Making a difference while seeing the world with Volunteer Travel

Volunteer Vacation In China

Volunteer and Vacation at the Same Time! At Global Reach Institute, we intertwine humanitarian activities and community service with cultural tours and people to people interactions. We build bridges between nations, one person at a time. >> Click For More Details & Pictures

Volunteer Vacation In Ghana

Volunteer in, and Tour Ghana "I have settled into the groove, if that's what I should call it. I'm teaching JSS (our middle school) science and math, and also fiftth and sixth grade science, which seems like a lot of work, but in reality is not..." Starting At: US $200/Week >> Click For More Details & Pictures

How It Works

Dozens of organizations offer hundreds of programs that send thousands of volunteers to work on a variety of projects in countries on every continent. These are non-profit, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) interested in supporting the public good. Programs range from providing humanitarian assistance and protecting wildlife to improving cultural relations, communities, and the environment. The idea is to find an organization with a program that fits your personality and abilities for the experience of a lifetime.

In most cases, you'll pay a fee to the host organization for food, lodging, project materials, insurance, team management and on-site transportation. Normally you pay for the airfare yourself (and 2% of your

Volunteer Travel Airfare

booking is donated to sustainable-development programs on your behalf when you book with a company called NetTrav). Your costs for volunteer travel can be tax-deductible if the nonprofit organization adheres to IRS requirements for the volunteer team, and you devote the prescribed amount of time to the project.

The host organization will pre-qualify you through an application process. Once accepted, you'll be part of a service-learning team trained to live and work together and with the communities you visit.

Here's a small sampling of volunteer travel organizations. When you find the volunteer program that's right for you, book your flight with

NetTrav for the best possible rates. And be sure to stay in touch! Start a blog, post pictures, upload videos, and connect with like-minded travelers in the NetTrav Traveler's Lounge Humanitarian and Community Assistance Organizations

Global Volunteers is a volunteer-travel pioneer. In 1984, the organization�s helping-hand activities abroad helped lay the foundation for "volunteer vacations" a decade later. Today, GV manages more than 150 service-learning teams in 20 countries on six continents, offering opportunities to live and work directly with local people in short- and long-term programs. No special skills are required.

SCI International Voluntary Service began in 1920 when a small international team of volunteers helped reconstruct a village in France that had been devastated in World War I. Since then SCI volunteers have served as emergency teams in the wake of natural disasters and as service teams contributing to social, humanitarian and environmental causes everywhere. Each year SCI sends more than 5,000 volunteers to participate in two-to-three-week work camps in 60 countries including the U.S.A. Want to work with the poor in India? Teach organic farming in Kenya? Help a children's theater group in Kosovo? These and hundreds more opportunities are available at SCI.

When you've chosen a volunteer program that�s right for you, book your flight with NetTrav And remember, 2% of everything you book at netTrav goes to sustainable development and forestation programs helping people and the environment.