Career Break Secrets: Travel show, independent travel blog and advice for career breaks and around the world travel adventures » Volunteering

WWOOFing It on Your Career Break

jeff — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 12:00:14 +0000

This is a guest post submitted by Tony from LandingStanding.com. You may remember that I recently featured him and his wife, Meg, in a Who’s Out There Now interview. This post has been delayed for a while and I’m glad I can finally publish it. One of the top activities for career breakers is volunteering and giving back. For the past few years, WWOOFing (Weekend Workers on Organic Farms) has become increasingly popular. Tony and Meg recently spent time on a farm in Italy and agreed to write about their experience and tell you how you can get involved. Thanks to Tony for writing this post. Happy farming!

A machete in my right hand, a thick glove on my left, and bloody scratches covering my arms. Thick foliage blocked most of the Italian sun, but I was still dripping in sweat. It was my my first day at the agriturismo site, Barbialla Nuova, and I was loving life.

Just one year before (back in the US), my days were spent either in meetings, on the phone, or pounding away at the keyboard writing up credit reviews so that my commercial banking customers could get financing. It is amazing how far I’ve come as I travel around the world… and I’m not just talking about miles.

When taking a career break, there is always that freaky blend of apprehension and excitement that preludes doing anything uncertain or unknown. There are many reasons why you might make the decision to travel, but for me, my reasons were finally clarified 6 months into our trip. As I whacked away at insanely sharp thorn vines on an Italian truffle hunting trail, I realized that I took my career break and traveled around the world so that I could:

Experience more.
Experience something different.
Experience life.

As tired as my shoulders felt, as bloody as my arms got, and as hot as I became, I had never appreciated work or life more. This was why I quit my job to travel.

The best part about working at this agriturismo site? I only had to work at various jobs around the farm for 4-6 hours per day and I had 2 days off per week. Oh, and even better? On some days, part of my 4-6 hours of work consisted of me helping host a giant lunch for people staying at the farm’s villas… where I got to eat and drink right alongside the guests.

Yes, it was as dynamite as it sounds.

So how did I end up working for 2 weeks on an agriturismo site in Tuscany?

WWOOFing

My wife and I spent almost 2 years planning our around the world career break. Much of that time was spent researching and dreaming about all of the different ways we could experience our travel.

We have rented apartments, slept in hostels, lined up house-sitting gigs, camped, stayed with friends, taken overnight buses, but had never tried WWOOFing. Luckily, a friend of my mine had secured herself and her boyfriend a great 5 month job as assistants on a lovely agriturismo in Tuscany. She let us know that the farm was looking for WWOOFers to come help for a couple of weeks and we knew we had finally found our WWOOFing opportunity.

WWOOF stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms and is an organization that links organics farms with volunteers. The farms list what type of work they need, the hours required per week, and what they will provide the volunteers. In return, volunteers typically get a free place to sleep and often get free food as well. At the agroturismo site, we received full payment for any groceries we bought in addition to a private bedroom and bathroom in a quiet tuscan villa. Not too shabby.

Who Should Try WWOOFing?

WWOOFing really is not for everyone.

You need to be open to performing physical labor, actually working during your travels, and getting dirty. But you are thinking about taking a career break, right? Why else would you be reading this? So scratch that. Let me amend my statement. WWOOFing is for everyone who wants to try something different and is looking to experience life while on their career break.

If you’re considering a career break, then you’re probably exactly the type of person who would enjoy WWOOFing. There are jobs posted for people of all abilities.

How To Sign Up

Anyone can access the list of available opportunities and it is a great way to see what you might like to try. But if you want to actually inquire about a job, you need to sign up for that country’s specific WWOOFing list.

It costs $25 to sign up and you have to sign up by country, so plan on where you want to apply before you start paying for a ton of lists. But the list does provide you with the contact info you need to contact the farms, so it’s a must.

There are a lot of amazing opportunities on these lists, so give them a try!

Would We WWOOF Again?

Definitely.

We see WWOOFing as a great way to save money while we travel (especially in more expensive places like Europe), but we also like having time to just work on our own projects, which WWOOFing does not always allow (we were always too tired at the end of each work day).

This means we would not do back-to-back WWOOFing gigs. We loved our experience on the farm and had an amazing time getting to know everyone who worked there, but it was actual work for us.

Bottom-line: WWOOFing is a great way to save money while you travel and get an incredibly rich life experience. We maintained truffle trails, picked wild cherries, played with truffle dogs, took care of chickens, and worked our butts off. If any of that sounds interesting to you, then you are perfect for WWOOFing.

Your Turn: Is anyone considering WWOOFing? Has anyone tried and had a different experience from ours? We’d love to hear so please share!

About the Author: About Tony – Tony Rulli is the co-founder of LandingStanding.com and has been traveling around the world with his lovely wife, Meg, for the past year. They are passionate about food, travel, and all things ridiculous. They are always eager to meet new people and you can say hi on Twitter or Facebook.

If you like this post, sign up for our newsletter or subscribe to our RSS feed to keep up with Career Break Secrets’ career break and travel advice.

WWOOFing It on Your Career Break is a post from: Career Break Secrets: Travel show, independent travel blog and advice for career breaks and around the world travel adventures

Volunteering for the Bears of Romania

jeff — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 12:00:00 +0000

With the cheetahs in South Africa. Copyright CareerBreakSecrets.com

In a few weeks I’m off to Italy to speak at the Travel Bloggers Unite conference. One of the sponsors is Oyster Worldwide, a company that specializes in volunteer experiences for gappers and career breakers. They are giving away a trip to a blogger to go volunteer in Romania at a bear sanctuary. Who knew Romania had bears?? Well, probably everyone except me. Putting my ignorance aside, I want to now make my case for why I should be selected for this two-week trip. Here are my top 10 reasons.

In Torres Del Paine in Patagonia. Copyright CareerBreakSecrets.com

Genuine interest in the bears. I love being around animals and that probably is a result of having grown up in rural Texas. Besides dogs and cats, we had pigs, goats, chickens, fish, guinea pigs and even orphaned deer as pets. And, after filming my episode about volunteering at Monkeyland in South Africa, I really became interested in doing something similar myself.
Hard working fool. Some might just say ¨fool.¨ But, I’d be ready to jump in and get working with whatever is needed.
Have a leg up on the language. OK, I don’t speak Romanian. But, I do speak Spanish fluently. So, I think I could have some kick-ass basic Romanian quickly.
Love me some mountains! As a former resident of the state of Colorado in the US, I love exploring the mountains. I also had some great experiences in the Andes in South America. So, I would love to have the chance to explore the Carpathians by foot and camera.
In need of a career break myself. I know, it doesn’t seem as much of a benefit to you. But, after working hard to get the site and travel show off the ground, I could use a break and the chance to give back, to practice what I preach. And, that would come through in the writing. So, I wouldn’t be pretending to be on a break. I’d actually be on one making the writing all that more authentic.
The Dracula Factor. OK, I admit it. The fact that the sanctuary is in the heart of Transylvania does make the experience even more interesting.
Audience match. Let’s talk turkey. My site is all about career breaks and how to get the most out of your trip. Volunteering on a career break is the second most popular activity for career breakers (but you probably knew that). People come to the site looking for advice not only about how to leave their job, but also what life is like on the road and to follow my travels. I focus a lot of time talking about how to make the big trip count. So naturally, volunteering is one of the best ways to do that. Frankly, I would love to be able to write about the topic from a first-hand perspective.
Active social media presence: The site’s growing (400% last year), as is our social media presence (Facebook: almost 1050+ fans, Twitter: 2600+ followers, Klout: 50-51 range, and I’m active on StumbleUpon). Once we get the content up, I share it early and often.
Mix of content to deliver. In addition to the stories, I can also take lots of great photos and if I get some really good pics, a few might be part of my Suh-Weet Shots series. Depending on the working conditions and what’s happening on the ground, I might be able to get a video or two done.
Early bird gets the worm, right??? Surely there must be a few extra brownie points awarded for getting this well before the conference.

I can't promise the animals will like me! Copyright CareerBreakSecrets.com

So, to the good folks at Oyster Worldwide, please pick me!!

And to my readers, please let the folks at Oyster Worldwide know your support for me winning the trip to Romania!

If you like this post, sign up for our newsletter or subscribe to our RSS feed to keep up with Career Break Secrets’ career break and travel advice.

Volunteering for the Bears of Romania is a post from: Career Break Secrets: Travel show, independent travel blog and advice for career breaks and around the world travel adventures

Two Faces of Nepal

jeff — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 12:00:38 +0000

Mountains in Nepal. Copyright EdgeofSeven.com

Nepal captured my heart just over two years ago. It was my first time visiting the country nestled between India and China and in just three weeks, I fell in love with the land and its people. Nepal, unlike any other country I have visited, has the ability to render visitors speechless from exquisite beauty in one moment to extreme poverty the next. Perspective often dictates the experience.

The beauty throughout Nepal is unparalleled. The vast Himalayas line the northeast border and the snow capped mountains, including Mt. Everest, are far more impressive than any photo predicts. The hills of the countryside boast thousands of terraced rice paddy fields that paint the land a lush green. And finally, the spectacular gorges almost swallow rafters as boats sail through the tumbling rapids looking for sunshine. While the vistas have people longing for more, there is no moment untouched by the backdrop of destitution.

Woman in Field. Copyright EdgeofSeven.com

According to Wikipedia, the definition of poverty is the lack of basic human needs, such as clean water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter, because of the inability to afford them. In Nepal, many families, mothers, must walk several miles to draw water from a community tap. According to the U.N., almost half of Nepalese children under five are chronically malnourished. This figure is within the top five in the world. Research studies have shown a significant correlation between low maternal literacy and poor nutrition status of children. Lack of proper maternal care and sanitation, absence of dietary information, unsuitable feeding practices, and inadequate access to food are the other key underlying drivers of malnutrition among children. Most families in rural communities lack toilets as only 41% of people have sustainable access to sanitation.

Kids in Nepal. Copyright EdgeofSeven.com

While poverty levels have dropped in Nepal from 42% in 1996 to 25% in 2010, one quarter of the population still lives below the national poverty line of $1 per day. That is 7.1 MILLION people living on less than $365 each year. According to the United Nations, Nepalese have the lowest life expectancy in Asia, the largest share of undernourished children, and most importantly, development has been significantly unequal across social groups. According to Girls Discovered, the gross primary school graduation rate for girls is 64% and only 32% of young women in Nepal aged 20-24 years old have achieved at least a secondary education. The statistics are powerful but visiting a rural community in a developing country is a far leap from the page.

In November 2010, we were interviewing girls in the Everest region of Nepal for our first short film. We spoke with a fourteen year-old girl named Nimdita about the value of education. Nimdita’s parents were uneducated and could not afford to raise her or educate her. At five years old, she was sent to live with a family friend she calls her “sister.” For the last nine years, Nimdita has lived away from her parents so that she can pursue an education. When asked what she will do in the future, she responded that she would like to be a social worker to help educate others to develop rural Nepal. We could not detect a trace of resentment for the choices made by her parents. It is simply her life.

Nimdita in the Spinach Fields. Copyright EdgeofSeven.com

Nimdita’s story is all too common in Nepal. We spoke with many girls who are perfectly willing to sacrifice their basic needs so that they can have an education. Many girls farm their family’s land before and after classes so that they can attend school. We talked to girls who told us that they skip meals so they can have money for rent. We heard from girls who are living four people to a small rented room without beds or furniture just for the hope to be something other than a housewife. These are the women who will push Nepal forward.

Girls in Class. Copyright EdgeofSeven.com

My experiences in Nepal have been transformative. Now, I seek a world in which no fourteen year-old is forced to choose between her family and an education. I have created a nonprofit called Edge of Seven to improve the lives of girls throughout the developing world through education, health, and financial initiatives. In addition, we connect volunteers with service projects in the field because we are true believers in the philosophy that getting out and seeing the world will help people become more effective at changing it. If you are looking for your next big adventure, the trip that rocks your world, I dare you to visit Nepal. You’ll never be the same.

About the Author

Erin Guttenplan is the founder of Edge of Seven, a nonprofit that creates awareness and volunteer support for projects empowering girls in developing countries. Edge of Seven fuses international travel with service, creating opportunities for personal and global development. For information on how to volunteer in rural Nepal this spring, please visit Erin’s website, Edge of Seven.

If you like this post, sign up for our newsletter or subscribe to our RSS feed to keep up with Career Break Secrets’ career break and travel advice.

Two Faces of Nepal is a post from: Career Break Secrets: Travel show, independent travel blog and advice for career breaks and around the world travel adventures

What To Ask Before You Pay to Volunteer On Your Career Break

jeff — Wed, 12 May 2010 13:00:47 +0000

Paying to Volunteer on Your Career Break? Copyright CareerBreakSecrets.com

When choosing an international volunteer trip, many people cite cost as the most important factor. Some of the concerns voiced are, “Why should I pay if I’m giving my time?” and “If one group is less expensive than the other, does that mean it’s not as good?”

To answer the first question, most service organizations are nonprofits, and only receive funding through donors, grants, and memberships. Your payment helps to cover:

Business expenses: This includes facilities rent and maintenance, employee salaries, and marketing and promotion.
Host families and support: You’ll contribute to those who are housing and feeding you, and making sure that you have the support you need.
Volunteer expenses: This covers orientation and training, airport pickup and drop-off, handbooks and manuals, and project supplies and tools.

But why do some organizations charge only $15 per week, while others cost upwards of $7,000 per week?

1. Placement group
These are the ones you might be familiar with—they’re the organizations who are mentioned over and over in articles about where to volunteer worldwide. Think of them like travel agencies, but with a focus on volunteerism. Placement organizations partner with local groups that don’t have the resources for global marketing and recruitment. They’ll find volunteers, guide them through the pre-departure process, provide orientation and training, perform regular site visits, or have in-country staff to support the participants. Many of these organizations include further benefits like cultural immersion, shows and presentations, adventure tours, and language classes. As a result, they’re often more expensive than host groups.

2. Host group
These are the smaller, local organizations that most volunteers are placed with when they participate in an international service project. If you sign up to volunteer directly with a host group, you’ll still receive full staff support while you’re in the country—but you won’t receive some of the added benefits that placement groups give, such as guided excursions or presentations. You’ll also likely be placed with a host family or in a shared volunteer house, rather than the option of staying in a hotel—something many placement groups offer as part of their package. In other words, you’ll live like a local.

Which one should you go with?

It depends on the experience you want and your comfort level in arranging the volunteer trip.

You might want to work with a placement group if:

You need a little extra help planning an international trip.
You have the budget for it—most placements with these organizations cost about as much as a regular vacation. There are exceptions to the rule! Some of them (check out the list at the end) offer a great experience at a minimal cost.
You’d like extra benefits, like cultural outings and adventure tours.

And you might find a host group more suitable if:

You have international travel experience, or you know where to find information on passports and visas, immunizations, and other pre-departure needs.
You have a very small budget, or you’re trying to save as much as you can.
You’re comfortable with a more unstructured environment, or arranging your own entertainment on your down time.

10 questions you should ask the agency

So now you’ve decided you want to work on an international volunteer project! Below are ten questions you should ask any volunteer organization before signing up—regardless of whether it’s a host group or a placement group.

Where does your funding come from, and where does my payment go?
How involved are the locals?
Do you have volunteer alumni I can speak with? Or, do you know how I might get in touch with former volunteers?
Are there any special requirements for this project?
How should I set up my travel itinerary?
What should and shouldn’t I bring with me?
What type of work will be expected of me?
How much of my time will be spent working each day?
How can I communicate with others at home?
What kind of in-country support will I have if something goes wrong, or the project isn’t what I thought it would be?

Some recommended placement groups

Global Volunteer Network

International Volunteer HQ

Experiential Learning International

United Planet

GeoVisions

Some recommended host groups

Volunteer Uganda School

Las Mercedes Reforestation Project

Lisa Lopes Foundation

Katelios Group

Shanti Bhavan

Sarah Van Aucken

Sarah Van Auken is the creator of Volunteer Global, which teaches you about international service projects and general travel—where you can go, what you can do, and more. If you’d like to contribute or send a story or pictures to VG, send an email along to info@volunteerglobal.com. Sarah can alos be found on Twitter @VolunteerGlobal

If you like this post, sign up for our newsletter or subscribe to our RSS feed to keep up with Career Break Secrets’ career break and travel advice.

What To Ask Before You Pay to Volunteer On Your Career Break is a post from: Career Break Secrets: Travel show, independent travel blog and advice for career breaks and around the world travel adventures