Looking for a unique family vacation? You might consider a volunteer vacation, or “voluntourism” as it is sometimes called.
It can be the right fit of adventure and meaningful activity – and a great way to teach your children the importance of helping others, learning about cultural diversity, and protecting the environment.
Whether it is for two hours or two weeks, contributing your time and engaging in a meaningful way can be life-changing experience for your family. Even better, it can have an uplifting and positive impact on the local community.
Because volunteer vacations are so popular, you’ll have no problem finding a tour package that fits your families travel style, with ample opportunities to connect and give back to the communities you visit.
PLANT A TREE
If you are interested in helping the environment, there are many opportunities to get your family’s hands dirty. Environment volunteer programs will have you doing everything from planting a tree, creating a garden, or making paper from elephant dung!
FILL A BACKPACK
Pack some much-needed school supplies in your luggage and you’ll find plenty of empty backpacks to fill. If you’re handy with a hammer, you can put your skill to good use repairing or rebuilding schools. There might even be a chance to play soccer or engage in story time with the students.
SWIM WITH SEA LIONS
Visit a conservation site and work alongside the researchers and scientist to gather important data to help restore endangered animal populations. You’ll find environmental and conservation voluntourism in locations across the world. In Costa Rica, if you volunteer at a sea turtle research camp, you might also get a chance to swim with the sea lions!
No matter what type of volunteer vacation you choose, your family is guaranteed to have an extraordinary – and memorable – experience. And your children will have received a powerful lesson in global citizenship.
If you’re interested in a volunteer vacation, visit our friends at Fellowship Travel International – they offer a wide range of service projects across the globe.
Staying Connected
Of course, one of the things that make any type of vacation successful is having reliable and secure connectivity, especially if your family ends up doing different activities in one day. That’s why we recommend that everyone in your party has the Wirelesstraveler App on each of their phones. You can stay in touch with each other for free, and can make calls home for as little as two cents per minute. Depending on location, You can also use our new Chat SIM with unlimited texting and WiFi calling.
When everyone is together, you can hook into our Pocket WiFi Hotspot (up to five devices can connect at once) to post pictures and video for your friends and family back home.
