“Remember that happiness is in the way you travel, and not the destination you are traveling to.”
These exemplary words by Roy M. Goodman subtly explains why it is important to emphasize on the way you travel abroad. People take holiday trips to relax, rejuvenate, explore, experience, and sometime just because they are bored of their monotonous life. It takes months of planning and budgeting to design the entire itinerary and ultimately ends up at some fancy destination, where you are nothing but a part of a gamut of tourists; doing the same thing you did in all your previous trips.
However, there is one way of traveling, which not just takes you to places you had never even thought of traveling to, but also suffice most of the basic reasons of traveling; especially experience. A way of traveling, which is not alien to most vagabonds, backpackers, and gap year travelers, and yet needs to be highlighted as much as possible. Volunteering abroad is a way of traveling that is practiced mostly by gap year students to gain experience of traveling alone, explore new destinations, and witness the various shades of traditions and culture around the world.
If you are looking for reasons to why volunteer traveling is one of the most experiential way of traveling, look no further. Below are the reasons that will suffice the statement:
You get to live with the natives
Airbnb may provide you with best renting and lodging options at a destination, but even that makes you nothing more than a tenant to a local. However, when you travel to volunteer abroad, there are opportunities to live with a host family as the part of the family and not just guests. And simply imagine the extent of learning and information you may get from the hosts during your sojourn. The lifestyle, history, daily challenges, cultural and traditional nuances, useful phrases in local language, a favorite delicacy; it’s a gamut of learning and a huge opportunity to live like a local and not like a tourist.
You meet people from different parts of the world
This one is specially for the ardent solo travelers, traveling miles away from home, family, and friends in order to help improve several disadvantaged lives. The good news is, just like you, there are several other solo travelers who travel to volunteer abroad, and with whom you will get to meet, interact, and live during you entire program. This is an opportunity to not just make new friends, but also to learn about the culture and lifestyle of their country, and share some amazing moments together. Learning about several different countries in just one trip; not a bad deal, eh!
You get to travel on budget
Let us compare the way you would have prepared your itinerary had you been planning for a leisure trip, with planning the itinerary for a volunteering trip abroad. For a regular trip you would have jotted down these things mainly;
- Transport cost (to and fro, and connecting flights)
- Tourist hotspots to visit (list of heritage sites and monuments; by the way, that has a cost too)
- Hiring a local guide
- Hotel room bookings
- Travel insurance (read:why it is important to have a travel insurance)
- Food
and let’s add the remaining under miscellaneous. However, when you book a trip for volunteering abroad, the only cost factors you need to take care of are;
- Transport cost (to and fro, and connecting flights)
- Program Fee
- Travel Insurance
I believe the difference is pretty evident and the message is quite clear. When you register yourself for a volunteer project through any of the known volunteer placement agencies, your stay, food, and at times, trips to famous tourist hotspots are all covered in the fee that you pay. No extra cost.
You get to make your travel much more meaningful
And the most important factor of a volunteering trip; traveling to change lives. When you add volunteer work to your trips, you make sure that it’s not just traveling part that you are doing, but also getting involved in altruistic work. This is an opportunity to witness the other side of your world and be a part of the team to improve living conditions and give it back to the society. Gives a whole lot of meaning to your expedition.
Volunteering abroad is not just something that you do to justify a social work, but a way of traveling that is entirely different from a regular travel experience. The learning you get, the experiences you gain, and the memories you make stay forever. Hope this will motivate you to add volunteering stint to your next expedition. It’s an experience worth having.
