Doing Good and Seeing the World: A Look at Volunteer Vacations

This “Along the Web” feature explores one of the most rapidly developing subcultures in volunteering – combining travel with service. Originally called ecotourism, it is now referred to as vacation volunteering or voluntourism -- a word which has even made its way to the Macmillan English Dictionary Word of the Week.
 
Why help out in your own neighborhood when you can save the world, literally? 

The real question is whether this will become a source of competition for local volunteer activities.  After all, when faced with an alternative like “Help Save a Penguin on Your Next Vacation,” what chance does a child at risk really have at attracting volunteers?
 
See Steve’s annotated list of resources in these three categories:

• Research and scholarly articles
• Examples of volunteer vacations
• Web sites assisting in scheduling volunteer vacations