As a student of international development, it's safe to say your career will take you to developing cities all over the world. So, we thought it would be worthy to explore the top 10 places international development students should go. (Though aspiring students and development professionals will also find this list handy as well.)

Please note this list has some personal biases. It’s also important to note that any travel should be thoroughly examined and carefully assessed prior to departure. While travelling and exploring the global south can be extremely enriching, especially for those considering a career in development, it is not without it's risks.

If you are like me, you probably have a lot of causes that are near and dear to you. You might have pursued international development with hopes of giving back to the world, only to be dissuaded by the harsh realities that are exposed by this academic field.

Are you almost done school and getting prepared to join the workforce? Nervous that you may not have the right combination of skills and experience that today’s employers are looking for? If so, join the crowd.

While we haven’t done any scientific research, we can assure you that more and more soon to be grads are weary, rather than excited, about their post-academic prospects.

Before I begin, let’s be clear. Africa is the second largest continent on the planet, the second most populated, and has the most countries (55) of any. It is not one place, one country, one anything, as is so often depicted.

I don’t know if I’m the only one thinking this, but lately watching the news or reading the paper is more shocking and upsetting than usual.

Back in 2012, I found myself in rural Uganda, visiting a series of schools in different communities that were coping with a variety of challenges. This was my second stint in Uganda, having previously been in the country researching the arrival of big oil.

The main focus of today’s educational experience was to visit the unique, Afro-Ecuadorian community of Salinas.  To note, today is Good Friday and it was interesting to observe what similarities and differences that are practiced on this holy day in Canada and Ecuador. 

Today we woke up to the wonderful views of Banos, had breakfast, and made our way up from 2000 metres to 4000 metres towards our next stop, Quilotoa. On our way, it was easier to see the landscape progressing from the rivers and valleys of Banos to the small farming communities of the high up Andes.

We woke and went downstairs for breakfast. After thinking we were going for our hike, we briefly stopped at one of the cable car canyon crossings. Thinking we were just stopping to look around, we found out that we were actually going on the cable car that went from cliff to cliff right by the waterfall.

Hey! Its Courtney and today is day 7 of our trip to Ecuador! I was nominated to do the blog today because it’s my birthday and this is probably the best place to spend it! This morning, we left Sinchi Warmi, which was pretty difficult because of how beautiful it was there and how great the staff took care of us!