Soon, when I am around 19....20 or so I would love to go around the world, mainly to places people wouldnt think of, I do not have such a burning desire to go to Paris or London as I do to go to Africa or India. Has anyone done any traveling groups that they really enjoyed? I think I would like something small...something close and that traveled and really got right into the citys, talked to locals, stayed in places and huts, not beautiful hotels that I could stay in in the states. I really WANT the expeirence. I really want to be part of the city, I want to talk to the people, try their culture, become friends, speak the language... I would also like to help, so...if anyone knows of any traveling groups that help the people, volunteer stuff, etc, travel around (is not TO long...i.e...not over a month or two) and is close, easy to join PLEASE PLEASE help me out! Thank you.
I enjoyed reading your post, and I wish there were more people like you out there. I've done some travelling in groups, and there are, of course, many package tours out there. I went on one three years ago, and it was a lot of fun. But the problem with them is (well, at least, the one I went on, and I think it's the same with many package tours) very rarely you get off the beaten track. You said you want to do volunteer work. Here's a site worth checking out: http://www.crossculturalsolutions.org/ Here's another one: http://www.globalvolunteers.org/ I hope the info helped.
Hey, I did Cross-Cultral Solutions last summer! That's crazy. Anyway, I would highly reccomend them. I did their Tanzania program for 3 weeks. I would tell you more but it would take up half the page! PM me if you want to know more. -Kate
Hey cool. Here's link that might be helpful. http://www.escapeartist.com/jobs35/jobs35.htm Or the main webpage http://www.escapeartist.com I found them a great resource during the third world travelling and teaching I've done.
DEFINIITLY india...what im worried a bout are the barriers though, are there a lot of places for travelers to stay and a lot of english speaking?
Hey there everybody ... I was just reading this post and followed the links beachbum7 gave. I alwasy wanted to travel and see the world, but never thought about doing volunteer work while traveling ... this is a great idea! Those two sites are amazing ... they have great information. I'm planning an taking two of the volunteer trips now ... one to India, and one to Thailand ... they are the two countries that I wanted to travel to ... now I can travel and make a driffrence in peoples lives! Thank you so much SurfhipE for starting this post, and thank you even more to beachbum7 for giving such great links to those sites!
Kynd- hey just saw you're from lancaster cty and had to say hi. not cuz i'm from lancaster, but cuz like 1/4 of my small private college is, since you're of college age i'd bet you'd know a few. then again i could just be reaching cuz i'm missing my campus now during the summer! i rarely know ppl that others say they know from my hometown, but thought it was worth a shot. are you just from the county, or from the actual town? i think most of my classmates went to LMHS. pm me if u like.... a friend of mine went to study/volunteer in thailand last year, and said it was incredible. these kind of trips are awesome, i'm really excited that other ppl are interested in them too. (my campus actually requires a study/service trip for a semester, i'm going to ecuador!)
Quote: so how do you sign up for these things? good question there are a million organizations that will send you off. if you're in h.s., Rotary International will send you just about anywhere for a year and you just have to pay for your plane ticket/travel fees. thats what i did to go to spain. www.rotary.org they have shorter terms too my college uses Brethren Colleges Abroad if you're a college student who wants to study at a foreign universtiy. www.bcanet.org Or try www.studentuniverse.com, and go to Study or Work to check out all the school or job opportunities they can connect you with. -they also have student travel deals If you want to do faith-based peacework for nonviolent resolutions in Colombia, Canada (on an indian reservation), iraq, israel-palestine, (or the US) look up Christian Peacemaker Teams www.cpt.org my personal experience is that study &/or service-type trips are the coolest/most rewarding way to visit a country b/c you're learning about it and getting involved in a positive way instead of just blowing thru on a tour bus. what else... there are just *so many* great programs out there, hit google or askjeeves or wherever else and look up opportunities in the language/continent/country/type of work/studies you want. aprovecha!
i'M FROM cROATIA AND I RECCOMEND IT . YOU WON'T FIND CLEANER SEA ON THE WHOLE WORLD, i promise. ANYWAY, BE SURE TO MAKE AN INTERNATIONAL STUDENT or YOUTH CARD. with it you have a lot dischargers and cheeap places to stay, cheep airplane tickets and any more!!!!!.check it on www.isic.org or www.istc.org i recomend this to everybody who want to travel
okay, Am I seeing shit or does that picture of Beachbum7 look just like my folk diva Ani Defranco? If you really want to mingle with the people and help learn a good trade then join NGO`s. Tamil Nadu could use help now, especially Chennai, or Sri Lanke. For english speakers India is a great travel destination, because a large population of Indians speak English almost all the Uni and college are in English, thats due to a little imperialist monster history. Just dont forget important immunizations and a hard skin.
i'm going to the Dominican Republic with International Student Volunteers in the summer (www.isvonline.com). i haven't talked to anyone that's worked with this organization before, but it sounds like a cool program and i'm really excited about it. we will spend 2 weeks doing community development work in a small village. this could mean several things; installing waterways and sewage systems, building community buildings or homes, caring for children, cooking community dinners, etc. the work programs are designed by groups in the Dominican Republic to fit their needs. the second 2 weeks of the program will be spent travelling and doing different activities like rafting, hiking, rock climbing, exploring caves and other exciting stuff. International Student Volunteers does programs in several different countries. i'm really excited about going! if anyone has worked with ISV before, I'd love to hear about your experience!
