Bitten by the youth exchange bug
Alicia, NetherlandsIt was very much out of my comfort zone to join a youth exchange, but overall a very fun experience. Two years later, all I want is my personally organised youth exchange to take place as soon as possible!
My name is Alicia and when I was 16, I joined a youth exchange for the first time. We had to leave from the airport in the middle of the night and it was super cold, and we were very nervous as well. It wasn’t like anything I had done before, it was way out of my comfort zone. However, I got bitten by the youth exchange bug and have been working on – and have gotten Erasmus+ Youth funding for – our own youth exchange since then.
For eight days, together with young people from Slovenia, Moldova, Cyprus, England and of course the Netherlands, we got together in Slovenia’s capital Ljubljana. We stayed in a hostel that used to be a prison, which made it a very pretty and interesting place. The exchange was called ‘From your passion to your dream job’ and we explored many diverse topics and did different kinds of workshops like cake baking, photography and writing resumés.
Together with three friends, who also were part of the youth exchange in Slovenia, we are now counting down to our own youth exchange, together with a partner from Finland. It’s been postponed because of Covid, but I can’t wait for it to finally happen!
Updated on Marți, 17/02/2026