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Voluntourism: Low cost travel or life changing opportunity?
The pros and cons of a growing trend: combining volunteering with tourism. And some practical tips to guide you in your search for the ethical holiday.
di Staff
Voluntourism: Holidaying with a difference
Voluntourism – a holiday mix that combines travelling to exotic places with volunteering – is booming. No longer confined to the reach of Gap year students looking for thrills, dedicating as little as 2 weeks of your holiday time to local projects can be a way to give meaning to recreation and help redirect holiday euros to a worthy cause. But the catchphrase that first took off in the USA, where a Travel Industry Association survey found that more than one quarter of travellers were interested in holiday charity work in 2007, is now taking hold in Europe too.
Charity challenges: a 365 day dare
The Financial Times calls it “sweating for charity”. Yes, sweating, because charity challenges are all about getting physical: climbing the Kilimanjaro, gliding down the Amazon river in a canoe or riding a mountain bike across the Thai-Cambodian border. And all to raise funds for charity.
Volunteering with the times: Become a microvolunteer
Time is gold in today’s world, and volunteering is a luxury that many can’t afford: between the little time off work people have and the time it takes to travel to and from destinations there are precious few hours left in a week to dedicate good causes. Which is why Spanish foundation Bip-Bip, that is dedicated to supporting volunteering through technology, has come up with a brand new volunteering concept: micro-volunteering.
Last minute call: Where to volunteer in Romania
Summer volunteering programmes offers you the possibility to combine free time and travel, the discovery of new cultures with the opportunity of supporting local communities and humanitarian projects. Who can participate? Everyone, whether you are looking for alternatives to tourism, whether you are looking to interact with the locals whether you simply want to do something different or are curious about volunteering… Romania offers loads of opportunities for you to enjoy.
What to read when on the road
Summer reading list for the socially committed
