Experience the exhilaration of daily adult life and swap places with your parents for two weeks
Ever feel like your parents have all the fun while you’re stuck at school?
Well, the tables have turned. This month, we’re launching our newest project, “Parent Swap.” This incredible experience gives you an immersive taste of adult life while your parents take your place on a regular Projects Abroad experience.
You’ll take ownership of household chores, work a regular 9-5, and pay the bills while your parents visit African plains, Asian temples, and modern cities. We know which one we’d rather do!
Itinerary highlights: bills, bosses, and boiling vegetables
Swap the savannah for the saucepan; this is your first experience as an adult! Once you’ve woken up bright and early to shower, brush your teeth, and make lunch for the whole family, it’s time to head out into the world of work.
Your commute, your way
One of the most exciting parts of adult life is choosing how you want to get to work each day. You’ll be able to:
- experience the thrill of a crowded bus on cramped city streets
- squeeze onto a train that is inevitably 10 minutes late, with no air conditioning
- dice with death and cycle to work while exposed to every inclement weather pattern
- sit in unmoving traffic while you slowly go insane (only for participants aged 17+)
Sadly, depending on your placement, you may have to work from home. The full details of your placement will be confirmed before your parents travel.
Realistic work experience
A large part of your placement will be spent in the squeakiest chair you can find and experience working life in an office. This is the perfect opportunity to develop crucial personal and professional skills that will help you throughout your life.
Depending on the needs of your company at the time, you could:
- pour your heart and soul into spreadsheets
- respond to emails and messages you’ve barely read with vague advice or suggestions
- organise files into folders that you will simply never be able to find again
- look thoughtfully into the distance with a half-written sentence on your screen
- attend hours of back-to-back meetings which could have just been emails
- produce materials and reports that will never be looked at by anyone but you
All of these thrilling tasks will help you develop core skills like improvisation, adaptability, resilience, and organisation. Perhaps most importantly, you’ll also learn time management skills as you watch the clock tick to 5pm.
Exciting breaks and weekend excursions
Throughout your placement, you’ll experience the best part of adult life: time off.
During work, you get coffee breaks and an hour lunch break all to yourself. These opportunities allow you to enjoy a slightly soggy sandwich, pretend to be interested in your colleagues’ stories, problems, and weekend plans, and have a much-needed little cry.
Speaking of weekend plans, we hope you like travelling! You’ll become an expert on your local area as you head to the supermarket for the weekly food shop, be a “taxi” to your family, and take the dog out for long, rainy walks (don’t forget the bags…).
With the rest of your free time, you’ll master the traditional art of multitasking. This might include:
- paying the bills
- making dinner
- cleaning the dishes
- setting up the washing machine
- tidying up after everyone else
- turning off lights in empty rooms
- closely guarding the thermostat
- putting the bins out (up to and including hearing the bin men arrive)
- responding to important letters and emails (it feels a lot like work)
At the end of it all, you’ll have a sliver of time to yourself before heading to bed early to do it all again tomorrow!
The parent experience: personal development around the world
While you’re out having all the fun, we’ll send your parents on a Culture & Adventure High School Programme, a two-week project designed exclusively for teenagers. We’ll force them to travel to one of three destinations: Cambodia, Japan, or Tanzania.
That means you’ll get some peace and quiet while they learn the real chore of being a world traveller. They’ll be subjected to the gruelling task of exploring the planet, discovering new places and cultures, and developing their personal skills.
In Tanzania, they’ll have to endure two whole savannah safaris in the Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire National Park, where they’ll be forced to look for huge herds of elephants. To top it off, they must suffer through a hike to the Materuni Waterfalls and visit natural hot springs.
In Japan, we’ll make them sit on a bullet train travelling at a monotonous 200mph through the countryside as they travel between three of the country’s biggest cities. They’ll have to feed bowing deer in Nara Park and waste their energy at a karaoke night, arcade, or the Pokemon Center.
In Cambodia, your parents must drag themselves out of bed at dawn to look at the Angkor Wat temples during sunrise. Afterward, they’ll be sent to the tropical island of Koh Rong, where they’ll be stuck with nothing to do but snorkel around coral reefs and walk on white sand beaches.
Sounds awful compared to what you’ll be doing, right? Right??
The benefits of Parent Swapping with Projects Abroad
Both you and your parents will enjoy all the benefits you expect from Projects Abroad.
You’ll enjoy the 24/7 responsibility of running a household, feeding other humans who rely on you to survive, and (barely) tolerating workplace colleagues.
Meanwhile, your parents will get 24/7 staff support, hand-picked, safe, and comfortable accommodation, three meals a day, social activities, and fresh drinking water.
APRIL FOOLS – Head on a Culture and Adventure trip yourself
Don’t panic! We promise zero spreadsheets and 100% adventure.
This is where we come clean. You can enjoy immersive and educational programs with Projects Abroad, just not in the workplace. You can head on our Culture and Adventure projects for yourself, exploring the world with confidence and building your skills.
Instead of filing papers, you could:
- explore the Angkor Wat temple complex, support community initiatives in education and bear conservation, and discover the chequered history of Cambodia – Culture & Adventure in Cambodia
- travel between three of Japan’s biggest cities, Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, to experience a totally new culture while visiting Mount Fuji, castles, shrines, and temples – Culture & Adventure in Japan
- experience Maasai culture for yourself and encounter the iconic wildlife of the African savannah, contributing to hyena conservation and teaching in our Maasai school – Culture & Adventure in Tanzania
Sounds incredible, right? Find out more by clicking the links above or getting in touch with a Project Expert to discuss your dream adventure!
View our full list of projects
Maybe you’re looking for a medical internship, a conservation project, or something completely different to our Culture & Adventure trips? Follow the link below to view all available projects.