TRAVEL OPPORTUNITIES

You're invited for the trip of a lifetime

Since 1988, we’ve led thousands of sponsors and non-sponsors alike to see our work firsthand, meet sponsored friends and experience the beauty of another culture. Join us on an Unbound Awareness Trip to learn how families are using sponsorship to overcome poverty.
AN ADVENTURE LIKE NO OTHER

What's an Unbound Awareness Trip like?

Sarah and Sindy from Guatemala
Meaningful
For most travelers, the highlight will be meeting their sponsored friend. You’ll also meet and learn from inspiring families who are building their paths out of poverty, and you’ll connect with Unbound staff members and other travelers on your journey.
Melanie, Awareness Trip
Guided
From arranging your lodging, itinerary, meals and in-country transportation to connecting you with families to listen, learn and celebrate with them, Unbound staff members will guide you every step of the way.
Enlightening
Enlightening
Discover firsthand how the Unbound program works and how your contributions directly benefit sponsored friends as they work toward brighter futures.

Upcoming trips

Costa Rica:

November 9-15, 2024: $1,250

Registration Closed


June 7-13, 2025: $1,400

Registration Open


November 15-21, 2025: $1,400

Registration Open


On this trip, sponsors will have the opportunity to visit with their sponsored friends in the Unbound Costa Rica program, located in San Jose, Costa Rica. Costa Rica enjoys a tropical climate, and the temperatures are relatively constant year round. The average highs are typically in the low 80s and the average lows in the mid-60s. Costa Rica does get a lot of rain, so a raincoat is recommended. While in Costa Rica, you’ll stay in simple accommodations, in a dormitory.


Trip highlights:

  • • Enjoy time with your sponsored friends, visiting, connecting and getting to know each other in person.
  • • Travel by bus through beautiful landscapes to visit sponsored members who will share their lives, challenges, goals and culture with you.
  • • Experience Costa Rica’s biodiversity and geography through a visit to a coffee or pineapple farm, volcano or an animal sanctuary.

Download Costa Rica trip info >
El Salvador:

November 16-22, 2024: $1,200

Waiting List Only


November 8-14, 2025: $1,250

Registration Open


This trip includes strenuous, hands-on activities, and offers sponsors the opportunity to visit with their sponsored friends in the Unbound Santa Ana program. You’ll learn from Unbound families and staff as they share their skills, talents and traditions.

Please note that during this unique trip, you may be walking a mile or more on steep, uneven terrain and joining families in agricultural work in the sun at elevations over 4,000 feet above sea level. Excellent balance and mobility is a must. El Salvador has a hot and humid climate, with high temperatures in the 90s and lows in the mid-60s. While in El Salvador, you’ll stay in simple accommodations, at our facility in Santa Ana, with the last night spent at a hotel near the airport.


Trip highlights:

  • • Spend time with your sponsored friends visiting a local water park and playing games.
  • • Visit other sponsored friends in their communities and enjoy hands-on activities such as harvesting coffee and vegetables on local farms, spending a day alongside a family, or learning about the work of local artisans.
  • • Learn about El Salvador’s history when you visit the chapel where Saint Óscar Romero was martyred.

The November trips include optional strenuous, hands-on activities. These activities will provide the unique opportunity to learn from Unbound families and staff as they share their skills, talents, and traditions. Activities may include harvesting coffee and vegetables on local farms, planting trees or grinding corn to make tortillas. Together we hope to change society’s perception of poverty one experience at a time by working together with families and learning from their expertise. Read the Health & Mobility section for requirements.


Download El Salvador trip info >
Guatemala:

*September 21-27, 2024: $1,300

Registration Closed

*November 16-22, 2024: $1,300

Waiting List Only


February 8-14, 2025: $1,400

Waiting List Only


April 5-11, 2025: $1,400

Registration Open


June 7-13, 2025: $1,400

Registration Open


**August 9-16, 2025: $1,550

Registration Open


*November 8-14, 2025: $1,400

Waiting List


You’ll visit the homes and communities of sponsored friends and learn about their joys and challenges while experiencing the beauty of the people. Sponsors will have the opportunity to meet with their sponsored friends in our Guatemala program. You’ll stay in simple accommodations at our facility in San Lucas Tolimán, with the first and last nights spent in a hotel in Guatemala City. San Lucas Tolimán sees average highs in the upper 70s and lows in the mid-50s. The rainy season runs through the end of November. During this time, it typically rains for a couple of hours in the afternoon and overnight. The weather in Guatemala varies dramatically based on elevation. Though you will sleep at 5,064 feet above sea level, you may visit areas at elevations between 1,000 and 9,800 feet above sea level. Travel within the country is typically by bus for two to four hours on winding and scenic mountain roads.


Trip highlights:

  • • Gather with your sponsored friends at the Unbound Regional Center for a day of fun and games.
  • • Be welcomed into the homes of other sponsored members to understand their daily challenges and their goals, and to see the impact of the Unbound program.
  • • Travel by boat across stunning Lake Atitlán and witness the traditional cultures of Guatemala in the colonial capital of Antigua.

*On these trips to Guatemala, expect a more strenuous itinerary during which Unbound families and staff will teach you about their work, culture and lives through hands-on activities such as planting trees, grinding corn to make tortillas, or harvesting coffee and vegetables on local farms. On this unique trip, you may be walking a mile or more up and down steep, narrow dirt paths and participating in agricultural work in the sun at elevations over 9,800 feet above sea level. Excellent balance and mobility is a must.


**On the August 2025 trip, the group will travel deeper into the western highlands of Guatemala to visit Quetzaltenango (often shortened to Xela, pronounced “sheh-lah”). This trip is 8 days and involves longer road travel than other trips. The roads will be winding and difficult at times. Xela and the surrounding area sits at 8,000 feet above sea level, and you may visit communities up to 10,000 feet above sea level.


Download Guatemala Trip Info >
Honduras:

May 15-21st, 2025: $1,650

Registration Open


Sponsors will have the opportunity to visit their sponsored friends in Honduras on this trip. You will be hosted by Unbound’s local teams in lush, mountainous Honduras. You’ll stay in modest hotels. Honduras enjoys tropical weather throughout the year. Rain showers can be frequent. We recommend packing a light raincoat and preparing for mid- to high levels of humidity. In August, average temperatures throughout Honduras range from the mid-70s and the mid-90s.


Trip highlights:

  • • Spend a day of fun in the sun at a water park with your sponsored friends.
  • • Visit the homes and rural communities where Unbound works and where sponsored members will share their lives, challenges, goals and culture with you.
  • • Ride past banana, sugarcane and palm plantations, and visit a local market to purchase traditional handicrafts or delicious Honduran coffee.

Download Honduras trip info >
Kenya:

*September 13-20, 2025: $1,800

(visiting Nairobi and the surrounding area)


Registration Closed

On this trip, you will stay in Nairobi and travel around Nairobi and to the surrounding area. You will have the opportunity to visit with your sponsored friends from the Kisumu, Meru and Nairobi programs. Kenya’s Central Highlands enjoy the most agreeable climate in the country with average highs typically in the 70s and 80s and the average lows in the mid-60s. September is a relatively dry month. While in Kenya, you’ll stay in simple accommodations, typically in a retreat center or hotel.


Trip highlights:

  • • Enjoy time with your sponsored friends, visiting, connecting and getting to know each other in person.
  • • Travel to bustling urban or rural farm communities to visit sponsored members who will share their stories, lives, challenges and goals with you.
  • • Experience Kenya’s culture and wildlife through outings such as a cultural park, animal conservancy or a safari drive in a national park.

*All Kenya sponsors (including Kisumu and Meru sponsors) will have the opportunity to meet their sponsored friend on either trip.


Philippines:

February 4-13, 2025: $2,100

Waiting List Only


On this trip, sponsors will have the opportunity to visit with their sponsored friends in the Philippines. Be prepared for travel by bus, boat or jeepney between urban and rural communities. The Philippines is an island nation and enjoys warm weather and high humidity year-round. In February, you can expect highs in the upper 80s and lows in the mid-70s. While in the Philippines, you’ll stay in simple accommodations, typically in a hotel.

Trip highlights:

  • • Spend time with your sponsored friends.
  • • Visit urban and rural communities where Unbound works and where sponsored members will share their lives, challenges, goals and culture with you.
  • • Enjoy the natural beauty of the Philippines while exploring the Filipino culture around metro-Manila.

Download Philippines trip info >

Have additional questions?

Hear from our travelers

Apply for awareness trips

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Application for adults
Complete the form and return to Unbound to start your adventure!

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Application for minors
The minor traveler’s parent(s) or legal guardian should complete the form and return to us.

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FAQs 
Find answers to our most common questions.


FAQs >
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Contact Us
Reach out to a trip coordinator: 800.875.6564


Email [email protected] >