Gift giving is one of many holiday activities that, for many of us, can be both rewarding and stressful. While we all enjoy the look of appreciation on our loved ones’ faces when they unwrap something we’ve hand-picked just for them, finding a gift that will inspire joy rather than thinly veiled disappointment is tricky. Do … Continued
For most travelers, visiting new countries typically produces one of two effects: Either it’s another dream destination checked off the bucket list, or it’s the beginning of a life-long fascination with the place. For many people, traveling to Guatemala tends to have the latter effect. Guatemala is one of those places that seems to completely entrance visitors … Continued
Lola Biuckianas didn’t plan on traveling to Peru when she first started researching Volunteer Vacations. But the path she found herself on would be much longer and more rewarding than she ever could have imagined. After her Discover Corps trip to Peru, Lola found herself drawn to the people she met there. The Spirit of … Continued
November 4 is World Responsible Tourism Day, a day designated by World Travel Market and the United National World Tourism Organization in 2007 to encourage the travel industry to focus on responsible travel issues. Their major objectives were to drive change by educating the industry and consumers alike on responsible travel behavior, exploring ways of … Continued
Because we travel often for business, we typically prefer not to visit the same destination over and over again. But we love Costa Rica so much– we’ve already been there three times and have plans to return in the near future– for a variety of reasons. There’s the friendly people, beautiful beaches, stunning national parks, wonderfully weird … Continued
Volunteering is a good thing, right? Obviously, we’re big fans of volunteering and voluntourism. But unfortunately, not all volunteering is the kind we love. With voluntourism becoming an increasingly popular form of travel, there are more and more examples of bad forms of volunteering. If you’re interested in taking a volunteer vacation, it’s important to … Continued
In general, travel helps to make the world a smaller place. But traveling responsibly and sustainably makes it both smaller and better. If you’ve ever traveled far from home, you’ve probably been personally impacted by the experience of seeing a new part of the world. When we travel, we meet new people, experience new cultures … Continued
You know the world is headed in a good direction when interest in using vacation time to volunteer helping others is at an all-time high. Voluntourism is a growing trend among international travelers, with enthusiasm largely steeped in the desire to make a positive impact on the people and places they visit. However, for both the volunteers and the recipients of their efforts … Continued
When Discover Corps founder Andrew Motiwalla invited me to experience one of his volunteer vacations to Cuba, I was initially very skeptical. As a well-known travel blogger, I have long been an active voice in routing out corrupt volunteer tourism operations that rake in huge amounts of cash without contributing a penny to the people … Continued
