For three years, Thailand was my home. So when I got married there in January 2025, it was the perfect catalyst for an adventure our New Leaf Academy team had long been dreaming of. My good friends and fellow tutors, Kai and Marcus, flew out for the wedding. It was a chance for Marcus to first visit his family in Vietnam and connect with his roots, and from there, the three of us began our journey.
Before it officially began, we decided to become students again. The three of us, who hadn't been in a classroom together for seven years, signed up for a scuba diving course. For a day, we were back at our desks learning about physics, biology, and safety protocols before putting it all into practice in the ocean. It was a powerful and humbling reminder of what it feels like to be a beginner—that mix of excitement and nervousness—a perspective we now carry into every single tutoring session.
In March, our team reunited in the vibrant city of Kolkata. Our time in India was an immersion in profound history and beauty. We navigated the sacred ghats of Varanasi, marvelled at the Taj Mahal, and stood in awe of the ancient Ellora Caves.
Successfully navigating one of the world's most complex and vibrant societies taught us invaluable lessons in planning, flexibility, and breaking down daunting challenges into manageable steps—a skill we use daily to help students conquer complex topics.
Our journey required us to be adaptable. Our original overland route from India was altered by events beyond our control; due to escalating violence in the contested Kashmir region, the border with Pakistan was closed indefinitely. Prioritising safety, we immediately revised our plans. We saw this not as a setback, but as an opportunity to explore a different path. A flight took us to Uzbekistan, and into the heart of Central Asia. Here, we often found ourselves without a shared language. Relying on patience, gestures, and good humour, we learned to bridge communication gaps with creativity. It was a profound lesson in finding new ways to connect and understand—perfect training for helping a student articulate a question they don't quite know how to ask.
Next came Kazakhstan, which offered a powerful metaphor for the learning process itself. Our five-day road trip was a journey through a constant shift in terrain. We drove from bustling cityscapes into an Australian-style outback, saw sand dunes taller than cathedrals, and crossed vast plains filled with wild horses. The landscape evolved again into dusty mesas and finally into deep, stunning canyons and alpine mountains, where we stayed in a traditional yurt.
This experience, followed by a 2000-kilometre train ride, was a vivid reminder that the journey of learning is never a straight line. It involves different terrains, from challenging climbs to wide-open plains of understanding, and the best way through is with teamwork and a shared sense of adventure.
From Kazakhstan, we travelled to Georgia, hiking around beautiful castles before crossing into Turkey. Here, we found that kindness and connection are a universal language. Our journey through Turkey was a journey through time itself. In Gaziantep, we visited Göbeklitepe, a structure three times older than Stonehenge, igniting a sense of wonder that we strive to bring to our students. In Cappadocia, we explored the fairy chimneys, and in Istanbul, we finally saw the magnificent Hagia Sophia.
These moments reinforced our belief that the foundation of all good teaching is a strong, supportive rapport built on mutual trust. Our final leg took us by boat to Athens to see the Acropolis—a powerful symbol of human intellect and curiosity. After a brief rest in Albania, we made our way through Europe, arriving back in the UK this summer.
This journey was more than a collection of stories; it was an unforgettable education in the very qualities we promise our students at New Leaf Academy. It taught us that true communication requires boundless creativity and patience, that perseverance is key to any great undertaking, and that a deep sense of curiosity is the greatest tool a learner can possess. Having returned to the UK, we are not just travellers, but a more resilient, empathetic, and resourceful team of tutors, fully settled and ready to guide our students on their own unique journeys of discovery.
- Dan Thomas, Founder of New Leaf Academy