Just about anybody you ask will tell you they’ve dreamed about traveling around the world in some fantastical way or another. Maybe you want to see all the lighthouses of the world or visit the most remote jungles or maybe even backpack your way through Europe. Whatever your travel fantasy is, you’re not alone. Mostly everyone loves a good travel adventure. However, what about volunteer travel? Could it be right for you?
What better way to see the world and make a difference than through volunteer travel? What is volunteer travel? When you match your talents and skills with organizations that desire to make a difference, you can also get to see the world from a different point of view. What better way to see the world than to see it through the eyes of someone else?
A Sense of Purpose
When you travel to volunteer, you discover a sense of purpose. While anyone can write out a check, it takes someone special to travel abroad to make a difference, make a change, and make an impact. Chances are, you will travel abroad to make a difference somewhere only to come home and discover that you are different instead.
Most people that travel abroad say volunteer travel has changed their lives for the better and forever. They get to see how much they have, experience other cultures, and come home with a renewed sense of hope and purpose in their everyday lives.
Volunteer travel is not just a one-time excursion, it’s more like a life-changing experience.
A Sense of Community
When you are in the trenches of volunteering and making a difference, chances are you will connect with complete strangers in a way that you’ve not connected with anyone else; even people you’ve known all your life.
More than likely, you will have made friends for a lifetime when you volunteer travel. Why is that? Because when you surround yourself with like-minded people, you have an instant connection. Moreover, the experiences you will have will create memories of a lifetime which will be connected to those people you meet.
A Sense of Adventure
When you set out to travel to explore volunteer work, you might wind up helping out in an orphanage, or lending a hand to an environmental program. Whether you learn to speak Spanish in Peru, share your living space with a village in Fiji or do some environmental work in the depths of the Amazon jungle, there’s nothing to compare to the sense of adventure you’ll experience during your volunteer travel time.
There are so many benefits in volunteer traveling. You’ll get to learn different languages, taste different foods, and experience various cultures. Having volunteer travel on your resume is always an amazing benefit, as well. It can land you the job and make you stand out from the rest of the applicants. You’ll experience amazing growth in many areas of your life.
If you’ve ever wanted to see the world, learn and absorb as much culture as you can, grow an appreciation for your life and the lives of others, then travel volunteerism might be right for you.