Staff Interview with Chloë Liebenberg

How would you describe your day job to a child?

I help people to find the ways that they are going to change the world.

What does a typical day look like for you?

My job is wonderfully diverse! I spend time in the mornings responding to applicants, working with our host organizations to ensure the best match for a new applicant, and working with logistical arrangements for incoming interns. I then check in with interns in-country to make sure that all of them are alright or if they need any additional support.

Then I collaborate with host organizations to assist in finding them the right support. The rest of my day is spent working on program development where I design new and exciting travel opportunities and liaise with our incredible thought leaders to facilitate meaningful engagements with our purposeful travelers.

What does conscious purposeful travel mean to you?

Being a conscious traveler is more than just being aware of the place one is visiting. It's choosing to be involved in local customs and spending time outside of your comfort zone in order to understand different perspectives. It's recognizing that we all experience the world through different lenses and with a different exposure to the ways in which people experience the world, we can build a meaningful, open-minded, and relevant understanding of our surroundings.

Traveling with purpose is the way in which we choose to interact with the world; do everything with kindness and explore all things that are new.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

My grandfather used to tell me that the road that takes you there will always bring you back, so don't ever be afraid of going to new places. I've kept this at heart and have traveled, lived, and worked all over the world!

Why do you think internships are important?

The opportunity to explore the world through a different lens and recognize your ability to contribute meaningfully is far more valuable than any classroom-based learning can ever teach. Being in a real situation where your opinion is valued, and your contribution necessary, helps you to grow your experience.

What destination excites and inspires you?

At the moment, my heart is aching to revisit Cambodia... it has such a rich cultural history and a vibrant, current energy.

How do you want to improve yourself in the next year?

I will continue to celebrate the small things while embracing every opportunity to grow and to learn.

What is your personal mission statement?

Endeavour to do everything with kindness and be brave in your explorations. Open-minded, collaborative, adventurous, adaptable, happy.

What is your guilty pleasure?

Never guilty but certainly a pleasure! I celebrate every Friday with sparkling wine in our garden at home or somewhere beautiful.

What are you currently reading?

Anansi Boys by Niel Gaiman. I absolutely love his writing and often treat myself to a re-read of his novels.

In your opinion, what makes if I could… different from other international program providers?

We give you the opportunity to try everything twice! Explore off the beaten track, meet the locals, have at least a ‘no thank you bite’ of every new food you can – then talk to the person who made it for you and find out a myriad of incredible things about culture and tradition, ask questions, be kind, share with others and you’ll have so much shared with you!

If you could switch jobs with someone in the office, who would it be and why?

I love my job!

What do you love most about your job?

I get to meet such incredible people from all over the world and all walks of life who come to our program to do meaningful things in our host countries. I have learned about humility again and again- it’s so great hearing another perspective.

If you could participate in any if I could program, which one would it be and why?

Definitely the Children and Youth program, and I would probably do it in Hanoi. I have studied education and specialized in curriculum development and special education. I encouraged children to ask big questions and expect big answers right from Kindergarten all the way to 12th grade.I have also lived and worked in incredible spaces and learned to ask my own big questions and expect big answers that informed my teaching and contributed to life-changing experiences.

And finally, what inspired your very first trip abroad (that you planned)?

I was born to travel, I have travel hard-wired into me. My parents blessed and cursed me with an incredible curiosity about the world and its diverse cultures.

When I had asked about people living in far away places they showed me images of remote villages in Tibet, and my bedtime stories came from a book filled with traditional stories from around the world. I used this same book years later to teach little people about how we as humans are more alike than we are different.

My first trip overseas that I planned was right after school when I lived in Bangladesh and traveled most of Southeast Asia and the Subcontinent, many of my visits felt like homecomings because of the stories and artifacts I had heard and played with as a child.