Volunteer Travel

Travelocity: Travel for Good

$5000 Grant for Travel for Good Winner

Image source: Wetv.com

Travelocity is one of the giants of online travel planning. Kids these days don’t go to travel agents. We don’t need third-party facilitators to book our white water rafting trips or our day hikes through the redwood forests. We do it ourselves, on the Internet. By now, most travel businesses have moved online. Those that haven’t are either catering to a very specific demographic of wealthy, typically older travelers, or they’re swiftly shooting down the out-of-business luge run. Travelocity has succeeded as a business because we all want control of our destinies. Perhaps that’s putting it dramatically but the point is made: 2012 travelers are self-possessed, savvy, and resourceful.

Voluntourism.org: A Dynamite Resource for the Voluntour Universe

Australian Volunteers Working in Marine Conservation

Image source: Adventure.howstuffworks.com

No matter who you are—a young professional, an inner-city high school student with big dreams, an empty nester, a college graduate, or a stay-at-home mom—when you’re planning a voluntour, you need good information. Once you’ve decided to voluntour, you’ve taken the first step, and that’s a big accomplishment. You’ve probably thought long and hard about what you want out of life, what you care about, and how you want to make a difference. It’s a life-changing decision and you’re well on your way, but there’s more to be done!

The Gap Year: A Unique Opportunity for Long-Term Volunteering

A Recent High School Graduate Working in Ghana for Her Gap Year

Image source: Safari-guide.co.uk

When I was in college, I didn’t appreciate the harsh reality of a 9-5 job. When you’re young you see the world as full of possibility, and it is. But as you get older, take a job and start a family, those possibilities narrow. Employers expect a lot. American workers have the least paid vacation time of all wealthy industrial nations. For most of us, unless we quit our jobs, leaving our lives for a year is not a possibility. But for college-age adults, taking a year off before or during college is a much more realistic option.

Free and Paid Volunteer Opportunities The World Over

Teaching Local People in Mali How to Use Digital Resources

Image source: En.wikipedia.org

As we have discussed here before, volunteering abroad can be an expensive prospect. Even when you’re working with programs that provide food and housing, you’re still responsible for airfare and other travel-related expenses, and in this difficult economic climate that can really add up. It’s a bit ironic: economies all over the world are suffering, and that means communities everywhere are in need of help, yet volunteers are financially pressed too. I wonder how many people decide not to volunteer because of financial concerns. My guess is, a lot. While I was doing research for my cousin—she wants to volunteer in Asia but has no savings to pay for airfare—I stumbled across some excellent volunteer programs that cover all expenses. Some even offer a stipend! The only catch is that most of these programs are looking for people with specific types of experience. However, the needs are broad and many people will qualify. For example, my cousin is great with computers so I recommended Geekcorps.

NGO Profile: All Hands Volunteers

All Hands Volunteers NGO Logo

Image source: Vimeo.com

All Hands Volunteers is focused on “providing hands-on assistance to survivors of natural disasters around the world, with maximum impact and minimum bureaucracy.” There are several things that make this NGO unique. For starters, they provide housing and food for volunteers, so all you have to do is cover travel expenses. Since budgeting is such a huge problem for so many eager workers, providing these services means more people get to the scene of the disaster, and they get there fast.