We, Jan (14) & Paul (17), are cousins and participated in the Youth Exchange “Outdoor+” in Hollenfels (Luxembourg) from 22 to 27 July 2022. Both of us enjoyed it very much.

As we had never taken part in a camp before, especially not abroad, we were very nervous when heading off and, for a moment, even wanted to stay at home. Now, in retrospect, we are very happy that we decided to go and think of it as a great and enriching experience that we can recommend to others.

We arrived with no concrete expectations and were, from the first minute on, super cared for. Julia and Steve, our supervisors, were great. They made us feel really well taken care of. With Steve, we also had a lot of fun.

As the camp offered such a vast variety of different activities, both of us would visit the Outdoor+ Camp again any time. The activity we liked the most was called “Capture the flag”. Besides taking part in the funny activities, we also had a great learning experience. Each participating country had to present themselves, which enabled us to expand our knowledge on other cultures and also led us to reflect more on our own culture and country of origin. However, we did not only become more aware about other cultures, but, through this experience, also improved our English a lot.

The accommodation was more than adequate and the food, in general, was pretty good. However, as both of us love meat, we would’ve preferred more meals with meat. If we were to make a suggestion for improvement, we would also wish for more breaks between the activities.

Saying goodbye to the camp was hard for everyone. Therefore, we are still in frequent contact with the young participants from the other countries.

Jan & Paul

Updated on Tuesday, 17/02/2026

Silène is currently studying public construction at an engineering school. Her mission is to redevelop urban areas to improve everyone's daily life. She is very proud of her experience to have joined a team of workers made up only of men in their fifties for a whole summer and being the only girl working there. For her, Europe is an inspiring place that values and builds the future on sustainable development. 

Updated on Tuesday, 17/02/2026

Hi, my name is María, I am from Spain and I am 25 years old. Between October 2020 and May 2021, I did a European Solidarity Corps volunteering project in Rennes, France. When I was asked to write this testimonial, I thought I would tell you about a typical day of a volunteer. However, I realised that I did not have a "typical day" because each day of my volunteering was completely different, both in terms of work and personal life.

My volunteering project took place in the Lycée Professionnel Louis Guilloux, a school specialised in, among other things, the hotel and catering industry, bakery and pastry-making, reception, commerce or fashion. During the school year, I had the opportunity to run Spanish language workshops, environmental awareness activities and a video project to create a video for the school. I really liked the freedom of being able to propose my missions while always having a follow-up and a framework from my coordinator. This allowed me to develop to the fullest and to get involved as much as possible, because I only did projects that I wanted to do. I also really appreciated the hospitality and kindness of the entire team. From the first day, I felt very comfortable in the school and everyone (school life, teachers and students) was available to give me a hand with anything I needed.

On the other hand, I will not deny that during the volunteering I needed a lot of patience as it was during the COVID pandemic. Sometimes volunteering requires flexibility, a lot of adaptation and above all large doses of optimism. However, I was never alone on this journey. I was lucky enough to meet other volunteers and people related to volunteering (e.g. seminar leaders) who inspired, accompanied and learned a lot during my experience. All my exchanges were very rich and today I still have very good friends, which for me is the most rewarding part of volunteering.

The most important people were my roommates, who were also international volunteers. We lived 6 in a very big and beautiful house where several languages and cultures are mixed at the same time. During our cohabitation we did a lot of parties, travelling and also we decided to celebrate all our traditions and to discover the food of all our countries. Today, we all stayed in France to study or work and we still see each other from time to time in our different cities of residence (Paris, Lyon, Strasbourg...!).

A year and a half later, looking back, I am aware of the great impact this experience had on my personal and professional development. When you do a European volunteering, the 24 hours of the day revolve around this experience, you live in a house with other volunteers, most of your friends and acquaintances are in the same situation as you are and you are far away from your family and comfort zone, because you went abroad to live this experience. This means that, for a few months, everything turns around volunteering and thanks to the seminars, my coordinator and the network I developed, I had the necessary framework to ask myself the right questions and try to find the answers.

Furthermore, thanks to my volunteering experience in France, I was able to improve my French and develop my network, which then allowed me to find a job in the volunteering sector. After the end of my volunteering, I joined an association in Paris as a Project Manager, which allowed me to keep discovering this country.

So, my advice to all of you who are hesitating to do the European volunteering is the following: Do it and make the most of every day! It will most likely be one of the best years of your life!

Updated on Tuesday, 17/02/2026

My adventure started in October 2021 when I decided to apply at DiscoverEU, together with other three friends. None of us expected that this year in January we would be announced that we were among the lucky winners who received a free travel pass. At that moment, joy and impatience made their presence felt and I already started thinking about which countries I would like to visit and what I would like to experience on this trip.

After many months of thinking and replanning, in the end there were only three of us and we decided to visit Hungary, Austria, Italy and Croatia. In these countries I saw both beautiful landscapes and buildings with a fascinating architecture.

My biggest fear about this trip was with the accommodations because I had heard that other young travelers had their reservations canceled a few days before. However, we didn't have any problems and we enjoyed every stay. For those who are going to travel with a group of friends, I would recommend renting an apartment, especially if they have a tight budget so they can have a kitchen where they can cook something.

On this trip I learned that you could communicate very easily with other people even if you don't speak the same language. Most of the people I met knew English, and with those who didn't know it very well, we understood each other either through signs or using Google Translate. Also, in each country we found Romanians settled there, who were happy to help us with information.

I also learned that you don't need a fixed plan, things will go well even if you don't follow the itinerary. Before this departure, I felt that nothing will turn out well if we don't have every detail clearly planned, but now I would recommend anyone to leave a few things unplanned, because when you decide to do something on the spot, that's when the adventure begins. For example, when we were in Budapest, I went to a bar in a corner of the city at 11 PM, where there we found out that there was a great atmosphere, good music and nice people.

I would recommend anyone to apply at DiscoverEU and to experience a train trip through Europe, it's something unique. Through a trip like this you will discover that you can handle any situation, and unexpected and uncertain things can become an adventure that you will always remember.

Updated on Tuesday, 17/02/2026

It was my sister who, having already done an ESC volunteering program in Finland, encouraged me to do the same. Ideally, I wanted to find a project mixing culture, History, tourism, as well as a good dose of foreign languages, but most of the projects I could find were focused on children and teenagers, which wasn't really my cup of tea. But one evening, by a stroke of luck, I logged on to the European Solidarity Corps website, and there, right at the top of the list, was the rare gem I had been waiting for. A one-year project in Germany, at the Mendelssohn House Museum, located in Leipzig, a city I knew nothing about, from which I did not expect much, but which made me fall completely under its spell. And so I set off on October 8th, 2021.

For those who don't know Felix Mendelssohn, he is one of the most famous romantic composers of the 19th century, considered by many to be the Mozart of his time. The museum where I worked pays tribute to the man and his work, and is special in that it is located in the house where Mendelssohn lived with his family in Leipzig for the last two years of his life. It is the last surviving home of the musician, and it is an extremely beautiful, authentic and touching place, where one expects the great composer to walk in at any time.

Within the museum, I had a lot of different and various tasks to accomplish: welcoming visitors, selling tickets and souvenirs, doing guided tours in several languages for groups of students, journalists or individuals, supporting the smooth running of the concerts held each week, actively participating in the organisation of special events (weddings, Children's Day, Museum Night, etc.), but also transcribing and translating historical documents in preparation of the upcoming opening of a new exhibition. As you can see, all my passions and interests were thus combined in my volunteering project, and one could really believe that it had been tailor-made for me.

For 10 months, my ESC project allowed me to fully develop myself - both professionally and in my private life - and it was one of the happiest years of my life. I was able to get to know myself better, to define more precisely my desires for the future, and to fall even more in love with a country that I already knew but that still had so much to show me and to teach me. I made friends with people from all over Europe, and our group created a small, rich and multicoloured European community in the heart of Leipzig. I developed a special bond with my colleagues at the museum who all welcomed me with open arms, and like any self-respecting year of ESC, I was also able to travel, of course throughout Germany, in particular to Berlin, Hamburg, Bremen, Munich, Erfurt, Halle, Weimar, Dresden, etc. but also to Denmark and Hungary.

Today I just want to go back to Leipzig, and I can only warmly encourage any young person wishing to experience a European adventure, develop their knowledge and skills, make friends and travel, to embark on the ESC adventure!

Updated on Tuesday, 17/02/2026

Boglárka Ecsedi is a student researcher, science communicator and an advocate for women in STEM from Hungary. She has contributed to high-impact software developments and research projects in medical AI, image recognition, and deep learning. Currently, she is pursuing a Computer Science undergraduate degree at Georgia Tech University in Atlanta, USA with the help of the prestigious ‘Stipendium Peregrinum’ Scholarship of the Hungarian government and works as an intern in the area of Machine Learning at Intel Corporation. 

Updated on Tuesday, 17/02/2026

Lia was born in Belgium and is a communicator for the performing arts, specialized in classical music. From a young age on she's been passionate about the art world. Lia wants to make an impact and show people from all backgrounds that performing arts are for everyone. One of her main missions is to get young people on board and to make them discover how the art world can be life changing. By bringing for instance classical music concerts lead by world class young musicians to Belgian hospitals, nursing homes, prisons and orphanages in the framework of the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel’s Community projects, Lia wants to work with an audience that doesn't have an easy access to live music. Her aim is to include as many young people as possible in her projects as they represent the future audience and participants in art projects.

Updated on Tuesday, 17/02/2026

Carla was born in Barcelona, Spain. Currently she studies in her first year Physics at the University of Barcelona. She does research on quantum computing and volunteers in organisations that seek to raise passion for research among youth. She obtained the first prize at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS) 2021, a silver medal at the Spanish Physics Olympiad 2021 and gained a spot in the Forbes Top 50 Awarded Spaniards 2021 list.

Updated on Tuesday, 17/02/2026

Anna was born in Poland, Cracow. During her studies she took part in the Erasmus+  programme and therewith had the opportunity to live in Germany, Portugal, and Spain. She also did an Erasmus+ traineeship in Portugal and took part in Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs in Spain to pursue her dream of creating her own company.  

During her studies in International Business & Marketing and Communications she volunteered in a non-profit organisation Erasmus Student Network. Anna is currently following a Master in Gender Studies and is using her social media platforms to inspire and encourage young people to participate in mobility opportunities. 

Updated on Tuesday, 17/02/2026

My story took place in Brittany, France. I used to be a volunteer for nine months at Europ’Armor, a Europe Direct Center in the city of Saint-Brieuc with the objective of raising young people's awareness about the EU and their opportunities to go abroad.

This experience enabled me to make connections with people from all over Europe. We explored a multitude of gorgeous places in our surroundings and across the country. I realized what a great privilege it is to be a citizen of the EU. Since then, I can't get enough of interculturality.

To me, national boundaries and linguistic or cultural differences seem much less of an obstacle or a barrier than an enrichment in terms of communication, solidarity and so much more!

Apart from a couple of train strikes and a bit of pandemic, my memories of that time are exclusively positive. It was a tremendously precious experience!

Updated on Tuesday, 17/02/2026