The statistics are mind-boggling: 2.7 million tons of water bottle plastic is used globally each year, and the vast majority of it ends up as litter or in a landfill. According to data released by the U.S. Office of Travel & Tourism Industries, approximately 48.6 million Americans travel internationally each year. Estimating that each traveler […]
Crooked Trails
Tips for Choosing a Volunteer Travel Experience (Don’t call it a vacation!)
The popularity of “volunteer vacations” is hard to ignore. I have a clear bias towards the benefits of seeking out meaningful volunteer opportunities while abroad because I’ve been working for an NGO that offers these kinds of international travel programs for many years, and I’ve seen powerful, transformative results for both travelers and host communities. […]
Voluntourism: Do they really need our help?
In this month’s National Geographic Traveler, Costas Christ questions the ever-blossoming voluntourism industry in his article, The Giver’s Conundrum. As both a traveler and a staff member at a non-profit volunteer travel organization, this is something I think and talk about almost every day. The questions that come up are completely valid and, in my […]