VolunTourism: How To Volunteer While Traveling

Voluntourism is the concept of doing voluntary work while traveling. If you are a voluntour, you have a conscious effort to give back to the community that you visit. You think of ways to help the people by sharing to them the skills that they may not be knowledgeable of.

Once in a lifetime, you have this desire to know your purpose in this world. Traveling to an unknown place to reflect on this helps a lot. It in this trip that you surprise yourself with the things that make you happy: those that money cannot buy.

You set a goal that you want to learn with your experience. It might be that you want to meet a total stranger, understand poverty from a different perspective, or share yourself to others. These are things that would make your trip meaningful.

If you voluntour, know that you are there to learn. You are not there to spend your whole day just sunbathing in a pool or partying in a place. Fun is part of the experience, but with a different twist: you are sharing smiles instead of wanting to get one that you would just keep to yourself.

Be aware that when you do voluntouring, you will be pushed beyond your comfort level. You might not be offered an air-conditioned room. You might ride a beast of burden instead of a convertible. You might go on a self-restrained diet to fully immerse in the experience.

You must also learn to expect the unexpected. You have to let go of your rigidness and be open to the many risks that the whole journey would throw at you. Your emotional potential might be challenged. In any way, you must be ready to take on these challenges.

Travel with likeminded people. Don't fret if all of you have no idea on what you are doing in life. Hopefully after your voluntouring experience, you and your co-volontours come out with important self-discoveries.