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
Click here to jump down to the most recent post!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 11
The day has finally arrived for the students to come to Beachside Service Adventure!
We were so excited to see their smiling faces at the airport in Liberia. Students have been arriving and loading up onto the GLA bus to make the hour and a half drive to homebase. They are making friends and getting to know each other!
Once we arrived at homebase, students got to see their cabin and set up. They also got to spend some time with their new roommates for the week before completing health checks. It was a rainy day, so we will complete swim tests after orientation tomorrow. We spent some time playing card games and watching the World Cup quarter finals!
We finished the evening with some announcements and plans for the next day. They are excited for the adventures that await us!
Thank you for trusting us with your teens, we are excited to experience this adventure with them over the next 9 days.
Students will have busy days fostering in-person community and getting to know each other. To keep you in the loop, we’ll send regular blogs and be available as a staff support team 24/7.
Our blogs will start with myself, Kaitlyn Johnson, a mentor, and Isa Bertoli, international director, and will transition to students writing from their perspective.
¡Pura Vida!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 12
After arrivals and introductions, our Costa Rica adventure officially began with a full day focused on building community, preparing for service, and connecting with the environment around us.
The morning started with orientation, creating roommate agreements, and reviewing our community expectations, code of conduct, and leadership principles for the program. These conversations helped establish a foundation of trust, respect, and accountability that will guide us throughout our time together.
Of course, no first day would be complete without some icebreakers. Students quickly got to know one another through games and team-building activities, having fun at the pool, playing bananagrams, volleyball, Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza, and the always-popular Uno.
Meals throughout the day gave everyone a taste of local cuisine. Breakfast included eggs, rice and beans, cereal, yogurt, and fresh fruit. Lunch featured rice with chicken and French fries, while dinner was mashed potatoes, pork tenderloin, and salad!
One of the most important moments of the day was learning about the service organizations that students will partner with during the program. After an explanation of each organization, students voted on which projects they were most interested in joining.
This year’s service partners are:
Grupo Ecologista Avellanas (GEA) – Students will support environmental education, beach cleanups, mangrove restoration, and community projects while building connections with local students and residents.
Uniendo Comunidades (UC) – Students will collaborate on community improvement projects such as school enhancements, reforestation efforts, murals, and public awareness initiatives.
CEN – Children & Family Support Center – New for 2026, students can help improve a local center that provides childcare, nutrition, education, and family support services for children and mothers in the community.
The day concluded with a special sea turtle conservation workshop. Students learned about the challenges facing sea turtles along Costa Rica’s coast, explored the conservation work being done to protect them, and even had the opportunity to practice locating turtle eggs.
Day 1 was filled with new friendships, meaningful learning experiences, and the first steps toward the service and leadership work ahead. We can’t wait to see what the rest of the program brings!
Pura vida!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 13
It’s day 3 of our service trip
We started the day at 7, with cereal, pancakes, eggs, and fruit for breakfast before splitting up for our first day of service projects.
The three groups included UC, which met a local and learned about her passions for helping the local community get water. They used some spanish in order to talk with her, and began painting water tanks!
GEA, who also worked with a local named Frank, and were dropped off at a school, then split into three more mini groups, sorting recycling, placing rocks as scorpion barrier, and the last group picked up trash in a forest and a nearby beach.
CEN, went to a local preschool and worked on painting indoor and outdoor ceilings, along with beginning to make new shelves to reorganize a closet.
Everybody met back up at home base, where we had lunch of rice, vegetables, and chorizo, and then made our way to a local beach, where we swam, played a lot of beach volleyball, and joined a game of soccer with the locals!
After the beach, we had free time, where some of the students played pool volleyball, until we had our sunset circle, where we gave shoutouts to fellow campers, and introduced tomorrows leaders of the day.
To end the night, we ate a dinner of spaghetti, garlic bread, salad, and an option of ice cream, and then did 2 GLA activities exploring our values and leadership styles!
From today’s leaders, Hannah B., Neko T., Tessa M., Cole B., Jensen F. & Kiran K.
BLOG POST FOR JULY 14
Day 4 of the trip!
We started the day at 7 with a yummy breakfast, including eggs, fruit and chia pudding.
Afterwards we headed to our service projects around 7:30. We made a lot of progress today!
In UC, we finished off painting the water tanks and added fun designs such as suns, trees, flowers and animals. We felt so accomplished and even saved a dying tree.
In CEN, we painted and reorganized the closet as well as repainting the celling of the hallway and the trim of the kitchen. We helped kids get around and we fixed some toys and equipment for the kids. Overall we made a lot of progress in helping with the daycare today.
In GEA, we had a very insightful talk about climate change. After that, we split into two group and took a beautiful walk on the beach while picking up trash. Once we helped pick up trash, we ended with a refreshing dip in the clear blue ocean.
After service projects we refueled with a yummy lunch of rice paired with chickpea curry and salad. We cooled down in the pool and played a heated match of volleyball!
Later we set off on a fun adventure to a cooking class/soccer match. We took turns making homemade empanadas taught by a local! The other group got to play soccer and befriend the local kids. We all agree that we engaged in cultural learning and enjoyed it very much.
We returned back for sunset circle and took some pics by the ocean!
We had chicken and mashed potatoes for dinner, then played a fun competition of who can clean their rooms the best! The iguanas won!!!
See you day 5!!
Leaders: Caitlyn, Graham, Kate, Shaan, Sierra, Dexter
BLOG POST FOR JULY 15
Day 5,
Today we got up extra early in order to be out the door by 6:30am. After a drive we arrived to our adventure day! First off, we went river tubing, this was super fun, even when some people flipped over. After the refreshing ride it was time for ziplining! The ziplining by itself was extremely fun but what added to it were the beautiful jungles and canyons that surrounded us. After this we talked a lot and had a buffet style lunch including tasty pineapple, tilapia, fried plantains, and the classic beans and rice.
Then we hopped on the bus for the long bus ride home. On the way there, we listened to music, stopped to get some souvenirs and then we finally got to home base.
Once we got back to home base, we cleaned up and did our daily sunset circle. The sunset circle is where we reflect on the day and discuss what we are going to do the next day. Then after the sunset circle, we had chicken and beef tacos for dinner. After dinner, we went to our mentor groups and shared a little about our past through the River of Life activity and bonded. And to end the day we played pool volleyball with all the cabins.
Pura vida!!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 15
We started off the day bright and early with French toast and eggs before our service projects.
In CEN we made lots of progress on our mural and organized the kids toys at the daycare.
In UC we planted trees to add biodiversity to a nearby farm and neighborhood. This consisted of digging the holes and watering all of the plants. We learned about the different plants that grow in this area of the world.
In GEA we learned about the negative impacts of plastic pollution in the environment. We continued to pick up trash on the beach and enjoyed swimming in the ocean.
We had a delicious lunch of rice and chicken and French fries with salad.
Afterwords we had a fun GLA activity where we learned important survival skills and what to do in an emergency.
We spent our free time in the afternoon playing pool volleyball and walking at the beach. Later we had a fun dance class where we learned all different types of styles and traditional Costa Rica dances. We finished with a dance competition where CEN won.
We had a nutritious dinner of ground beef and mashed potatoes along with a side salad.
We ended with sunset circle and made envelopes with the our names for other people to write letters of affirmation, which we’ll open when the program ends.
We are looking forward to finishing our last day of service tomorrow strong. Pura vida!
Evan, Charles,Liam,Ella K., Yona L., Juliet
