Our travel journey begins in Kunming, the capital city of China’s southwest Yunnan province, where we delve into the impacts of rapid modernization on local communities. Our first week together includes an orientation to the places we’ll travel and extended time to get to know our new traveling family. We then enter a community homestay where we explore Independent Study Projects, and hold introductory Mandarin language classes. Though just a couple of weeks, we get to experience the dynamic interplay between China’s economic growth and its rich cultural heritage.

Boarding the transnational speed railway, we travel further south to Laos stopping in Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Renowned for its well-preserved colonial architecture, stunning temples, and serene setting along the Mekong River, we glimpse into the Buddhist practices at the core of Laotian culture while also examining the devastating legacy of war. We’ll look into our course themes that will guide us throughout: Turbulent River, Mind Like Water, Bombs and Bureaucracy and Daily Rhythms. We will be ready to follow the theme of the Mekong River as it flows further south, examining the river as a cultural, spiritual, political, and economic entity that unifies the region across borders.

From the monasteries and towns surrounding the more urban centers of the province, we will head further afield into Northern Laos for a short trek amidst the rainforests of Luang Namtha. Here we’ll feel the lushness of this biodiverse Southeast Asian climate, as well as possibly some of the rain that flows into the surrounding rice fields. From our trek, we will take a boat ride along the Mekong River, sleeping right alongside the Mekong’s river banks as it bends through dramatic, jungle-choked peaks and relish in the contrasts of East and West, tourist and traveler, saffron and the lush green of foliage alive from recent rain.

After our boat ride, we’ll head south downriver to Vientiane, the political capital of Laos. It’s here that we’ll begin to delve into the “Bombs and Bureaucracy” theme of exploration for our semester. The legacy of the Secret War in Laos and its victims are prominent here, and highlighted powerfully by local NGOs still working to put together the pieces left behind by the decades of war. Vientiane is now one of the quietest and sleepiest capitals in the region, but still a city undergoing rapid change under the weight of globalization and international development work. We’ll find many reasons for contemplation as we meet with activists, artists, and inspirational youth striving to realize an optimistic future.

Our final week in Laos will take us to the Central region of this nation. Near the town of Thakek, we’ll settle in for homestays on a small island in the middle of the Mekong River! We will stay with families whose livelihoods come almost entirely from the land, river, and their bounty: farming rice, fishing, and weaving baskets from bamboo. Their pace of life will become our pace, and the days will have that wonderful combination of feeling both very long and very short: long because they began with the sunrise each morning, and very short because we always wish they were longer.

Crossing into Thailand is technically little more than a swim across the river separating it from Laos, but the change is significant. The pace of life speeds up and infrastructure changes dramatically as we travel into the more economically developed Thailand. We spend our first few days orienting ourselves to Thai culture, learning about the influence of Buddhism on the nation’s rich cultural traditions, and exploring the impacts of upriver dams on the many villages dependent on the flow of the Mekong.

We will have the opportunity to be involved in Independent Study Projects, speak more in depth about the contentious political control over the Mekong river, and come to understand just how many people rely on the River Khong in this populous Southeast Asian nation. We will be primarily based in the lovely community of Baan Ta Mui, where we will live all together in a large house and spend time during the days involved in various projects connecting us with the community members who have been dependent on the river for generations.

Our second and final border crossing brings us into Cambodia, Land of the Khmer. From the rugged northeast we’ll make our way along rivers and forests to the provincial capital of Kratie. In Kratie, we’ll chance to catch a glimpse of the Mekong’s endangered Irrawaddy river dolphins while learning about ways local communities and NGOs are partnering to ensure its survival.

We will then head to a homestay called Koh Pdao on the largest island in the Mekong River. We’ll spend our time here learning language, enjoying group activities, and taking midday siestas in hammocks. This village’s limited electricity comes from car batteries and solar panels so when lights go off at night, we can see beautiful stars each night. Much as in Laos, the pace of this place sinks into you, making the end of each day something to be savored.

From the quiet village homestay, we’ll change pace as we head right into the pulsing heart of Southeast Asian tourism: Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor Wat. Opting for quieter environs, we’ll bed down at the Metta Karuna Reflection Center just on the edge of town. Spending a few days to explore the temples, investigate the realities of a small town overwhelmed by international tourism, and delve into pertinent human rights issues, our time in Siem Reap will be chock-full of physical and intellectual stimulus.

As our time together draws to a close, we’ll escape the car horns and revving motos of Cambodia’s biggest cities to regroup along the coast. This is a time for us to unwind and think about all we’ve seen and done in our three months together. We hope to feel the satisfaction of a few months well-lived, a time in which we engaged deeply, shared openly, and thought creatively about who we are and who we’re becoming in the context of these various and compelling landscapes. We take this time to appreciate our experiences and one another, and to look ahead at how we can transfer our travel lessons to whatever awaits us next.