Volunteer Vacations Guide

Michelle Higgins, The New York Times Practical Traveler, has written a quick guide to Volunteer Vacations.

Budget Excursions for Volunteers offers some tips for travelers interested in combining some good works along with their adventure vacation.

FlyForGood.com is the recommended place to start with its Trip Finder and discounted airfares. Partnered organizations have already been vetted by nonprofit watchdog organizations such as GuideStar and Charity Navigator.

For online fundraising sites for groups, try Razoo.com and NetworkForGood.com.

Travelocity.com’s Travel for Good program offers green travel options, volunteer vacation packages and a chance to win a $5,000 grant  toward a voluntourism trip.

Other suggestions include:

• Appalachian Mountain Club
• Cross-Cultural Solutions
• Marco Island Marriott Resort, Golf Club & Spa
• Sierra Club
• Rock Resorts Give and Getaway

Elderhostel becomes Road Scholar

Forget Exploritas, the short-lived appellation of  Elderhostel.

The new, and hopefully longer lasting, name for the non-profit educational travel organization is Road Scholar.  The name change reflects the group’s divergence away from ascetic accommodations and Seniors Only travelers.  Now,  participants may  stay in three and four star hotels and bring along their grandchildren.

Try the Advanced Search feature to find programs that meet your needs, based on destination, departure date, activity level, price or other options.  With over 8,000 tours available, you just might find one that works for you.

Travel with a Purpose

If you are looking to combine travel with a volunteer opportunity, you may want to investigate the Service Learning programs being offered by Exploritas, the newly re-visioned Elderhostel.

A list of currently available projects from dinosaur digging to dolphin tracking to fruit farming and more can be found on this page. Customize your selection through the Advanced Search option.  Choose by location, dates and price point.  Refine your results by using the Keyword Search box and entering a project type, such as “teaching”.  Be sure to select “Service Learning” as the Program Type.

Want to expand your options beyond Exploritas?  Visit Idealist.org, a volunteer vacations clearing house website sponsored by Action Without Borders, a non-profit with offices in the U.S. and Argentina.  Currently listing over 2,000 programs from 95,000 organizations, the site is a great place to discover new ways in which to donate your time and skills.

For those specifically interested in farming, consider joining WWOOF, World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, a non-profit organization.  Members have access to a list of host farms throughout the world seeking volunteers.  Farming and non-farming opportunities outside of the WWOOF network such as Workaway and Voluntourism are also listed.

Photo of grape stomp (cc) by jessicafm and republished here under a Creative Commons license.  Some rights reserved.

Volunteer Vacations

The American Hiking Association

http://www.americanhiking.org

On an AHS Voluteer Vacation you visit stunning backcountry locations to construct or rebuild footpaths, cabins and shelters.

Cross-Cultural Solutions

http://www.crossculturalsolutions.org

Cross-Cultural Solutions is a not for profit international volunteer organization that operates volunteer programs in Brazil, China,Costa Rica, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Peru, Russia Tanzania and Thailand.

Earthwatch
http://www.earthwatch.org

Earthwatch Institute engages people worldwide in scientific field research and education to promote understanding and action for a sustanible environment.

Global Volunteers
http://www.globalvolunteers.org Live and work with local people on life affirming community development projects for one, two or three weeks.

Habitat for Humanity International
http://www.habitat.org Habitat for Humanity Global Village trips give participants an opportunity to work alongside team members of a host community, raising awareness of the burden of poor housing and building decent affordable housing worldwide.