I always tell people that volunteer work is the best because, while it means responsibilities one takes on, it is not an obligation, it’s a choice, and that makes all the difference in the world. —Karen M. Gray, C&O Canal National Historical Park Library Volunteer When I wrote my first book about volunteer travel everyone asked, “What in the world ...
Visit New Places, Connect, and Give Back
I always loved to travel but hated being an ordinary kind of tourist, staying in hotels for a few nights and buzzing through major sights at the speed of Superwoman. I wanted to experience the phenomenal difference between visiting a location for a time-limited vacation and integrating myself into the community as someone who belonged there. I ...
The Summer Job that Got Away: Glacier National Park, Montana
This is the Centennial Celebration year for our National Parks. I have visited just under half of the 58 parks under the National Park Service. My friends Charles and Serena, partially retired college professors, travel in their RV to work in a bookstore every summer in a different park. There are loads of summer, or seasonal ...
Become Part of the National Park Service’s Centennial Celebration
This only happens once every 100 years! I promise more upcoming info on this great Centennial; however, there’s one thing I want to make absolutely sure that you know about first. The National Park Service offers a Volunteers-In-Parks (VIPs) Artists in Residence program: https://www.nps.gov/getinvolved/volunteer.htm. Applications are open to visual artists, photographers, sculptors, performers, writers, composers, craft artists and ...
I Left my Heart on Maui
What better way to celebrate love and romance than to volunteer and totally immerse on Maui? The Pacific Whale Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1980 with support from the Hawaii Tourism Authority and County of Maui Office of Economic Development, offers a “Volunteering on Vacation” program. This is a way to give back to the ...
Rebuilding New Orleans: Common Ground Relief
Join a grass-roots effort to support the residents of New Orleans and Gulf Coast Communities as they rebuild. Common Ground needs volunteers skilled in construction, dry wall hanging, carpentry, painting, roofing, plumbing, electrical work, legal aid, social work, media/PR, and computer technology. Both short-and long-term volunteers are needed. The goal is to rebuild a socially equitable ...
Internships Are Not Just for the Young Anymore
When the television news program, CBS Sunday Morning ran a piece titled “Internships: A foot in the door? Is it something young people can take advantage of, or are they being taken advantage of?” I stood in my living room in front of the television set asking the question, “Why are they just talking about ...
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