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Unlock a Passion: Combine Travel and Volunteering
I'm a lucky guy.
Damned lucky.
I come from teacher and traveler stock. You see, I had parents who believed in all things education and travel. While they didn't lavish my sisters and me with many material things, they did throw books, reading, cultural events -- especially the theatre -- and travel at us every chance they got.
My madre was a Spanish teacher and an avid traveler, so most summers found us in Mexico or South America, and during the year, living in a university town as we did (Muncie, Indiana – home of Ball State University) we'd have foreign students staying with us for anywhere from a night to several weeks or months on end. It wasn't at all unusual for us to have at least two or three different native languages spoken at our dinner table over the course of a month.
So, it's really no wonder that I ended up studying foreign languages, international history, and cultures in college, traveling at the drop of a hat, living in a foreign country when I could, and growing the international division of one of my businesses at the first opportunity I had.
This travel played a vital role in who I am as a person and it's helped me evolve in my own work life. In fact, today, I rarely undertake work activities that don't at least hold the potential for languages or travel.
The interesting thing about travel, for me anyway, is that I learn so much more about myself and my own country than I do when at home. Not sure if it's just a fresh location that gives me a different perspective, or the news reports that cast America in a different light, or what, but it's true.
Now, perhaps you don't have the luxury to include travel in their work, or you can't afford extensive holiday travel. There are options, and one of the best, I think, is to volunteer for work abroad, to combine both the travel and self-search you're guaranteed to get when you volunteer.
Here are some places that offer volunteer opportunities:
<---****HYPERLINK****--->"http://www.crossculturalsolutions.org/">Cross-Cultural Solutions
<---****HYPERLINK****--->"http://www.sover.net/~explore/intern.html">Explorations in Travel
<---****HYPERLINK****--->"http://www.globalcrossroad.com/">Global Crossroad
<---****HYPERLINK****--->"http://www.globalservicecorps.org/">Global Service Corps.
<---****HYPERLINK****--->"http://www.gvi.co.uk/">Global Vision International
<---****HYPERLINK****--->"http://www.volunteer.org.nz/">Global Volunteer Network
<---****HYPERLINK****--->"http://www.globalvolunteers.org/">Global Volunteers
<---****HYPERLINK****--->"http://grownupcamps.com/">Grown Up Camps
<---****HYPERLINK****--->"http://www.volunteer-intern-abroad.org/">Institute for Field Research Expeditions
<---****HYPERLINK****--->"http://www.i-to-i.com/">i-to-i
<---****HYPERLINK****--->"http://www.mondochallenge.org/">Mondo Challenge
<---****HYPERLINK****--->"http://www.projects-abroad.org/">Projects Abroad
<---****HYPERLINK****--->"http://www.unitedplanet.org/">United Planet
<---****HYPERLINK****--->"http://www.volunteerabroad.com/search.cfm">Volunteer Abroad
<---****HYPERLINK****--->"http://www.volunteeradventures.com/">Volunteer Adventures
In addition to these individual organizations, there are other groups that provide more general information about volunteering abroad. Some of the below are also associations of travel and volunteer organizations.
<---****HYPERLINK****--->"http://www.altonet.org/Docs/index.php4">Association of Language Travel Organizations
<---****HYPERLINK****--->"http://www.fiyto.org/Docs/index.php4">Federation of International Youth Organizations
<---****HYPERLINK****--->"http://www.volunteerinternational.org/">International Volunteer Programs Associations
<---****HYPERLINK****--->"http://www.cie.uci.edu/iop/voluntee.html#w">UCI International Opportunities Program
<---****HYPERLINK****--->"http://www.unv.org/">UN Volunteers
Check 'em out.
And . . .
Bon voyage.
Michael Werner is the CEO of InfoSource, Inc., an elearning company, and the publisher of <---****HYPERLINK****--->"http://www.DreamJobsDialog.com">Dream Jobs Dialog, at <---****HYPERLINK****--->"http://www.dreamjobsdialog.com/">http://www.DreamJobsDialog.com, dedicated to helping life seekers and those searching for their dream jobs.
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