Programs

Cultural Kitchen

The Cultural Kitchen curriculum is standards-based and qualifies as a Service Learning experience for participants. In their classrooms, students choose a country to study and choose a manner in which to present their research. Cultural learning exercises foster interest in cultural understanding, strengthen group communication skills, and teach students to explore the world and to appreciate the people in it. The culmination of the program occurs at the hostel when students cook a meal from their focus country, dine with travelers from around the world, and engage in interactive they learned, thinking about how they can use cultural understanding to benefit their community and our world. Students who complete the Cultural Kitchen program continue to demonstrate enthusiasm for learning about new cultures and approach the world and its people with more open minds.

World Travel 101

This programs is designed to help provide those who are inexperienced about international travel with helpful hints that will make their trip more affordable and enjoyable, the program will also address how to travel safely, respectfully and responsibly in the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept 11th and current events. During the presentation, participants will be informed of nearly everything they should know about before traveling outside of the U.S. The session will include” information on how to communicate with people from other cultures, tips on finding accommodations and using local transportation, and ideas on how to stretch one's travel budget. As of now these classes are taught monthly at REI. There is also a Girl Scout patch given to the Girl Scouts that go through this program, and we specialize each one for their interests and needs as a troop.

Travel Circle

The Austin Travel Circle is an open discussion group local to Austin, TX, USA. The mission of the group is to discuss travel of all kinds and to engage any travelers who may be visiting Austin. The discussions are lively and cover any aspect of travel the attendees care to bring up. The stories are fascinating and the people who lived them are even more so. The meetings are held on the first and third Mondays of each month at the Austin Youth Hostel (2200 S. Lakeshore Blvd.) and start at 7pm.

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