High School Abroad in Spain with Greenheart Travel

Many people use Greenheart and have good experiences. Had everything gone smoothly with our child’s host family placement during her high school semester in Spain, that might have been true for us. However, if there is a need to move host families, you might not be able to count on Greenheart. Our daughter had to move due to domestic violence. Greenheart and their in-country partner CCI bungled just about every decision from the moment they were informed of the emergency up until our child’s last day with the program. After moving her to a new family and location, the local coordinator was a particular problem. She was strangely critical with our child and made statements that interfered with her relationship with the new host family. Throughout the ordeal neither Greenheart nor CCI were proactive about ensuring our daughter’s well-being. Many organizations are suffering now with such low participation during the pandemic. But nothing can explain their insensitivity and poor judgment. Greenheart was having staff turnover so perhaps if they get their house back in order they can provide kind, attentive service. I wrote to the Greenheart CEO after our child was safely back in the country and was told that the problem was our daughter’s inability to adapt and make a success of her situation – they accepted no responsibility.

I recently have returned from my exchange in Albacete, Spain, and I could not be happier with with my time abroad! GreenHeart Travel prioritizes the meaningfulness of exchange as one of its core values. One thing that stood out to me during the pre-departure steps was an activity to write out our goals while on the program to ensure we have a meaningful exchange. While searching for study abroad programs, GreenHeart stood out to me as the program that truly cared about your goals and needs. GreenHeart's team matched me with a host family that shares my active lifestyle and it was a perfect fit! My host sisters and I talk everyday now that I am home, and we are hoping to reconnect on one continent or the other soon! I definitely recommend this program for anyone looking to go abroad!

My daughter’s experience with Greenheart has been wonderfully amazing......starting with the application process, all the way to her experience in Spain! To start, we happen to turn in our application very close to the cutoff date, but Greenheart and our wonderful program director worked super hard to get all our paperwork in order and find the perfect family just in time. The outmost care and detail was put in to make sure that our daughter was placed in a home that was not only safe and loving but also the perfect fit. She is absolutely loving her host family, school, culture and is learning so much! I also want to add how I love how Greenheart listens and understands each student as an individual, and therefore attends to their needs as such. We had looked into several other programs and based on my research AND experience Greenheart is #1 !!!! Thank you Hope and thank you Greenheart! ~Nazanin (Los Angeles, Ca)