Volunteer Travel: Families Navigate the New Mainstream
Image source: Handsonblog.org
Just a few short years ago, volunteering with your family may have sounded like a strange, foreign concept. There have always been outgoing families, ready for adventure. But in the mainstream culture, volunteer vacations weren’t something people did very often. Volunteering has traditionally been under the purview of the young and unattached. The stereotype was of the hippie explorer, wide-eyed and idealistic, with his backpack and bare feet. It was the PeaceCorps—more of a commitment than a discreet project—a two-year foray into a career of service, not a two week vacation with family. But today, that has all changed, and in a big way. Mainstream media outlets are touting the benefits of family volunteering, and families are listening. It’s a great time to have kids. Organizations are catering to young families too—families with five and six-year-olds, kids whose lives can be forever altered by experiencing new cultures in new places.