Home > Travel Themes > Volunteer Vacations

Welcome to the Travel with a Challenge Volunteer Vacations Theme Page of feature articles that have appeared in our web magazine. Explore this exciting collection by clicking on the images or titles to enter each richly-illustrated and inspiring story. Acknowledging the personal growth offered by volunteer service as a path to peace and self awareness, you will find diversity and plenty of food for thought in these articles on volunteer vacations.

Also be sure to visit this website's growing directory of volunteer travel listings for more volunteer vacation options that are suitable for older travelers.

Guidebook author Kirsten Whatley, describes dozens of short and long volunteer service opportunities on five Hawaiian Islands where environment and wildlife are the focus. A great way to meet local people and lend a helping hand as you learn about the state’s rare plants and animals and its environmental challenges.
Button image courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge.

Global Volunteer Network founder, Colin Salisbury, shares his own remarkable story of a calling that regularly touches both people and environments in need, and his vision for this fast-expanding volunteer service organization that now delivers well-researched programs in 21 countries.

Visitors to the Australia's Great Barrier Reef are choosing to mix their vacation time with a little volunteer time by helping scientists to monitor the environmental impact of coral bleaching on one of the planet's natural wonders. A huge job where the observations of many people make the difference!

Veteran volunteer vacationer, Mona Magnis, and her photographer husband, Nick, learn a lot about the history of Barbados while documenting the lifestyle of present-day farmers on an Earthwatch Institute research project.

 
Writer and broadcaster, Mary Jo Pehl, spotlights a three-time Global Citizens Network volunteer vacationer who has experienced the rewards of working in native communities in New Mexico, Arizona and South Dakota.

News about short-term volunteer vacations and organizations that make these happen is among Travel with a Challenge's most popular themes. Whether your fancy is people or nature, here is a collection of terrific ideas from the South Pacific's Cook Islands and Belize to Mongolia and Canada. Recently added are a wild dolphin project in Hawaii and a raptor rehabilitation center in Alaska.

Travel with a Challenge is pleased to be associated with Transitions Abroad or TAzine, now readily accessible on the web, www.transitionsabroad.com. This US-based trailblazer of alternative travel for 35+ impressive years is published monthly, including as it does a strong volunteer travel inspiration. It is a densely-packed web guide to learning, living and working worldwide for all ages and stages of life enhancement.

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