Youth workers and educators training "Enhancing Youth Workers’ Capacity to Organise Outdoor Activities" blog by Kai

I decided to participate in this training course because first of all, I love travelling and meeting people from other countries. Secondly, I love hiking, and I have been to many countries for hiking trips and Austria has been on my bucket list for a long time, because of the Alps and amazing views. I have been part of another Erasmus project too, it was in youth exchange in Spain. After reading the info pack, my expectations were very high, because I found out that we would go hiking and rafting, which I was so excited about. I was also very keen on learning more about wilderness first aid and about safety while hiking, because I study nursing in university. My contribution before the project was a few things. Firstly, we were given a list of things to bring with us, so the things I did not have at home, I went and bought. I even bought new hiking boots just for Austria. Then we also had to plan the cultural night for Estonia, with the other participant from Estonia.

During the project I was active and took part in every activity that we had. I learnt how to tie different types of knots (knots & anchors workshop), then about first aid and important safety tips as well. For example, not to go on a long and difficult hike by yourself and to always know your limits regarding physical and mental abilities.

Getting to know other people from different countries was very awesome too, I learnt about different cultures, religion, food etc. About myself I learnt that I really do love helping people and hiking, I knew these things before too, but it was still a good feeling to get some reassurance for myself. If someone needed water, clothes, pain killers or allergy medication, then I had everything. I loved every hike that we did, and we also were given an option to arrange a hike by ourselves, so me and the other Estonian did that. I had never been rafting before and it was amazing, the views, the people, everything!

I was a bit sad that we could not take our phones with us to rafting because I would have got so many breath-taking pictures, but it was for safety reasons, so it was understandable. I do not think that there is anything specific to improve about that training course, because for me everything was very good, I read the info pack, and I understood everything and did not have any further questions.

The activities that I will remember for the rest of my life are hiking to Hochkar 360 Grad Skytour and the rafting. The Skytour was about 3 hours, and the views were just amazing, and I remember how grateful I felt in that moment that I get to experience this view with amazing people. Overall, I felt so grateful and happy during the whole project because I got to meet so many awesome people, I got to do so many cool activities with everyone and learnt a lot how to organize outdoor activities for young people.

I would definitely recommend Erasmus training courses to everyone around me, because travelling is the best way to learn about new stuff and meet new people around the world. For me Erasmus projects are always the eye-opening experiences.