Volunteering with kids around Thailand is still the only thing I’ve found that’s absolutely 100% guaranteed to make me happy. Today’s guest post is from Kirsty at Nerdy Nomad, who writes about international volunteering in her new guidebook.
Anyone who has been on the road for longer than a few months will relate to me when I say that being on the move all the time can become tiring. Passing through tourist towns on the way to the next ‘must-see’ monument or waterfall can often leave a traveler feeling empty and as though they’re just skimming the surface of one tourist town after another, drink in backpacker bars and interacting only with locals who work in the tourist industry.
One of the best ways I have found to combat this feeling and get more involved in local communities as I travel is to stick around for awhile and find something to do with myself. Sometimes this has meant renting an apartment and working on my internet business for a few months. Other times I have gotten a job doing weird and wonderful things like cooking for workers on a sheep station, scrubbing toilets in a hostel, or picking fruit. More recently, I have become addicted to volunteering, and spending my days pushing a wheelbarrow out in the hot sun or building houses is where my passion lies. For me, volunteering is the best way yet to really get involved on a local level in a meaningful way and since I have discovered it, my travel life has become a lot more interesting.
Unfortunately, finding somewhere to volunteer isn’t as easy as you would think. Do a Google search for ‘international volunteering’ and you will be bombarded with organizations offering you placements all around the world but with a price tag of hundreds or often thousands of dollars. Paying this kind of money to volunteer has never made any sense to me and I wanted something a bit more adventurous than having my hand held through the entire process, so I dug deeper.
I eventually found an American-based disaster relief organization called Hands On Disaster Response. They were mentioned on some random blog about a trip to the Philippines and I checked out their website. They were free to join and about to start a project in Bangladesh which fit well into my plans, so I took a leap of faith and, knowing very little about them, committed to joining them for two months in February, 2008.
This was one of the best choices I have made in my life and it was to kick start what has become an addiction to disaster relief volunteer work. I get so much out of volunteering that I can’t help but recommend it to every nice person I meet. I get to be involved in a community on an intimate level, meet local people, attempt to learn a new language (usually unsuccessfully), meet new friends and reconnect with old friends, learn new skills, and work alongside some inspiring people. I get to do all of this while helping out a community in need and hopefully making at least a little bit of a difference in someone’s life.
Disaster relief has become my thing but there are ways to help in many different areas all over the world. If you like working with children, consider working with street kids like Dwight from In Search of Sanuk helping out in orphanages, or teaching English, art or even sports in a local school. If you’re into construction, consider registering with Habitat for Humanity or looking for building projects. If you love nature then there are plenty of conservation organizations out there that could use some help.
Volunteering as you travel will open you up to many amazing experiences and really add an element to your trip that you can’t get as you pass through as a tourist. I am completely hooked on volunteering and I would have a hard time planning a trip without at least a short stint as a volunteer. Get involved! Help people in need while enriching your own life and travels in the process.
Grab The Underground Guide to International Volunteering today and help Kirsty raise $10K for Hands On Disaster Response.
Kirsty left Canada in 2001 and has been traveling, working, and volunteering abroad ever since. Her latest and greatest passion is volunteering and she has spent 11 months out of the past two years as a volunteer doing disaster relief work. She has written an ebook called ‘The Underground Guide to International Volunteering’ that she hopes will inspire other travellers to give their time as they travel the world. You can follow along with her travels on her blog, Nerdy Nomad.
i recently volunteered in india to work in a slum school teaching english. however, i did pay quite a bit to one of those volunteer groups you can find on the internet.. i would wholeheartedly recommend volunteering but think twice on the groups. to me, as a newbie and solo traveler, i wanted that extra cushion and ‘hand-holding’ process which is why i picked the group setting. HOWEVER, i think if you can DIY the travel experience, it’s a lot better because the groups are basically tourist packages (IMO) that simply offer an alternative ‘tour’ to your typical fare. therefore it is still first and foremost a business whose aim it is to make money. if you’re an idealistic 20something like a lot of these programs attract, you might feel like you’ve gotten taken advantage of which could sour the experience. just my 2 cents.
Great post Kirsty. You’ve written a fantastic guide that I know will be of use to so many people. I completely agree that volunteering is a great way to get to know a place.
We’ve become perpetual travellers too and although we’ve only been on the road for 3 weeks (this time round) we are already weary of the hostel scene. We’ve rented an apartment in Buenos Aires to focus on Spanish & internet businesses, but volunteering is definitely something we are going to do further down the line.
I completely agree with you about being disappointed by such high costs in the volunteer industry. I know that the money goes towards administration fees, etc., but I could never understand how a local could live really well for $1000 month but it cost me that much for a week just to live in a hut. When I think volunteering I get images of Habitat for Humanity in my head where you show up and work – sans any sort of fee.
For anyone interested, I would highly recommend checking this site out: http://www.truetravellers.org/destinations/. They offer relatively cheap volunteer programs (one orphanage in Thailand charges volunteers $35/week for room and board). I really believe that the cheaper it is to volunteer the more individuals would be willing to help out. Unfortunately, it seems that the ones that do not charge $1000/week are hard to find and do not get the publicity that others get.
Love this. Compassionate, fulfilling, interesting – what you’re recommending really hits all of the sweet spots for travelers looking for a different experience.
I just got back from my spring break trip; I spent the week in San Antonio, working with a community restoration project. It was a great trip, relatively cheap, and very helpful. Not only did I enjoy myself and get to meet some great people, but I was also able to do some useful work and get involved with the community. Now I’m debating if I can return for a longer period of time.
Kirsty, this is a great post!
I am living in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and while working full time I am also spending my free time volunteering at an orphanage/ international school teaching the teachers improved methodology and pronunciation skills. I love it!!!
I didn’t pay to do it & I’m not with a group either but I do agree that it can be difficult to find a good/ free organisation while in a location. My recommendation if google can’t help is to wait until you get somewhere you like and then do a little digging- talk to locals! Look around you, what’s made locally? Are there language schools? Can your guest house help? The work it takes to find somewhere rewarding is part of the adventure with the culture and the language and totally worth it!
Well done Kirsty!
Volunteering RULES!! I totally agree with everything there Kirsty. I’ve done quite a bit of volunteering as I travel around, mostly with animals. It can be tough to find worth while schemes that are reasonable and fun – long ago I bought the Green Volunteers guide and noticed straight away that the price of volunteering stints rose proportionately to how interesting the project was! You can do look after street dogs in Changmai for next to nothing, but if you want to help radio track Cheetahs in the Serengeti, better take out a second mortgage!
Recently though, I was lucky enough to contribute a chapter to a book called ‘The Voluntary Traveler’, published by Dogs Eye View Media. It’s a collection of volunteers each writing a chapter about their various experiences, the highs, lows and inherent comedy. Good book it was too! The back section listed hundreds of none-profit organizations and charities who are actively seeking volunteers, mostly with little or no cost at all. Dogs Eye View followed up earlier this year with a book called ’700 places to volunteer before you die’, which was billed as a sort of Yellow Pages of grass-roots voluntary projects. Either book is full of awesome info ( very probably duplicated between the two though), and if I had to recommend one I’d of course suggest ‘The Voluntary Traveler’, coz I was in it!
Seriously though, it’s so important to draw attention to these kind of small scale charities, as most of them operate on a miniscule or none-existent budget, and yet do amazing work that benefits so many. The people who run them are amongst the true unsung heroes of this world, selflessly dedicating their lives to making their corner of the world a little bit better, by any means necessary. If everyone donated a bit of their time to help one such project… well, for starters they’d feel a lot better about themselves!
Anyhow, good luck and keep it up!
Tony James Slater
It’s amazing what you are doing. I love the fact that you just go around trying new jobs. Volunteering definitely gives you one of the best feelings in the world. I am actually really surprised how hard it is to find volunteering opportunities
Volunteering while traveling is a great idea! I never even thought about doing it but it’s such a great way to get to know the area better while actively making the area better!
Win-win at it’s finest. Thanks for the article
Great post! It’s so true that happiness comes fastest when we’re helping others. While world travel is wonderful, after a while, the self absorption that can happen can lead to feeling dissatisfied. There’s no better cure than turning your attention outward. And think of the good you leave behind.
Hey Kirsty, thanks for an interesting and informative post. I’m a great believer in volunteering while travelling. It’s a great way to become a real part of the communities that we all travel to experience, rather than just passing through. It’s also a great way to give back!