A comment on “adventure” and “service”. Habitat for Humanity, at the forefront of the volunteering abroad movement, has been offering trips for years and most of those are service trips followed by some sort of adventure trip organized by the participants themselves. I haven't done the study to prove this, but I would bet that many of the people who travel to do a service project abroad where adventure or sightseeing is not combined in the offering then stay and do that on their own. In other words, its not that “people who are seeking to volunteer do not want to go on adventures” nor vice versa, but that operators who are doing each of these two components are not typically able to offer the best of both.

At PEPY, we used to offer voluntourism programs which were more volunteer focused, but have since become a lot more skeptical of the impact of looking to “serve” in a place where we should be looking learn. Responsible edu-ventures is the category we now classify our tours in – educational opportunities where you can come to a new place, learn about development work, support that work financially and occasionally with your time as well, and go home better equipped to serve the world – not just in the 14 days of your tour, but forever.

Some adventure companies are used to “taking people on vacation”. To offer a real learning experience, you sometimes have to push people to the “Fun B” zone – where they are challenged and out of their comfort zones. To do so, the trip leader's goals have to be aligned with modeling responsible community interactions and supporting a challenging and educational experience for the travelers which sometimes strays from the most “relaxing” experience for guests. In other words, any company where a large portion of the trip leader's salary is based on tips might not be suited to produce the kind of trips which put community needs above travelers and push guests to challenge their preconceived notions. Adding volunteering, for those companies, just doesn't fit into their DNA.

A comment on “adventure” and “service”. Habitat for Humanity, at the forefront of the volunteering abroad movement, has been offering trips for years and most of those are service trips followed by some sort of adventure trip organized by the participants themselves. I haven't done the study to prove this, but I would bet that many of the people who travel to do a service project abroad where adventure or sightseeing is not combined in the offering then stay and do that on their own. In other words, its not that “people who are seeking to volunteer do not want to go on adventures” nor vice versa, but that operators who are doing each of these two components are not typically able to offer the best of both.

At PEPY, we used to offer voluntourism programs which were more volunteer focused, but have since become a lot more skeptical of the impact of looking to “serve” in a place where we should be looking learn. Responsible edu-ventures is the category we now classify our tours in – educational opportunities where you can come to a new place, learn about development work, support that work financially and occasionally with your time as well, and go home better equipped to serve the world – not just in the 14 days of your tour, but forever.

Some adventure companies are used to “taking people on vacation”. To offer a real learning experience, you sometimes have to push people to the “Fun B” zone – where they are challenged and out of their comfort zones. To do so, the trip leader's goals have to be aligned with modeling responsible community interactions and supporting a challenging and educational experience for the travelers which sometimes strays from the most “relaxing” experience for guests. In other words, any company where a large portion of the trip leader's salary is based on tips might not be suited to produce the kind of trips which put community needs above travelers and push guests to challenge their preconceived notions. Adding volunteering, for those companies, just doesn't fit into their DNA.