Costs

The program fee is $3,970 which includes:

✔️ Roundtrip airfare to Poland from the U.S.
✔️ Visa (if required)
✔️ In-country airport pick-up and drop-off with your group
✔️ Housing
✔️ WiFi
✔️ Three at-home meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
✔️ Pre-departure + in-country training
✔️ Local support
✔️ 24/7 emergency assist line from ILP headquarters
✔️ International SOS membership
✔️ Hands-on education
✔️ Meaningful service opps

Additional items (like your passport and domestic travel to and from the U.S. group departure airport) and in-country costs (like vacations, shopping, and activities) are not included. See a more detailed list here. It depends on your personal spending habits, but most volunteers recommend budgeting around $1,500-3,500 for the semester to make the most of your time in Poland.

We have custom monthly payment plans to help you make it work. That can be especially helpful if you’re saving up little by little, by working or doing fundraising.

An ILP Exchange Trip

This type of trip means that the kids you are working with pay a fee to attend our English classes. That fee is used to help subsidize your program fee, which enables us to offer this experience at a more affordable price than it would have been.

Your students typically come from middle to upper-class families who are looking to provide their children with the best education and every opportunity in life. Learning English from a native speaker can put the kids at such an advantage later in life.

Is Poland right for me?

Each location is unique and therefore has its pros and cons. What falls into those two categories will really depend on the person you talk to, but we’ve put together common complaints we hear most about volunteering here. Knowing the typical pain points that just come along with the experience will help as you consider which country is best for you.

• This is a new program, with the first group here in Spring 2024. Over the first few semesters, we’re still working out the kinks so you’ll need to be a bit flexible. The first groups also don’t have recommendations passed down from previous volunteers — your group needs to be adventurous to discover the best spots (which means a bit of trial and error).
• Where you live is a hub and it’s very easy to travel throughout Poland and the rest of Europe, even on a typical weekend. More travel typically equals more spending. It can be very easy to overspend on your personal budget if you’re not careful.
• This is an Exchange Program which means your students come from more affluent families (typically middle to upper class) as compared to the Humanitarian Programs.

About Your Group

This program has about 4-6 volunteers in a group, which is some of our smallest group sizes!

Our Poland program is the best fit for:

• Single females
• 18-about 25ish years old
• Volunteers from the U.S.
• No experience needed!

About Your City

You’re living in the Polish countryside outside of Warsaw, getting an authentic experience living amongst the locals!

Your cute town is small and home to a little under 8,000 residents. It’s completely walkable, so make sure to bring your tennies to get around when you’re headed to school, the grocery store, and the park downtown. Life is a little quieter here and that’s the best part.

Jump on the train and you’ll be in the capital in less than an hour. Warsaw is so vibrant — The architecture here is painted a rainbow of colors, each building stacked side by side. Warsaw is also the hub of Eastern Europe, so you’re more than set for access to trips all across Poland and beyond.

The landscape around you is hiding gems tourists always miss — national parks, forests, and even sand dunes. Kayak the river, zipline through the forest, and hike the many trails. You won’t get bored here in Poland.

Glimpse A Day In Poland

Wake up and have breakfast with your ILP group! Today it’s cereal, yogurt, and bread — Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are all typical local meals provided by your school, so it’s all taken care of.

Your ILP group lives in a house or an apartment (found in a local neighborhood) so it’s like one little family. The group in Poland is small, with about 4-6 volunteers who all live, teach, and travel together. It makes for a tight-knit group experience that’s for sure.

Since you don’t teach until noon, your mornings are free. Go for a run around town, write in your journal, organize the photos from your trip last weekend, or work on an online class. Today you leave a bit early so you can stop by the bakery and grab a treat on your way to school.

Your ILP semester is focused on experiencing the culture and the food is definitely a part of that. Traditional Polish meals are so hearty with lots of soups, chicken, pork, dumplings (you’ve got to try the pierogis!), potatoes, and apples.

But we’re big, big fans of the sweets. In Poland, you won’t go far before running into a cafe or bakery serving up donuts, churros, and croissants dipped in chocolate … and oh the ice cream!

The school is about a 15-20 minute walk from home and classes are in the afternoon from about 12-4 PM, Monday-Friday. You get to teach a wide range of students, from 5-15 years old. Your cute kids take English classes during their normal school hours, so they love getting to practice what they’ve learned with you.

Another huge perk is all the travel opportunities here. Not far from home is a train station and an airport that services budget flights, not to mention the many additional routes you have from Warsaw just an hour away. The hardest part is deciding where you’re going — Poland has castle after castle in charming and colorful cities sprinkled across the country … and you can easily jump over to just about any country in Europe.

On the weekends explore Poland — take the train to the biggest castle in the world, kayak at the nearby river, or set your toes on the sandy beach at the Baltic Sea.