Winter break is right around the corner, which means we’re about to host lots of family trips with school-aged children — and we can’t wait! As you know, we love family volunteer vacations because they’re educational AND fun. If you’re about to embark on your first family volunteer vacation (or trip abroad, for that matter), … Continued
Welcome to our next Discover Corps profile! Last time, we introduced you to Alex, a Discover Corps travel specialist who talked about his passion for people and travel. This week, we’re excited to share the story of Catherine, who, along with her husband and two college-aged daughters, took a Discover Corps volunteer vacation in Tanzania. Since then, she’s even started … Continued
Traveling to a developing country can be many things: exhilarating, eye-opening, scary, joyful, and challenging, to name a few. But there’s one emotion that is almost certain to surface after a trip abroad, and it’s gratitude. This gratitude-inducing quality is one of the things that makes experiential travel so powerful; it makes you appreciate what … Continued
The holiday season is here! Which means decorations, desserts, family get-togethers… and presents. If you’re stumped on what to get your family this year — or are simply sick of spending money on toys that go unused — we’ve got an awesome gift idea: a volunteer vacation. Take your husband and kids on a trip, … Continued
Every other Thursday on The Volunteer Traveler blog, we’re going to bring you behind-the-scenes profiles of the people and places at the heart of Discover Corps: our staff in the US and abroad, our partner organizations, and our former travelers. We’re confident their stories and insights will educate, entertain, and inspire you. This week, we’re pleased to introduce Alex … Continued
When’s the last time you escaped — either with your mind or your body? When’s the last time you weren’t tethered to your cell phone and your email, your thoughts constantly interrupted by their pings? If you’re like most of us, you probably can’t remember when. Technology is a wonderful thing, but it’s become overwhelming … Continued
You’ve probably heard of a “volunteer vacation” before. And you might have wondered if they really do any good. After all, what impact can an unskilled person have on a week or two during their holidays? What does some couple from suburban America know about community development?
This video highlights many of the challenges of international volunteerism. It boils down to what is your intention and what is the intention of the organization you’re traveling with. For Discover Corps, we are quite clear that our travelers are not going to be “development experts” in a week or two.
In September 2014, a group of travelers journeyed to Peru for an immersive journey of service and culture.