Mosshead

volunteer travel

July 14th, 2007

A few months ago there was an article in Sea Kayaker magazine about volunteer kayaking trips up in Yukon Territory and Alaska.  This particular trip, some kayakers were volunteering to assist anthropologists as they did field research on indigeneous cultures in the Northwest. It re-whet my appetite for travel.

I’ve dreamed of traveling the world since a young age. But my experiences being a tourist have been disappointing — tourist activities tend to be canned, stale and antiseptic.  The problem with traditional tourism is that it’s object oriented, yet what makes an experience special to me is developing a relationship with people and place.

I don’t think my feelings about tourism are all that unique. So reading the article about volunteer travel reinvigorated me to start thinking about travel more. I’m going to add a category here and start dumping volunteer travel resources here.

Entry Filed under: volunteer travel