We are so excited you are considering going on a Print the Love trip! They are truly unique! This page should answer lots of your questions, but if not, check out our FAQs or email us anytime at hello@printthelove.org and we are happy to set up a call!
Join us for our special 10th Anniversary trip!
November 1-9, 2025, we will travel to Quito, Ecuador and the amazing Galapagos Islands to give away instant photographs to schools, hospitals, and remote villages. We give away as many as we possibly can to the children, parents, older adults, sick, and healing. Whether in a school yard or the maternity ward, a gift so personal is seldom given in humanitarian efforts. The influence and impact on each person and their families is significant. This trip will be led by Ceallaigh Smart. We are currently taking applications for the Ecuador team here. Submit your deposit here. Trip commitment is due May 15th, 2025.
Why go?
Print the Love offers a once in a lifetime opportunity to volunteer, travel, and experience first-hand the impact and love of giving away instant photos. Led by experienced world-travelers, our trips integrate unique service-learning work on the ground with personalized experiential learning objectives and travel exploration. As well, we adhere to strict ethical photography practices.
We travel with 3 objectives in mind – 1) honoring and celebrating others, 2) honoring and celebrating ourselves, and 3) honoring and celebrating the natural landscape.
See what others have had to say about their experiences here.
Service Learning: We believe the best way to learn is through experience! By learning from local service organizations and individuals, trip participants have a unique opportunity to explore the culture and make personal connections they wouldn’t otherwise have.
Random Acts of Kindness: It has been scientifically proven that random acts of kindness are good for the mental health of both the giver and the receiver. As a trip participant you are a catalyst for good in the world.
Peace-Building: The key to international relations and building a more peaceful world is on a person to person level. Giving away photos is magic for making connections!
In addition to serving others with random acts of kindness love, we believe there is more in us than we know. Traveling changes us in ways that staying in our own environments could never do. This allows us to discover ourselves in a deeper way and become more self-aware. We facilitate personal learning outcomes focusing on self-awareness and self-care on the trip. And by participating in appreciating the natural landscape, we connect with something bigger than ourselves.
Who should go?
You do not need to be a photographer to participate in Print the Love trips! A certain photography skill level is not required – kindness is. Do you want to create intentional time to make a unique impact on other’s lives in under-resourced communities, travel to off-the beaten path destinations, experience new cultures, connect with local communities and individuals? Do you desire to work on knowing yourself better and practicing self-care? Then this is the trip for you!
We have people of all ages join us from 13-75. We have had friends, couples, and siblings join the team together. As well, parents have joined us with their teens and have made memories for a lifetime!
Why Ecuador?
It has always been our vision to visit the least-resourced countries in the world to spread love and peace and to not only give the gift of a photo but also to support NGOs working on the ground on larger humanitarian issues. Multidimensional poverty measures the ratio of households in a given country that experience monetary poverty, educational poverty, and depravation of basic infrastructure services. Multidimensional poverty rate across Ecuador is 38.1%.
Trip Leader
The trip will be led by Ceallaigh Anderson Smart. She is the founder of Print the Love and has broad international travel experience leading groups. Her 20+years of expansive experience and degrees in Adventure Education, Art Therapy and Nonprofit Administration have given her distinctive skills to lead these trips with compassion and thoughtfulness.
Day Rundown (subject to change):
Day 1 – Travel to Quito and Rest
Day 2 - Visit urban schools and hospitals in Quito
Day 3 – Visit urban area and markets in Quito
Day 4 – Travel to Rural area
Day 5 – Visit remote village
Day 6 – Fly to Galapagos Islands
Day 7– Adventure Day
Day 8 – Visit Island Schools
Day 9 – Travel and Arrive Home
Costs
The total cost is $3,894 ($3,780*) per person. This includes:
All trip planning and logistics done for you
Lodging for 8 nights (We will be staying in rustic guesthouses or homestays. Depending on the lodging availability, single rooms will always be the priority. Double-occupancy lodging may be necessary.)
Meals for 9 days
An instant camera and film (500 pieces)
Travel Insurance through Volunteer Card
Visa
Daily Ground Transportation
Daily Spanish Translator
In-country flight to the islands
Park Fee for Galápagos National Park
Adventure Excursion
This does not include airfare to Quito. Other costs include a passport, if you don’t have one, vaccine requirements, and personal spending money for meals in the airport, snacks and souvenirs. You may be able to save costs by using airline miles. Let us know if you need more information.
Trip payment deadlines are:
$500 – due with application by May 15th, 2025
$1,697 ($1,640*) – Due by July 15th, 2025
$1,697 ($1,640*) – Remainder due by August 15th, 2025
All payments are non-refundable. Payment can be paid by credit card, personal check, or fundraising.
*Paying by check will have a 3% savings
Fundraising
If you are planning to raise support for the trip, we offer help with writing fundraising letters or setting up an online crowdfunding site. All contributions are tax – deductible.
Time commitment
In addition to the trip, there will be a few things required of you to prepare. You will be required to be a part of 4 group meetings and 2 personal phone meetings. Once a month in July, August, September, and October we will have a 1.5-hour evening meeting to connect as a team online. Exact dates are to TBD once the team is finalized. Some meetings may require follow-up tasks. You will also be required to do two 1-hour personal phone meetings with trip leaders.
It is not required but encouraged to do some reading on Ecuador and the culture, language, and history. Suggested resources will be shared.
Application
Deposit and trip application is due by May 15th, 2025. There are a limited number of spots. Applications are accepted on a first come first serve. The earlier you can start fundraising is helpful as well.
Policies
All participants are required to sign our Vulnerable Persons Protection Policy and Ethical Image Protection Policy.