By Colleen Birch Maile

Volunteer Vacations

“Giving! The only real joy is giving!” -Peanuts’ Charlie Brown

As usual, the little bald kid gets it right. While a volunteer vacation may seem contradiction in terms, I know how much serving others can enrich a travel experience. When our youngest was still in diapers, my husband decided the best Christmas present we could give ourselves was to “give ourselves.” So, we and a group of our church friends rattled across the Mexican boarder in a bus loaded with food, clothes, enthusiasm, and compassion, and spent our holiday “break” living with the locals – hand digging a building foundation, distributing necessities to the residents of the city dump, and communicating in pantomime-assisted high school Spanish with our new friends.

It was out best Christmas ever.

Rather than merely observing a place, rambling along foreign streets and learning about history and culture via museums and tour buses, we lived the experience. Instead of fading into a crowd of strangers, we felt part of a community. Our children encountered kids from a very different place and discovered a world of similarities. We shared time together; built memories and racked up personal benefits that far outweighed whatever good we did for others.

It was so gratifying, that I am not surprised by the service-oriented travel’s gains in popularity. In increasing numbers, websites, and guidebooks catalogue opportunities for satisfying and significant travel. Name your passion. There’s a volunteer vacation ideally suited to a wide range of interest and abilities.