How You Can Volunteer Your Time on Your Travels

This post was contributed by Laura

Traveling isn’t always just about doing things that make you happy. Sometimes you can be happy while helping other people or the environment. Volunteering is a great thing to do to help you see the world. There are thousands of projects you can sign up for. You can give your time to a community or charitable organization. If you want to do something good with your traveling time, you can choose one of these projects to join. Whether you want to help people, animals or plants, you can go to many different countries and choose something that suits you. Have a look at some of the options that could be available to you.

photo by Daniel Thornton

TEACHING ENGLISH

If you can speak English fluently, you can teach it to children and adults around the world. As well as finding programs abroad, you may be able to find English-teaching schemes at home too. While some of them are paid jobs, others are voluntary in exchange for accommodation. They can vary quite a lot, especially in terms of the requirements they have. Some programs want you to have qualifications in teaching English as a foreign language. Others will ask you to complete some training. Meanwhile, some only want you to speak English and have the confidence to teach. You can teach English across the world, from Peru to South Korea.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECTS

If you love the environment, there are thousands of projects you can join to nurture it. Our planet is important both on its own merit and to support us. On one project with The Leap in Ecuador, reforestation helps both the environment and the local people. They rely on wild flora and fauna and their cultivated gardens to survive. Other environmental projects could involve animal conservation, such as working with orangutans in Borneo. You could find programs where you clean up trash from walking trails or help to conserve beaches.

FARMING

There’s another way that you can work outside on a volunteer project. World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) has positions all over the place. You can go to France, Argentina, Senegal or Vietnam. In fact, a large number of countries have WWOOF programs. The organization will match you up with an organic farm. So you can spend your time volunteering with them. You get food and accommodation, and would usually be expected to do 4-6 hours of daily tasks each day.

CONSTRUCTION & INFRASTRUCTURE

Many projects are set up to help improve communities around the world. You could have the opportunity to build or decorate houses or install clean drinking water. You can get involved in a school project. Or you might be creating another community structure, such as a hospital. Some projects might take on an environmental bent too, such as maintaining walking trails. You can find these projects everywhere, but particularly in developing countries.

You always have the opportunity to do some good on your travels. If you want to give your time to a charitable project, it’s easy to find something you’ll enjoy.

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