page.
- We typically receive 2-3 blog updates per week from each program, so please don’t be alarmed if you don’t see a blog post every day – that’s totally normal.
- Blog updates received late in the evening or overnight will be posted the following day.
- Blog updates received on weekends may not be posted until Monday.
- Due to many factors such as internet accessibility, program staff aren’t always able to send photos, so some blog posts may contain text only.
Thank you for your patience and understanding, and we hope you enjoy following along on these unforgettable adventures.
For frequently asked questions about the blogs, please visit our Program Blog FAQ page.
-The Global Leadership Adventures HQ Team
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BLOG POST FOR JULY 24
Hola, Families!
Greetings from Costa Rica! Your GLA staff is checking in after an exciting first day of the program.
Today was all about welcoming students as they arrived at the airport before making the scenic drive to our first home base, Lands in Love in San Ramon. This unique, completely vegan hotel is also home to an incredible animal sanctuary, making it the perfect place to kick off our adventure.
After settling in, everyone enjoyed a delicious dinner followed by a slice of rich chocolate cake, a sweet way to celebrate the beginning of the journey! We wrapped up the evening with an introduction circle, where students had the chance to start getting to know one another and learn about what to expect in the days ahead.
With full bellies, new friendships beginning to form, and excitement for what’s to come, everyone is heading to bed to get some well-earned rest before tomorrow’s adventures begin.
We can’t wait to share more with you as the program continues. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s update!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 25
Hello, Families!
Your GLA staff is checking in after another wonderful day here in Costa Rica!
Today was our first full day at Lands in Love, and it was filled with learning, laughter, and the beginning of many new friendships. After a delicious breakfast, we kicked off the day with our program orientation. During this time, we reviewed the expectations for the program and, as a group, created a set of community agreements that will guide us throughout our journey together.
One agreement that truly resonated with everyone was to “get comfortable being uncomfortable.” As students step outside of their comfort zones over the next few weeks, they’ll have countless opportunities to grow, challenge themselves, and support one another.
Following orientation and lunch, we played a fun icebreaker game to help everyone learn each other’s names. By the end of the activity, we were impressed with how quickly the group had connected. It won’t be long before everyone knows each other!
After dinner, we had the privilege of hearing from a local guest speaker who shared insights into Costa Rican culture, traditions, and daily life. Students learned about the meaning behind the country’s famous phrase, “Pura Vida,” and how it reflects a way of life centered on gratitude, simplicity, and finding joy in everyday moments.
As the day came to a close, the excitement continued to build for all of the adventures, service, and cultural experiences still to come. We can’t wait to share more with you tomorrow. Until then, Pura Vida!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 26
Hello everybody,
Today was an amazing and eventful day 7/26/26! Today everyone had a big day! Including our first official service group in the morning. The group was split up into four groups. A horse service group, a chicken and bunny and hamster service group, a cat service group, and a dog service group. After the service group sessions we all ate a very yummy lunch including chips and pasta and salad! After our lunch we all took a brief moment to collect ourselves before we headed from our hotel to the local community to compete in a local fútbol game and explore their supermarket. Many kids got fun snacks and treats, unfortunately we lost the game but not in spirit! From the players to the sideline cheerleaders. With high spirits we left tired and ready for a rest. After the rest we cleaned our selves up everyone headed to a special nightly meeting called a chow circle! And Lovely, Makena, and Kaitlyn nominated our new daily leaders. Jane, Rowan, and Leenez.
BLOG POST FOR JULY 27
What’s up divas! There’s nothing more iconic than doing service for cute animals in need. The theme for this morning was to inspire and embrace the diva energy throughout our activities.
Early in the morning we got started with our usual services, which was dogs, cats, horses and chickens. It is mostly just pooping picking, cleaning, and walking it’s all worth while when we actively see how it benefits the animals. While it’s hard doing manual labor for a few hours, it’s very rewarding when we get to sit down and enjoy our food for lunch. Who knew vegan spaghetti would hit so hard after hours of sweating. Thankfully after lunch we got to rest in our rooms before we headed off for cooking!
Not only did Diva day bring skills on the dance floor, in the kennels, and in the chicken coops, but the divas today also brought their aprons to an extremely special cooking class taught by Costa Rica’s very best locals! Together we not only brought teamwork and laughter, but we also brought some empanadas and home made tortillas… (and some questionable student chef skills). We may not be masters with the dough, we most definitely cooked up some great laughs and unforgettable memories.
Our divas really showed up and served for our dance lessons today! We all started practicing dancing salsa, bachata, then cumbia. We got our groove on and mastered it of course! The sassiest part was getting four leaders and grabbing a group of us to make up our own diva dance…DUH! In all seriousness we had a blast and would definitely do it again. Anyways the diva’s are tired sooo peace out diva’s!
Leaders of the day,
Rowan, Jane & Leenez
BLOG POST FOR JULY 28
Hello Families,
Today we started off on an amazing note by using a deck of cards to decide our seating arrangement at breakfast as a change of scenery and to mix things up. It’s important to continue getting to know everyone and this was a fun way to do it! With fuel to get through the morning we got on the bus to take a beautiful bus ride to La Fortuna for our day of Chocolate and fun slides.
After a long and windy bus ride we arrived at the chocolate tour in La Fortuna. Our amazing and corny tour guide Roberto explained the very rich history of chocolate dating back to the mayans ceremonial practices of making xocolātl. The tour was so immersive since we got to try the chocolate at each step from the plant to the fruit to the seeds to the nibs the paste and finally finally CHOCOLATE. And on yet another bus ride we went!
From there , we headed to a buffet-style lunch at a resort about 15 minutes away. It was all you can eat and was super good. Then the resort had natural hot springs and exciting waterslides, definitely a fan favorite. While heading home, we saw some monkeys. We all had so much fun and can’t wait to continue service tomorrow!
Love Ella, Madison, and Ellie!🥳🤗🤩🙌
