Project World School: retreats for the teenagers everyone else forgets

What Project World School Does

• Immersive teen retreats: multi-day programmes running roughly 9 to 17 days in destinations such as Mexico, Greece and Peru.
• Temporary learning communities: each retreat deliberately forms a self-governing group, so the social dynamics are part of the curriculum rather than a side effect.
• Culture and history in place: hands-on exploration of the destination, including service projects and volunteering, instead of classroom hours.
• Personal development: explicit focus on social-emotional growth, independence and global citizenship at exactly the age when travelling families start to worry about both.
• Year-round mentoring: the sister organisation, Transformative Mentoring for Teens, runs 12-week courses, 1:1 coaching and a tween programme between retreats.

Why It Makes Sense for Nomads

Worldschooling infrastructure skews heavily toward primary-age children. Hubs, pop-ups and co-learning spaces are mostly built for under-twelves, and parents of teenagers routinely report that their fifteen-year-old has nothing to do and nobody their own age. Project World School exists specifically for that group, and sends the teenager somewhere independently rather than requiring the whole family to relocate.

It is also useful as a pressure valve. A travelling teenager who spends two weeks with peers in a structured, self-directed setting comes back with their own experiences rather than only their parents' itinerary, and that tends to defuse a lot of the resentment that ends family travel early.

Co-founders Lainie Liberti and Miro Siegel have been in worldschooling since its early days and also run the We Are Worldschoolers community, so the retreats are well connected to the wider network rather than standalone.

Pricing

Retreats are priced individually by destination and length. Check the specific retreat page, and note that flights are typically not included.

The best answer available to the question of what travelling teenagers actually do all day.