Page is a “volunteer vacationer,” part of a growing clan. People are using their free time to restore railroads, snorkel for science and band rare birds. Some even make holidays a Peace Corps experience in miniature. “We’ve seen a huge increase in interest from professionals who want short-term, meaningful vacations,” says Christine Victorino of the International Volunteer Programs Association. Her group was formed two years ago to organize the nonprofits that arrange working trips. And these organizations want money as well as time: volunteers’ contributions typically top $1,500, without air fare, for one week. Altruism doesn’t come cheap–but the vacations are partially tax deductible, provided volunteers put in five eight-hour days.
“If somebody [had] told me I’d spend my money weeding on a tropical island, I’d [have told] them they were nuts,” says Leonard Stone, a retired dentist from the Chicago suburbs. Yet Stone and his wife, Helene, each paid more than $1,600 for a weeklong Oceanic Society Midway Seabird expedition last spring. They worked on a spit of land in the Pacific, helping researchers neaten up albatross-nesting areas and count chicks. They slept in World War II-era barracks. And in the end, Stone says, he got more than he gave. A bird enthusiast, he marvels at his daily access to the albatrosses, impromptu field talks, lectures and films about wildlife.
Some vacations tap into volunteers’ desire to lend a hand in the underdeveloped world. “They figure, ‘I can’t do two years in the Peace Corps, but I can do one or two weeks’,” says Bud Philbrook, whose Global Volunteers organized Page’s trip to Costa Rica.“We can find a way to utilize them.” In 16 years, he’s sent thousands of volunteers on projects ranging from constructing a children’s home in Madras, India, to rocking babies in Romania. Four years ago he trimmed longer trips to accommodate professionals’ busy schedules, and recently added less strenuous options for the retirees who now make up one third of his clientele. He and eight other lawyers–many of them retired–are just back from a foray to teach U.S. law to students in Xian, China.
Can you really make a difference in just a few weeks? Steve Rosenthal of Cross-Cultural Solutions thinks you can. He places vacationers on 21-day projects; volunteers help women in India start small businesses or teach English to village kids in Ghana. Rosenthal says the number of students, professionals and retirees signing up for his trips has “consistently doubled” over the past five years; he is adding a new trip to China this fall to meet demand. Once he explains that most of the $1,950 program fee funds community-based organizations in the host countries, volunteers, he says, are willing to pay. “I’d rather be giving the money to a nonprofit than some hotel corporation,” says Ron Cooke, an information-services director for the New York State Police. He and his wife, Kathleen, are veteran volunteer vacationers–they’ve counted birds in Costa Rica and trapped ocelots in Mexico. When they saw Earthwatch’s new one-week conch-fishery offering, they were hooked. “We spent part of the day snorkeling in the Caribbean counting shellfish. Not too shabby,” Cooke says. They also interviewed fishermen and surveyed seashells while camping on a Dominican Republic beach. The eight-day jaunt is one of the shorter research expeditions Earthwatch introduced two years ago to lure volunteers who won’t commit to longer trips.
Not all the volunteers consider the vacations work. Some of the programs are designed for hobbyists, or for people who want to learn a new skill. Each summer more than 200 train enthusiasts pitch in on the ongoing restoration of New Mexico and Colorado’s historic Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad. Crews reroof and repaint turn-of-the-century freight cars, and some relax by taking a ride on one of the nation’s last remaining narrow-gauge lines. “Somebody in the family is usually very fond of railroads,” says Terri Shaw of the volunteers.
Then there are the WWoofers–Willing Workers on Organic Farms. These vacationers till, toil, sell and sow on farms worldwide. In return, they learn about organic farming–and get to eat a lot of healthy food. Small organic farmers are desperate for help, says Nancy Groth, who tends 15 acres outside Grants Pass, Ore. And depending on their location, for company: “We’re interested in meeting new people because we’re stuck on the farm,” Groth says. Sounds like she should think about volunteering for a vacation, too.
