For some, a week lying on a beach in the Bahamas is the perfect way to spend your precious holiday time - but have you ever thought about giving something back during your time off?
May we suggest doing something different? Why not take up the growing trend of charity holidays?
Originally it was mainly students and independent travellers which took the opportunity to experience the highly rewarding ‘Voluntourism’, but it’s now an option for people of all ages and backgrounds. It’s a highly rewarding and possibly life-changing experience offering your energy, enthusiasm and your time, to charity projects all around the globe.
You’ll learn new skills, meet new people, and add a good handful of memories and experi-ence to your life CV.
If the average beach holiday has lost its appeal, then a volunteering holiday might just be the thing for you.
Join a Kibbutz
Traditionally based on agriculture - holidaying as a Kibbutznik means living in a communal environment where you work together and share everything.
You wont be staying in a four-star hotel, but the new skills you learn from your Kibbutz experience will be far more beneficial. The type of work involved can include gardening, caring for and cleaning animals on the farms, laundry, looking after children, and factory work.
A unique rural community - members learn new skills with each job as well as experienc-ing the culture of a new country and meeting a wide range of people.
Instead of taking what you can from a luxury hotel in a grand city, give something back to the culture and inhabitants of the country you visit and really make a difference.
Build better housing
Work where it’s really needed and help poorer communities and families by joining efforts with them to build better housing and schools. What can be better than building brand new schools and homes where poverty would have stood? Spend a couple of weeks building a house instead of sizzling on a beach - it’s something much more valuable. Because volunteers work with the locals, friendships can be secured as they help them get on their feet and build their own house with basic amenities that we take for granted.
Many communities in poorer parts of the world live in homes without adequate sanitation or even running water, so spending your holiday making a difference to people’s lives in places such as Costa Rica or Sri Lanka is truly inspiring and highly rewarding.
Teach
Experience other cultures whilst passing on knowledge of your own by teaching abroad. Teaching gives you a unique travel experience whilst helping others with highly sought af-ter native English skills.
From teaching computer skills in Jaipur to leading arts and crafts workshops for orphans in Vietnam, placements can be with kindergartens, primary schools, orphanages, and even special needs schools. Be adventurous and give something back to the world. Teaching English can even help overcome poverty - pupils can pass their knowledge onto others, which essentially can change lives.