TRAVEL
Participants in Birding Virginia’s Eastern Shore program on Chincoteague Island. —Photo by Brian Ezeike/courtesy Road Scholar.
DOING
GOOD on the go
Voluntourism is one way to get away and make a difference BY SHERYL NANCE-NASH
A
volunteer vacation is the ultimate twofer. You do something to make the world a little better and also do something for yourself. It doesn’t get sweeter than that. Overall, voluntourism is on the rise. A 2019 survey from Travelocity found that one in four U.S. travelers said they would volunteer on a trip that year and more than twothirds said that they had volunteered on a previous vacation. Travelers said they were most likely to support humanitarian, animal welfare and environmental causes. While the pandemic slowed travel of all sorts, interest in this kind of intentional travel is growing. “Since the world has started to open up, people are reassessing their impact while traveling,” says Jodi Bird in an email interview. She runs the Bountiful Blessings Travel blog and finds drop-in volunteer opportunities for travelers. “I put together itineraries that travelers can download,” she says. “All they have to do is sign up for their volunteer slot.” George Balogh, owner of Blue Skies Travel in Albany,
says pre-COVID he had many clients who would visit destinations on cruises and take excursions to visit an animal shelter, read books to children or volunteer in other ways. While Balogh says the pandemic has put some of these types of activities on pause, he expects that “interest will return as the locals on the islands gain confidence in the tourists being ‘healthy,’ or not having COVID.” The idea behind voluntourism is for people to pair their passion with a project that will have an impact in the local community. Ideally they contribute skills they already have or find an opportunity that requires little training. Whether in the U.S. or abroad, extra hands are always appreciated within the conservation field, for construction projects, or in activities such as cleanup, using writing, design or IT skills at a local nongovernmental organization, or socializing shelter dogs to prepare them for adoption. The opportunities are boundless. If you’re ready to do good on the go, here are a few ideas. CONTINUES ON 34 SUMMER 2022 | 55PLUSLIFEMAG.COM
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