Getting Started It is recommended that you do three things in order to determine whether you are an appropriate candidate for VolunTourism and vice versa. Getting Started >>>
	Program Selection How exactly are you planning to make a decision if there are roughly 10,000 options around the world from which to choose? Selecting A Program >>>
	Trip Preparation If you have made a selection of a VT Program that works for you and are about to become a VolunTourist, do you want to do anything before you go? Preparing For Your Trip >>>
	Processing Experiences How will you cope with the onslaught of sensory and emotional overload that can accompany VolunTourism Trips? Don't leave home without knowing how to Process Your Trip>>>
	Post-Trip Now what? You're back in the place you call home. Does it feel the same? Do you feel the same? Will you ever be able to re-enter the life you once knew? Post-Trip >>>
	Future Participation Now that you have experiential wisdom & insight from your latest trip, add it to your "personal toolbox." This will assist you in determining what you will do in planning for a Future Trip >>>

Additional Resources From VolunTourism.org

If you are looking for additional resources to support you throughout your VolunTourism process, you may want to consider reading through The VolunTourism.org Blog. The posts offered are in direct response to questions from others who are contemplating a voluntour in their future.

For those who appreciate podcasts, you may wish to listen to some past episodes of The VolunTourist Webcast. Use the widget to the right to select any or all of the following:

• The Kugler Family & VolunTourism - listen to three members of the Kugler Family discuss their trip to South Africa
• Immersion Traveler & VolunTourism or Travel Therapy & VolunTourism - if you like books, Sheryl Kayne and Karen Schaler share snippets from their experiences that inspired Best Immersion Travel USA and Travel Therapy: Where Do You Need To Go?
• Ladies of Westfield & VolunTourism - listen to three professional women discuss their voluntour from start-to-finish
• GoLiveGive.com & VolunTourism - listen to the words of two young women who created short featurettes about "green" voluntourism

Here are some articles from The VolunTourist Newsletter Archives that you may want to consider:

• Practice 'Appreciative Living' To Address the Bad, the Negative, and the Tough on Your Next VolunTourism Journey - this article provides exercises for you to utilize in the difficult moments that occur on any voluntourism journey
• Here Comes The Sun - Larry Beck, a Professor at San Diego State University, shares insights & wisdom from his voluntour to Peru
• Living Your Sense of Purpose Through VolunTourism - Roslyn Parker offers some thoughts regarding her recent trip to the Dominican Republic and delivers what she calls her "Golden Rules of VolunTourism"
• VolunTourism Wisdom From The Philippines - Amanda Berlin speaks of a medical-focused voluntour she took to the Philippines and how it profoundly changed her life
• VolunTourism Case Study: Two Sides, One Story - This is truly a case study from which all of us, hopefully, can learn a great deal. It details how viewpoints vary; how communications are critical; and how hospitality and customer service are essential

Other Available Sources

For those looking for additional thoughts, insight, and wisdom on this subject, you may want to review the work & writings of the following folks:

Anna Etmanska, Budget Trouble

• Anna Etmanska - If you are on a tight budget and want to take the "Do-It-Yourself" approach to planning your voluntour, then Anna can give you some pointers via her Budget Trouble Blog. Also, Anna is set to release a book on voluntourism, published by Duffie Books, sometime in 2009.
• Christina Heyniger - Christina, Founder of Xola Consulting and Travel Off The Radar, inked an article for Brave New Traveler in which she also delivers a step-by-step approach to selecting a Voluntourism experience. A good read for those who really want to focus on responsibility and sustainability.
• Karen Foerstel - Karen is a writer presently living in London. She runs the Volunteer Beat: Opportunities And Adventures In Voluntourism. She provides regular articles on a variety of subjects as it pertains to traveling and volunteering abroad.

Use the information contained in this section of the web site to give yourself a chance to explore the process of planning your VolunTourism experience from start, to finish, and beyond. If you find it helpful, please let us know.

[Return To The Top]