FAQ

1. What distinguishes Woman Awake from other programs?
2. Where will I be staying and what will the accommodations be like?
3. Is there financial assistance available?
4. Is airfare covered during my time with Woman Awake?
5. What is Carpe Diem Education’s relationship with Woman Awake?
6. What are the application deadlines?
7. Who do you typically hire as staff?
8. Is it safe to travel to the developing world?
9. What is a typical Woman Awake participant like?

1. What distinguishes Woman Awake from other programs?

There are many programs that seem hokey, like a guided tour in buses that don’t strive for a deeper understanding of how locals live. Woman Awake challenges its clients by not only showing them the meaningful sites, but also showing them the value of the cultures we travel through. Joining Woman Awake will be an adventure – sickness, roughing it, and personal challenges will arise throughout. We actively try not to insulate you from these challenges, but of course have qualified staff to support you through them.

2. Where will I be staying and what will the accommodations be like?

For the most part accommodations will be in hotels, or hostels. Power will not be present in some places, and be unreliable in others, but you can expect clean food and lots of good hospitality. You will, however, be offered several opportunities to stay in local accommodation and in local homestay situations.

3. Is there financial assistance available?

Unfortunately at this point Woman Awake is not able to offer financial assistance. We encourage you to check back in the coming years as we expect this to change.

4. Is airfare covered during my time with Woman Awake?

Airfare is not covered as part of the program fee, but air miles may be used for some portions of your journey.

5. What is Carpe Diem Education’s relationship with Woman Awake?

Women Together

Carpe Diem Education is the partner organization of Woman Awake. Through the many years of running international experiential programs for youth, Carpe Diem Education eventually received enough calls from parents wondering when an offering would be made for them to travel and experience the same enlightening processes that their children were having. There was, serendipitously a similar calling by some extremely experienced staff to offer a program by women for women; for that reason Woman Awake came into form. We hope to offer a male-affiliate in the next few years.

6. What are the application deadlines?

There are no application deadlines – our programs fill up as appropriate applications are received. Please feel free to call with questions about availability prior to submitting your deposit.

7. Who do you typically hire as staff?

All Woman Awake programs are staffed with three incredible and qualified adult women. We strive to have one person hold the absolute center of the program – being the ceremonial and group-heart. Then, there are two assistants whose job it is to assist with the group dynamics, work with individual clients, and assist with logistical issues (transport, accommodation, activities, and dr. visits). Our staff represents some of the best in the business, and in almost all cases carries a wilderness medical certification, and love what they do.
We recognize that the quality of a woman's experience is directly related to the quality of her leaders. For this reason we are very deliberate and conscious about only working with the best.

8.Is it safe to travel to the developing world?

Every day our staff dedicates time to keeping up on world events through the BBC, CNN, as well as a variety of local papers specific to the region and languages that we travel. We also rely on a network we've built over many years to provide on-the-ground information to situations should they develop. In every case, we do lots of research to create the safest program we can run. If we do not feel we can manage any local safety concerns, we simply cancel the program. Bottom line is that we don’t send groups to a region unless we feel it is safe. There are many ways to mitigate potentially dangerous situations, and our staff will always do their best to keep you safe from environmental, dietary, and travel-related issues. However, as an adult participant, safety-decisions are always yours to make ultimately.
Our staff will inevitably advise you to not travel at night and will warn against certain common scams and problems so that you can be prepared, but again, ultimately it is your decision whether to follow these guidelines. If needed, we will never be more than a few hours from extremely competent medical care.

9. What is a typical Woman Awake participant like?

We have designed our programs to be appropriate for ALL adult women. Women are at a unique place in time right now - recent studies have proven that an increase in female literacy rates in the developing world of 10% will increase the entire country's GDP by as much as 6%. There is a lot of strength in women and our common purpose at Woman Awake is to tap into that strength using a variety of vehicles of self-discovery. Joining us on a Woman Awake journey you can expect will strengthen your wisdom-bone and provide a community of support for yourself and in your years of discovery still to come.
Our programs were not designed for women who are currently working with substance abuse, or women who are not willing to look deeply at themselves.