Hi everyone!

I can’t believe it’s finally travel day! I know I’ve introduced myself to almost all of you travelers already on Facebook and during our phone calls, but for parents or others just coming to this page to keep up with the M1A Matagalpa June 5 travel crew, I’ll introduced myself for the first time…

I’m Carley Stavis & I’m an English teacher / yearbook adviser at Cupertino High School, a current resident of Japantown in Downtown San Jose, and a Bay Area native and lifelong travel lover.  Both of my parents were educators for over 30 years in the Bay Area, and summers for us always meant travel. After an early childhood of traveling throughout California and to various cities and towns around the US, my parents first took me out of the country when I was 15.  That trip completely changed my perspective in so many ways.  Those travel experiences as a teenager stuck with me and when I became a teacher 7 years ago with students the same age as I was when I first traveled abroad, I knew I wanted to someday be able to guide other kids towards finding out more about themselves and the world through international travel.  Finding out about Global Glimpse and committing to being a leader all the way back in September has continued to be such a cool experience, and I can’t even begin to imagine how magical these next two weeks of adventure are going to be!

One of the coolest things to me is the fact that some of us are coming in with quite a bit of travel experience already, I know some of you have had just a taste of travel in your lives so far, and others are totally new to this and so eager…but regardless of where we’re from or how much we’ve seen and done before, Nicaragua will be this new place for us all to discover together but also appreciate in our own individual ways.  It’s such an awesome gift!

Well, the final countdown is really on now! Just about 5 hours away from our meet up time at SFO.  You’ll see me (and your other leader, Elena) at the Avianca ticket counter.  I’ve attached a picture here from my most recent big trip to the Netherlands in February so you’ll know what face to look for at the airport, but Elena and I should be easy to spot — we’ll be the ones with Global Glimpse shirts & HUGE, beaming, happy traveler smiles on waiting to greet you! 🙂