Like many of my travel blogging brethren, I’m a total book nerd. I learned to read my first book, Beatrix Potter’s “The Fierce Bad Rabbit”, at a very tender age, and I’ve been totting home chest-high piles of books to devour like candy ever since. My first library card was almost akin to my first […]
Philanthropy
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 […]