Volunteer Travel

Want to take an exotic holiday, meet new people from all over the world, and make a difference at the same time? Check out GAP Adventure's group of volunteer travel tours. These trips are available to a host of different countries in South America, Africa and Southeast Asia. You can help put together wheelchairs in Cambodia, help a village in Africa start an organic farm, or even work with Sea Turtles in Costa Rica (I plan on doing this one with my family next year!). The trips seem to be well split up between volunteer time and holiday time, and would be a great way to help out a community and really see the side of a country that tourists rarely see. And the prices are very reasonable! I traveled with Gap to the Galapagos Islands in 2005, so I can personally vouch for them.