How to Volunteer your Time During Vacations

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By Julie McElroy
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Kids in Thailand

Volunteer travel is great for people that enjoy volunteer work, but also like to travel. If you are looking for an alternative vacation or holiday, try voluntourism.

Voluntourism is a new industry for people who want to volunteer their time to help others while traveling, too. By combining the two, this provides a great way for people to travel to other places while contributing to the community with volunteer work.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Travel Documents

Step 1

DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT.

Vacations are valuable for most people. If this trip will be your only vacation time for the year, be realistic in what you are looking for. There are volunteer vacations that go across the spectrum from all-volunteer type vacation to just a couple days during the week. Ask yourself these questions:

- Are you looking for hard labor like construction? This is probably the most common opportunity.
- Do you want to teach English or provide an educational opportunity?
- Are you interested in environmental volunteer work?
- Is you primary interest in working with children or orphans?
- How much of your vacation do you want to spend volunteering?
Step 2

KNOW YOUR LIMITS.

If you plan on going to a foreign country, understand that vacations in third world countries, especially away from the touristy parts, will be a lot different than vacation in Disneyland. Typically, a volunteer trip is designed to help those less fortunate than yourself.

If you have health problems or for other reasons have certain travel requirements, know your limits. Some places will not have indoor plumbing, comfortable beds, or air conditioning. Many of these communities will be poverty-stricken and diseased. Be aware of these situations and know what your comfort requirements are.
Step 3

EDUCATE YOURSELF.

There are plenty of resources to research about places to volunteer and what the needs are for certain cities or villages you are considering for vacation. You can volunteer on your own, but I would recommend using a volunteer tour operator.

There are plenty of reputable ones including:
- Ambassadors for Children
- Cross-Cultural Solutions
- Globe Aware
- I-to-I
- Transitions Abroad

Once you decide on a tour operator, do some more research.
Step 4

RESEARCH THE TOUR OPERATORS.

There are many tour operators that offer volunteer vacations, so it is important you do your research to figure out which one suits you best. Look at all the fine print, ask questions about fees or other pertinent information. Things to ask include:

- Is this company non-profit?
- Where do the fees go? Are they tax deductible?
- What will my accommodations be like?
- How much time in the day will I be volunteering?
- What type of work will I be doing?
- What is covered - meals, lodging, etc.?
Step 5

CHOOSE A LOCATION.

You may have an idea of what you want to do and how much time you have, so next is to figure out where you want to do the volunteer work and take your vacation. As the earlier steps indicated, KNOW what you want and KNOW your limits. This should help you decide where you want to go. Depending on the tour operator you choose to use, the locations may be limited. Many of them offer travel opportunities all over the world.
Step 6

CHOOSE THE TYPE OF VOLUNTEER WORK.

This will narrow down your decision even further. Once you decide on where you will travel, decide what opportunities are available in this community. If the location is more important for your vacation than the type of volunteer work, you may do this step first. What is important is that you chose a volunteer vacation that works for you.
Step 7

PREPARE FOR FOREIGN TRAVEL IF REQUIRED.

If you are going to a foreign country, please be aware of the requirements for entry into that country. This may include visas, depending on how long you will be there. If you are going with a tour operator, they should make this very clear to you.

* Have all required documents: Passport, visa, travel insurance
* Please verify with a doctor if any shots are required before you go to a specific region of the world.