Volunteer Vacations

These are programs where you travel for one to three weeks to “do good”…. You go to help the environment, to help educate, to build or repair homes, to help with research. There are long term volunteer programs of course, like the U.S. Peace Corps, or Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) which was started by the French, but even a week or two of volunteering can make a difference.
But before you rush out and sign up… there are some things to think about.
Do you really want to spend your holiday time working? It’s a noble idea… and many people really do enjoy it and feel rewarded and rejuvenated by the experience. But keep in mind that you WILL be working. Some groups will have you working all day with very little time for seeing the country. Other organizations provide more time for recreation. Be honest with yourself about what you want.
If you have any doubts, go with a program that has small amounts of volunteering at first. Travelocity has a “Travel for Good” program where you can just spend an afternoon of your holiday volunteering, and there are other programs to find out there. Just check on the internet.
You can volunteer to build houses or help study animals or go on archeological digs. Think about what your interests are and how much sun and dirt you want to put up with.
Some programs have nice accommodations, others must house their volunteers in very basic rooms or tents. Know before you sign up so you’ll be happy with your experience.
Some of the programs that sound very exotic and exciting will fill up quickly. We’ve talked with friends who have tried to sign up with Earthwatch to dive with dolphins, for instance, and the program was completely full.
Sometimes you don’t need any special skills, but you need to check on this too. There is no way you could scuba dive with those dolphins if you haven’t been certified in scuba!
Don’t think that a volunteer vacation will necessarily be a lot cheaper than other forms of travel. It may be cheaper, but you will be paying at least for your own airfare to get there. You may possibly have to pay for your lodging, and there may be small fees in addition to that. Many of the groups sponsoring these volunteer vacations are non-profits, so they have to get the money from somewhere.
And if you think that you can make it pay for itself by writing it off on your taxes, you may be right…. But you’d better check with your tax man just to be sure. Check carefully on the group you are considering volunteering with. Depending on the group you go with and where you go and what country you are from, it may not be tax deductible… or only part of it may be.
Volunteer vacations can be rewarding… much more satisfying than just sitting on a beach. So if you have done some soul searching and you think it might be for you, start looking around… you may soon find yourself helping people a world away.