The Traveler Blog: Voluntourism - Gain Through Giving on Your Next Trip

From time to time, we will pass along content and links to other travel blogs we think our users with find of interest. This week, the bloggers at Lonely Planet released a great article titled, 27 Travel Tips (or, How to Get More Out of your Trip). Some of the ideas shared here are pretty intuitive -- like researching your destination before you go (#1) and planning activities other than "touristy things" (#18). We liked some of the not-so-obvious suggestions, like #9, "take your hobbies with you" and #20, which espouses author John Steinbeck's practice of searching for some obscure item that you don't think would be available at your destination. The resulting "wild goose chase" can show you a side of your destination that no tour book could possibly offer.

No. 28 - Lend a hand!

We would add a 28th tip to the list. Getting involved in the community or "voluntourism" is a wonderful way to give back to the community you are visiting, but the experiences and insights gained are of equal if not more value.

Fiji Day Cleanup of Savusavu 2009
Savusavu, Fiji

Last fall, our family spent four months in Savusavu, Fiji, a little town on Fiji's second biggest island, Vanua Levu. We were lucky to connect early on with the Rotary Club of Savusavu, which does wonderful work improving schools, providing safe drinking water systems for local villages and doing other community service projects. We are not Rotarians, but were welcomed into the fold and immediately put to work. Over the course of our stay, we did a lot with the organization, helping to feed hungry school kids after a city-wide garbage cleanup, making local treats and crafts to sell at to tourists on cruise ship day, and keeping a photographic record of some of the groups many community projects. We learned a lot in the process.

It felt good to lend a hand in a place where there is an incredible amount of need. At the same time, we got to meet some wonderful locals who filled us in on many of the day to day struggles and stories in our temporary home. We got to see Savusavu from a local's point of view (Lonely Planet Tip #3), we learned a lot about Fijian customs (LP Tip #13) and we learned, as the Fijians would say, "plenty phrases" in the local language (LP Tip #4). Even today it is hard for me to say who benefited more from our participation.

So check to see if there is a Rotary Club chapter or other social service organization in your next destination. Attend a meeting or two and, if possible, sign yourself up to volunteer. In addition to lending a hand, you'll meet new people and learn a heck of a lot about the local community, making your trip all the more memorable.

Have you "voluntoured"? What was your experience? Please use the comments section to pass along your thoughts and suggestions to our readers.