Why Choose Where There Be Dragons?

At Where There Be Dragons, we believe connecting with others & new parts of yourself are foundational to creating a more just, compassionate, and inclusive world. We have offered immersive and responsible Gap Year and Summer Abroad programs in Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the USA for nearly 30 years. Engaging as travelers, not tourists, programs give students the rare opportunity to genuinely experience the places they travel and meaningfully connect across cultures. Each small-group program is custom crafted by expert instructors and combines 9 hands-on program components such as homestay, trekking, and language learning. With Dragons, students gain new perspectives, knowledge, and skills needed to be more active and resilient participants in the world. On course, we learn by doing. We let the locations speak for themselves, engage in sustainable and reciprocal relationships, and confront systems of power and privilege. We use the same transportation as locals, live with host families both in rural and urban settings, and seek to learn from each person we encounter. We want our participants to become immersed in different places through direct and meaningful engagement. We believe immersive experiences and local language skills are essential to opening the doors of culture in which we can actively listen, empathize, and learn. As educators, we embrace the fact that we are learners alongside our participants, and thus lead-from-behind, allowing our participants to follow their own curiosity and questions.

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