i-to-i is a company that offers volunteering trips, gap years, the chance to teach english (for money and on a voluntary basis) and to simply just travel.
* Background Info *
i-to-i have been sending people to on projects worldwide since 1996. They are the original volunteer travel company ... Read review
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Advantages: Life changing experiences Disadvantages: Expensive
i-to-i is a company that offers volunteering trips, gap years, the chance to teach english (for money and on a voluntary basis) and to simply just travel.
* Background Info * i-to-i have been sending people to on projects worldwide since 1996. They are the original volunteer travel company and have a client base of 20,000 happy former volunteers to prove it.
* The Concept * i-to-i is for those who want ... ...information pack to include an i-to-i tshirt, tips on how to raise your funds and even a packing list. This also includes a personalised letter according to your project and country, letting you know of any vaccinations you may need. There is an i-to-i representative who lives in the country you have your programme so you always feel safe and always have someone who can help you if you ever come into any bother. When you arrive your i-to-i rep gives ... more
i-to-i is a company that offers volunteering trips, gap years, the chance to teach english (for money and on a voluntary basis) and to simply just travel.
* Background Info * i-to-i have been sending people to on projects worldwide since 1996. They are the original volunteer travel company and have a client base of 20,000 happy former volunteers to prove it.
* The Concept * i-to-i is for those who want to travel, volunteer, take up a challenge, gain experience or just to simply see the world. They will organise your project, accommodation and board, depending on the project you decide upon and even give you advice on how to make the most of it.
* Variety * There is alot of variety in what you can do, see and acheive when choosing a programme with i-to-i. There are usually a number of opportunities in each country that you can do. Countries include: India, China, Jamaica, Hondura, Peru, Uganda, Thailand, Cambodia, Australia, Costa Rica, Canada. Projects you can take part in include: volunteering, tours, adventures, group travel, challenges and teaching. There is sure to be something for everyone.
* Support * When you sign up to a project, you get sent an information pack to include an i-to-i tshirt, tips on how to raise your funds and even a packing list. This also includes a personalised letter according to your project and country, letting you know of any vaccinations you may need. There is an i-to-i representative who lives in the country you have your programme so you always feel safe and always have someone who can help you if you ever come into any bother. When you arrive your i-to-i rep gives you details of local customs, what to do in certain situations and what never to do.
*Cost* This is not a cheap company to travel with, but they are pretty good at what they do. I think I paid approximately £2400.00 including my £600 return flight for my 12 week DR experience. This included airport pick-up, accommodation, lunch and dinner daily. Of course, alongside all of this you got very expert advice and someone to plan all of this for you. I would say in the long run, definately worth every penny.========= My Experience =================== Dominican Republic, Conservation of Ecological Centre 1st May - 26th July 2006 (12 weeks)During my second year of university, i had to have a placement of 6 weeks in a tourism environment (my degree is in Tourism Management). All my friends were getting placements in travel agents, local tourism councils and some were going abroad with the university programme. I didnt have a clue what I wanted to do, where I was going to do it, how I was going to do it and time was running out.
I decided I wanted to go abroad, as this module was during the last six weeks of uni and could carry on through summer if an opportunity had risen. As part of the module, you were not allowed to get paid and you had to write a reflctive assignment on what you learnt and how you learnt it.
I first found i-to-i online and got very excited from reading the prospects that I could be getting up to in the summer. I decided to talk to my 'Work Based Learning' Tutor, which would have had to be run by her anyway. She said that i-to-i were a very reputable company and recommended that I went with the company if I wanted to go abroad.
I knew my project had to be something within the tourism industry and one of the countries that I could go to was Domincain Republic. Dominican Republic - in the CARIBBEAN! Of course I was going to choose to go there and I thought why not do 12 weeks! So thats what i did. I paid my deposit and was sent an information pack, which included an i-to-i t-shirt and loads of advice and tips. I was told I needed certain vaccinations, so I got those sorted and got my malaria tablets.
So, came the 1st May and I arrived in the DR, there was a guy holding my name up. I have never had this before. Before you know it, I was in the drivers car and I arrived at the guest house. This is where all of the other volunteers in Santo Domingo stayed. These volunteers all taught english to the local school and orphange. I went one day with them and was totally smitten. I was based in Punta Cana (4 hours coach away), which I travelled to after 3 days in Santo Domingo. Our induction was fun. The i-to-i rep, Masielle showed us around and took us to a Merengue class, where we had a dance lesson with some local teenagers. A few days after the induction I made tracks to Punta Cana via coach.
When I arrived in Punta Cana I was met by Elsa - she was kind of my rep in Punta Cana, and also my landlady! She was lovely, she made me call her Mama Elsa and at times Id pluck her eyebrows hehe! :)
Anyways each day I would get the Sitrabapu bus to my project as advised by Mama Elsa. The project was well run and I felt like I helped alot. Some days I worked on the beach aswell!
I came to the Dominican Republic not speaking a word of Spanish, not even hola (believe it or not), now I was able to speak reasonably well, not fluent of course but enough to get by. I had made so many friends, I'd lost count. I'd partied so hard with the locals that they all knew my name. I had an absolutely amazing time. I learnt so much about their culture and so much about myself. It does make you think when you see people less better off than yourself but so much happier! I think regardless of whether you go with i-to-i or not everybody needs an experience like mine.
My 12 weeks had come to an end and I was so so pleased I done this project. Did I pass my assignment? Just about! I was having too much fun!
I am going to Peru 10th Nov 2009. Not with i-to-i but maybe because of what i learnt from my i-to-i experience.
Advantages: Plenty of placements to choose from, Weekend TEFL course fun Disadvantages: Disorganised, staff un-informed, expensive for service received
...online.
I found the i-to-i website whilst looking for a TEFL course. I was thinking of returning to Greece and thought a TEFL qualification would be useful. I booked for the weekend course, which I took in Leeds in March 2004. The course consisted of 20 hours training in 2 days, so was very intensive and hard work, but lots of fun. There were far too many people on the course for the size of the room used. There was just a circle of chairs - no ... ...I was due to leave, i-to-i phoned to say that they had just discovered that despite the fact that they had put me on a 3 month project Nov -Feb, the school would be closing at Xmas for the summer holidays! They asked if I wanted to cut my project short or move onto something else for the remainder of my stay. I decided to move on to the Lima orphanage project. They also said that I 'might be disappointed' in the eco-garden! Oner of their staff had ...
Sandroulla 12.05.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of I-to-I
Advantages: Enjoyable placement, loved working with kids Disadvantages: Disorganised, overpriced, left to your own, some projects dont exist, some false information
...went on a trip with i-to-i for 2 months. While I had a fantastic experience working with the children, teaching them, seeing Africa and making friends, the companies lack of organisation was a complete disappointment, especially after the money that I raised (£1600).
Firstly, the accomodation was not as promised. I was offered a homestay with a family. What it actually was, was an apartment with other volunteers. The host was never at home (she ... ...before I flew home, all i-to-i coordinators didn't seem to be around (a few were in Nairobi), and it occured to me that I was going to be alone when I got to Nairobi, which is not a good idea, especially with 25kg of luggage! So I made my phone calls, and a friend of someone who works on one of the projects had to go with me to Nairobi, and I had to pay for his transport there and back - a 5 hour round trip to Nairobi -, which I wasn't best pleased ...
lizziebs 12.04.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of I-to-I
Advantages: Friendly agency with a personal touch, good links with placement countries and wide variety of programmes Disadvantages: some communication problems over what was included in my prize (a minor quibble)
I-to-I held a competition in conjunction with The Grauniad two years ago. On the unexplored inside pages of the Education section, you simply had to phone up to win a chance of teaching English in Sri Lanka - all expenses paid. I won!!!!!
I got into close phone contact with the I-to-I staff and they were quite a helpful bunch. They sent me reams of information and it was very easy to pick a suitable weekend to take the 40 hour TEFL certificate. ... ...a good chance to socialise.
I-to-I organise placements in several countries, including India, Sri Lanka, Russia, Costa Rica and Bolivia. You can work in a professional capacity (say if you are a journalist or an administrator) as well as an EFL teacher. In Sri Lanka, you can work on a turtle sanctuary. There are fees for all of the programmes as well as for the placement. However, once you are there your on-site accomodation and food is free - the ...
blinderben 14.02.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of I-to-I
...2006
Our problems with I-to-I began on the first day at our initial project, St Benedict’s Primary School, on which we were due to begin teaching. Rather than acting as English teachers (as was our expectation given that our placement was ‘Teaching English in Mombasa’), we were also delegated Science and Mathematics classes – each of which were to be taught to a high level. On expressing our discomfort with this given our lack of notice or preparation, ... ...the head-teacher, the volunteers and I-to-I staff. The result of this was an agreement to reallocate the involved volunteers to a different project. However, through the course of the meeting several things became apparent. Firstly, that I-to-I had entirely misrepresented the role and requirements of volunteers undertaking this project; that our function was in fact superfluous as the school was well staffed, resourced and effectively run; similarly, ...
RonanScotland 04.06.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of I-to-I
Advantages: ? Disadvantages: expense, unethical company
...work' in Nakuru.
Unfortunately i-to-i are not interested in actually doing something ethical for these communities, but making money out of the desire for good-willed people to help others. I am not one for complaining but I feel that i-to-i's failure to be ethical should be documented. None of the massive cost that is paid to do projects go to the placements and although this was made clear to us (after booking) before we went, I am still not satisfied ... ...IS included (it's not anymore- i-to-i withdrew it and put the prices up so we paid more without it) and even how 'even the building project includes the TEFL course' (it doesn't).
The projects we did have some super people organising them (not anything to do with i-to-i) and even encourage a trip extension or return trip without involving i-to-i (they are more than willing to help and provide support). However, I can't help but feel that these projects ...
vernau 08.11.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of I-to-I
Advantages: Location, Variety of Shops & Restaurants, Public Transport Links Disadvantages: Expensive Bars, Limited Flights,
Before I get too carried away with this review let me warn you that this does go on for quite a while. However, I feel it only fair that you are all made fully aware of the facilities on offer at London City Airport
I had cause to travel to London last week with business from Manchester to attend a seminar within the financial district. Upon being told this by my manager with about 2 weeks notice, I was faced with the dilemma of arranging my travel itinery. Effectively, I was faced with 3 options:
1. Drive, which didn't exactly fill me with excitement at the thought of a 600 mile round trip to attend a 4 hour seminar.
2. Get the train, which once again was a two and a half hour journey in both directions, plus associated tube journeys. Another downside to this alternative was the astronomical fares which were charged ...
HOOTERS - The Place I Want to go when I DIE
Introduction
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For my friends twenty first birthday he wanted to go to Hooters for something to eat however I have a feeling it wasn?t because it had fantastic food but some fantastic women. In many American movies that I have seen Hooters is made out to be a famous chain of restaurants open where guys can go chill out and stare at what they love the most. I?d have to say the movies were right after seeing for my self. It does however make me wonder what their hiring policy is like. How can they just employ women that are attractive? Surely that is discrimination of some sort.
At the front door you are greeted by surprise surprise a woman that gives you a general direction in which to sit. The seats are stools with the tables raised high. Other tables having traditional ...
burns2007 04.07.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Hooters
we headed off to Dail Mor.
At this point the more observant amongst you might be forgiven for thinking that I have posted this review in the wrong place as this is a review about the beach at Dail Beag rather than Dail Mor but the truth is we went to the wrong beach. We didn't even realise our mistake until later that day. In Gaelic "beag" means little whilst "mor" means big so it doesn't take a genius to work out that the beach that we went to at Dail Beag was much smaller than the one at the other side of the headland. However with nothing at that point to compare it with we were very impressed.
Dial Beag is accessed via a steep single-track road that winds down to the sea from the A858 coastal road. There is a small sign that points to Dial Beag but this refers to the tiny hamlet of the same name (about 4 crofts scattered across ...
