My first real international trip - and all decided in less than 3 weeks. I had never seriously considered travel (blame it on my narrow view from a small town upbringing), but one day sitting in my office at Powerit Solutions I thought - what would volunteer work abroad be like? So I did a little internet research, and sure enough the YMCA was sponsoring a trip to Thailand in 3 weeks.

I called the phone number, applied for the program, raised the money to go, all done quite blindly and spontaneously in under the 3 weeks time I had before stepping on that plane. Sometimes quick, split-second decisions are the ones that change your life the most. That one most certainly changed mine.

My parents were pretty nervous, and I had no idea what to expect. I was headed to the villages of the Karen people in Thailand - 3 hours north outside of Chiang Mai, to build an education center in the middle of 12+ villages. This center would serve as a mantle to continue to teach Thai traditions in schools that most likely over time, would become washed away due to the inevitable creeping in of Western society.

But for now, the Karen culture was still completely intact. They still wore their traditional dress on a daily basis for the most part, and still practiced their rituals that they've been performing for over 2,000 years. The Karen are one of the oldest cultures still alive today untouched by Western influences.