I must confess that I started to look out for opportunities to volunteer abroad because I was afraid of traveling by myself, being a solo female traveler that has never done a solo trip before. I saw in volunteer abroad as a way to not be alone and have someone I could trust. Only later on did I find out that this is always the highlight of my travels: volunteer abroad.
And why do I say that?
Because when volunteering, you are in direct contact with local communities, and you learn things that you can’t learn any other way. It is the most enriching experience that I have been having during my trips around Southeast Asia. Plus, you end up leaving with friends and not just hosts.
In all my volunteer abroad experiences, I learned so much about the local culture, how the country is through local eyes, and so many curiosities and fascinating stories that these people have to share with a stranger. It is heartwarming the way they open up to a foreigner and teach so much that sometimes it can be life-changing. I speak for myself, because my volunteering abroad was always in Asia, and such a different culture has much to teach about different perspectives of life and ways of living. These experiences had indeed made me want to change my lifestyle.
My experiences
I’ve had a few experiences in volunteer abroad. The first one was in India, and it was dream come true. The second one was in Vietnam, and that one definitely changed my life. I say that because about 7 months later I came back to the same volunteer place and ended up living in Vietnam for 1 year. I can definitely say that volunteering changed my life.
I have also done a volunteer in Myanmar, which was my favorite, and the last one was in Laos, where I met friends and found what would be my next dream.
Volunteer abroad is such an enriching experience if you are open-minded, willing to learn, and willing to teach too. It will show you other ways of living, it will create the best memories in your travels, it will lead you to have friends in any corner of the world…
And, you can also meet fellow volunteers, as many times, the hosts have more than one person volunteering.
While volunteering you can do the most diversified things such as being a guide, receptionist, help in gardening, building, painting, or something related to animals, etc. The choices are very wide and it is up to you to decide which type of volunteer abroad would you enjoy the most. To find these opportunities, you can join Worldpackers.
How to volunteer abroad?
Worldpackers is a platform that gathers hosts around the world that you can contact and schedule when would you like to volunteer abroad. Each host has different things to offer, but the diversity is big, so you will not have trouble finding a volunteer that you would really enjoy, because most of all you must enjoy, and your host will enjoy your help too. It’s a win-win situation. Usually, you have to do some tasks that the host describes in his profile, but those never occupy your full day. That’s why volunteer abroad and travel is a great way to save some money, help others and travel even longer. After your duties, you can do whatever you want, so usually when volunteering, I also had the time to meet the surroundings and this way feel like I’m still on my travel adventure. Worldpackers is an exchange platform, so you will spend little or no money as the host provides accommodation and meals.
For being one of my favorite things to do when I travel, I teamed up with Worldpackers to give you a discount when you sign up to their platform. For that, you can use the code: WHILEYOUSTAYHOME
