Just as the summer holidays started, we, six Slovak participants, embarked on an adventurous journey to sunny Portugal. Our aim was to learn more about how we can strengthen our mental health and increase the quality of our lives by participating in various indoor and as well outdoor sport activities and active workshops. The youth exchange was mainly targeted for young people living in rural and isolated areas to introduce them to a different form of non-formal education and let them be a part of multicultural environment.

Our journey started at the Budapest Airport where we, as the Slovak group, met for the first time and got to know each other. After a short delay, we boarded the plane and rose to the sky at the break of dawn. Three hours later, we landed in Portugal’s second largest town, Porto. From there we got on a bus to our final destination, a small village Aguiar da Beira, two hours from Porto. On the bus we were joined by Greek participants. Except Greece and Slovakia, also the participants of Italy, Spain, North Macedonia, Romania and of course Portugal took part in the project. The first day ended with a wonderful dinner at a local restaurant and we moved to our accommodation in a nearby school area afterwards.

We started the second day with breakfast at the school and continued with icebreaking and teambuilding games to get to know each other. Then we went on a walk around the village to get familiar with the surroundings, and we had a nice view of the whole area from a local hill overlooking the village.

On the third day we were presented with an activity called Orientation, which was typical and the most popular sport in the area. Orienteering belongs to a group of sports that involve using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Therefore we were split in teams and given a compass and a map of the village marked with points we had to find and complete a small task we had been assigned to do at each point. In the afternoon we moved to the pool and enjoyed the rest of the sunny afternoon there. The evening belonged to our Slovak team for the first intercultural night of the project. We prepared a short Kahoot quiz and danced a traditional dance where everyone participated, so we had a lot of fun.

The fourth day was a sport day. After breakfast, divided into smaller teams, we took part in climbing, mini golf and mountain biking in the nature and local countryside. In the afternoon we moved to a local river beach where canoeing waited for us. Many of us tried it for the first time and had a lot of fun. We stayed afterwards at the river beach to take a rest from the very active but also very exhausting day.

On the fifth day, we visited the local mayor and received small gifts. The rest of the day was filled with teambuilding activities and experiencing local cuisine at a food market established in the school area. The evening was dedicated to the intercultural nights of the other participating countries.

The fifth day was the last day of the project before the departure day. We spent most of it at the river beach, chilling and enjoying the last free time together. In the evening, a goodbye party awaited us and we enjoyed every second of our remaining time with the other participants.

The last day eventually came and we bid goodbye to the cozy village and headed to Porto by bus. There we parted ways with others, hugged them tightly and hoped to see each other again sometime. Our Slovak team spent the day exploring the city of Porto and visiting its famous and beautiful places. At the end we separated and flew back home safely.