Resources for How to Have the Best Year of Your Life by Volunteering and Traveling Overseas
Yesterday I led a workshop at the World Domination Summit in Portland, Oregon. The Summit is an annual gathering of travelers, entrepreneurs and creative people. Chris Guillebeau is the man behind this weekend and he is a prolific blogger, traveler and author. My workshop was entitled "How to Have the Best Year of Your Life by Volunteering and Traveling Overseas." It went through key reasons why you should take the time to make a year of service happen. We also touched on what types of opportunities are available (an enormous amount) and how to pull it off.
Here are the key resources I relied upon for the talk. I recommend anyone interested in investigating a year overseas read these books and check out these websites.
Books:
- Vagabonding by Rolf Potts
- Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
- Art of Non Conformity by Chris Guillebeau
Websites
Organizations recommended by Half the Sky:
Inspiration:
Volunteer Organizations & Aggregators:
- http://www.GoAbroad.com (and select time period you are interested in)
- http://reliefweb.int/
- For example: http://reliefweb.int/node/502123 (6 months; learn Thai, live in bamboo hut, motorbike is available for your use; women only. Do this for 6 months, raise support for airfare & insurance, then travel for 6 months & fly home).
- http://www.energizeinc.com/prof/volop.html
- http://www.gvi.co.uk/ (Both Volunteering & Internship options: start new career (e.g. divemaster)
- Train 6 months in South African Bush & then be a tour guide for another 6 months.
- Become TEFL Certified in Thailand on 3 month internship. Then pick up work there. My sister is doing this in Spain and had no problem getting a bunch of students.
- http://www.mercyships.org/
- http://www.turquoisemountainarts.org/
- http://volunteers.grupovaughan.com/vaughantown
- http://www.goabroad.com/volunteer-abroad
- http://www.fsdinternational.org/ Internships, ProCorps (professional skills),
- http://www.eliabroad.org/
- http://www.projects-abroad.org/ (Kind of pricey - stay with host families)
- http://www.ubelong.org/home.htm
- http://www.connect-123.com/
- http://www.globalgiving.org/get-involved/volunteer/
- http://www.uvolunteer.org/
- http://www.unitedplanet.org/
- http://www.ecuaexplora.org/ (India)
- http://www.ampedabroad.com/volunteer_countries.cfm?country=ARGENTINA
- http://electiveabroad.com/home-page/eco-volunteer-vacations
- http://www.isvolunteers.org/ (International Student Volunteers 2 weeks volunteer & 2 weeks travel)
- “Responsible Tourism”: http://www.isvolunteers.org/responsible-travel
- http://www.proworldvolunteers.org/
- http://www.geovisions.org/ (includes “Conversation Corps”)
Free or Low Cost Volunteering:
- World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms: www.wwoof.org –
- Turtle Teams, Worldwide: www.seaturtles.org andwww.cccturtle.org.
- Conservation Volunteers, Australia & New Zealand www.conservationvolunteers.com.au
- Sudan Volunteer Programme, Sudan www.svp-uk.com
- Help Exchange, Worldwide: www.helpx.net
- Peace Corps: www.peacecorps.gov
- United Nations Volunteers: www.unv.org and UN Online Volunteering service:
- Kibbutz Volunteer: www.kibbutzvolunteer.com
Charity Rating Services
- http://www.charitynavigator.org/
- http://www.givewell.org/
List of Resources from Vagabonding by Rolf Potts
http://www.vagabonding.net/resources/chap9.html#workbooks
Volunteer agencies and web resources
Peace Corps Sending Americans off on worldwide volunteer projects since 1961. "The toughest job you'll ever love." Institute for International Cooperation and Development Trains and sends volunteers abroad for development and aid work in Africa and Latin America. Volunteers for Peace This Vermont-based organization offers inexpensive short-term voluntary service programs in over 80 countries. VolunTourism.org An online resource that educates, empowers, and engages travelers in researching and implementing volunteer opportunities on the road. Cross-Cultural Solutions Organization "committed to ensuring the safety, flexibility, professionalism, transparency, and excellence of volunteer abroad programs." One-week to twelve-week programs available in over 20 program sites in 12 countries. Canada World Youth Develops international educational programs for youth aged 15 to 25. Works with countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia, the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe. Transitions Abroad volunteering resources Extensive rundowns of links, resources and articles about mixing travel and volunteering. International Volunteer Programs Association An up-to-date search site for international volunteer opportunities.