First of all, I'd like to apologize for my late response. Following my time in Italy, I have been very busy working and planning my future.

The camp was an incredible experience. As my first time traveling to another country alone, the thought of spending a week with a family I'd never met before followed by joining a Camp of strangers was very daunting. However, after meeting an incredible family and being shown every high and low of Sardinia, these worries soon disappeared. The camp's organisation was faultless; this enabled everyone to have a wonderful and safe experience. I met over 40 other young people from around the world which has left me with countless new opportunities for my future. Spending 2-3 weeks with the other campers was an experience in itself and felt entirely separate from the fact I was in another country so different from my own. Together, we learned about each-other's cultures, our contrasting lives, our plans for the future and our diverse range of delicacies. Meeting these people was incredibly special and something I will hold true to my heart for many years.

Travelling from the South to the North, I built close relationships with the other campers. I cannot describe how thankful I am for the time and effort you put into making the camp so special. Thanks to you, I am now able to visit my friends all over the world.  I intend to take a gap year from university and travel Asia in the new year. Thanks to the camp, I will be visiting Shail in India, Jassie in Malaysia followed by two short visits with Rosi (my host mum in Sardinia) and Yvonne in Holland. The camp has given me the confidence and independence to make the next step in my exciting adventure and for that I must thank you all.

I assume that with any camp, there will always be highs and lows. Despite the strict program and at times, challenging camp rules, I enjoyed visiting the countless cities and towns of Italy. I understand we were a very large group so some things had to be controlled. However, a little more freedom and independence would have made our time in the smaller towns slightly more enjoyable with a chance to see other parts of Italy which attract more interest. Our time in Rome was amazing, however challenging when visiting on foot in the extreme heat. The temperature (at NO fault of your own, of course!!) was veeeerrrry different to the colder temperatures in England, so adapting to this and walking many miles around the capital city was difficult. Perhaps a few more days in Rome would have made this more bearable and better fun to explore the various parts of the city without the exhaustion and over-heating! Despite this, it was one of my most memorable parts of the camp and I thank you Giovanna, Fernando, Guilia, Enrico and Sara for your hard work in keeping us all together and safe at all times.

Traveling North to the beautiful city of Rovereto, we spent 10 days near the mountains. Rovereto gave me many amazing experiences which I will treasure for the rest of my life. With no wifi and limited access to the internet and contact back home, I missed my family and friends. HOWEVER, in hindsight, I am very grateful for this limitation. Without the worry of checking my phone (typical of the 21st century), my relationship with the other campers really blossomed in the time we spent here. The accommodation was wonderful for everyone to come together although the lack of air conditioning and at times, lack of privacy due to shared rooms, made sleeping a little difficult. As a vegetarian, I also found the food a little limited and ate pasta with tomato sauce nearly everyday. However, there was an amazing atmosphere and I thoroughly appreciate the effort everyone made to welcome us to the town.

Please do not take my criticisms as complaints, I could not fault the plausible and special people who worked so hard to make our time in Italy memo