Voluntourism ~ Good Times, Good Deeds

According to the Macmillan Dictionary website "voluntourism" is a new word that describes a newish practice - taking a holiday which combines leisure and sightseeing with the opportunity to work for a charity or other worthwhile cause. So, if you combine fun and philanthropy on your holiday - that's "Voluntourism", a new wave in the travel industry.
Whatever the reason, more tourists — such as college students on spring break, jet-setting luxury travelers and retiring baby boomers — are using their vacations to volunteer.
Volunteer vacationers assist with humanitarian and disaster relief efforts, care for AIDS patients, feed the hungry in remote villages or save endangered species. But not all volunteer programs involve life-and-death matters; travelers can teach English, care for orphaned and disabled children, tend animals, maintain hiking trails and do other conservation work, assist with scientific and environmental research or participate in archaeological expeditions.
You can build schools in El Salvador, or conserve the tropical rainforest in Belize. Assist with marine biology expeditions in the Bahamas, care for injured seals on the Scottish coast, or work in an orphanage in Tanzania.
While the trend is hard to quantify, a wide variety of environmental, medical, nature, children's and other groups as well as churches report that participation in volunteer vacations is on the rise. The percentage of travelers planning to volunteer during vacations in 2007 nearly doubled from the previous year, jumping from 6 percent to 11.
Weather you're building an orphanage in Mozambique or saving the turtles in Costa Rica, protect your health and investment with adequate insurance coverage. Call Mark Sneed or Adam Bates at 1-800-647-4589 and tell them about your upcoming adventure. They will help you find the best, most affordable coverage for your vacation with a purpose.