Traveling Guatemala with Hopscotch the Globe and Vivid Roots

Back in May, I went on my first organized group / volunteer trip with Hopscotch the Globe. This travel experience was much different from what I was used to—then again, what exactly is the typical travel experience for me, anyway? (That’s another blog post for another day.)

I had been following Kristen and Siya from Hopscotch the Globe for several years and jumped at the opportunity to travel with Kristen to Guatemala for a service trip with Vivid Roots, a non-profit that works towards increasing access to clean water, education, and health services to under-served communities in Guatemala.

This accidental girls’ trip brought together seven women from across North America, along with our Vivid Roots guides Diego and Helle, for ten days of service and adventure across the beautiful country of Guatemala. Our trip started in Antigua, where we took a walking tour of the city and hiked Mt. Pacaya. For the second part of our trip, we journeyed to San Jacinto to spend a few days painting a school in one of the local villages. Then we headed to Rio Dulce for the final part of our trip, where we rode a boat into the jungle and spent a day lounging on an island in the Belize Cayes.

I’ll write more about each leg of the journey in a separate post, but if you want an overview of the entire trip, check out the videos below from Hopscotch the Globe!