Why Go Alone When You Can Volunteer Abroad?

Have you ever wanted to travel abroad but had no one to go with you? Perhaps you've never left the country and find it all overwhelming.

Not everyone shares the same travel interests, and our priorities can change at different points in our lives. Volunteering is one great way to gain confidence and ease the transition into traveling to new places. Traveling with an organization can simplify the planning process and teach you valuable skills for managing tricky situations you might encounter on future trips.

For example, you can volunteer in Africa with an organization like African Impact, which operates in several African countries, including South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Kenya!

Has an African Safari been something you've dreamt about, or have any of those places crossed your mind before?

Going on a volunteer project is a great way to make some of those dreams a reality while also doing something incredible along the way.

African Impact is an organization that I've personally experienced over the last few years. It's made an incredible impact on my life, opened my heart, and urged me to see what the rest of the world has to offer!

When I went to Livingstone, Zambia, it was my first time traveling solo. The organization helped me every step of the way and made it a very smooth and comfortable transition into what was such a foreign place to me at the time.

African Impact has several booking options to help accommodate everyone's different schedules. You can go anywhere from 10 days to several months! Offering several different programs in each country, you can be hands-on with the kids working in the schools, teaching math, reading, and other common class skills to home medical services and assistance at clinics, gender equality and community impact, and so many different conservation projects! If photography is your passion, there are even projects that allow you to put your skills to the test by taking incredible photos of the wildlife Africa has to offer.

Through my personal experience, if Africa is a place, you've maybe thought about or have an interest in giving back to communities, I'll always be the first person to tell you that this is the perfect path to take!

Your airport pickup, housing, and food Monday through Friday are included in the overall cost through your payment to the organization. The activities that the organization can assist with once you arrive are incredible in each country. Africa has so many experiences that will change your life, and it's great to have some help organizing even your fun and getting assistance with the best tours in each area you might find yourself traveling to!

Suppose this sounds like something that might be worth checking out. In that case, it's only one click away from reaching out to some incredible people at this foundation for a welcome packet explaining much more about the incredible experience awaiting you!

Maybe Africa isn't the place you've always dreamed of going to, or you possibly have some other places you want to see first. There are so many organizations out there that can be great to travel with and see many different parts of the world!

When looking for the right place to go, there is a lot that we might not always think about, or maybe we all have different goals in mind that we are trying to accomplish. The one thing I would recommend that everyone think twice about is how sustainable the project I'm going to work on with the organization I've chosen is. What are the values of the company I'm traveling with, and are they making an actual move towards lasting change, or is this something that looks good for social media to the outside world?

Another great source for volunteer work and travel in general is the well-known "World Packers." World Packers has become huge in the travel community! It's a great source to find jobs along the way where you can trade work for free housing (you heard that right! Trading skills and working for hostels or locals is a great way to immerse yourself into the culture, meet people easily, and also save money along the way!).

Assisting local communities through trade and volunteer projects is a great way to experience a location firsthand and make a lasting change. World Packers is a place to hear from many different travelers and their blogs to find information from people who are out there doing it all and sharing their knowledge.

This is an incredible source for all travelers and their different needs.

When it comes to solo travelers World Packers is a great spot to meet new friends as well as become part of different groups that you can travel along with, so going solo doesn't have to be a fear in the back of your mind. Of course, there's always a little fear of landing in a foreign country and traveling with a group of strangers, but everyone likely has similar fears, and the best part about it all is that everyone is there for the same reason. To see the world and not be alone!

Whatever your travel aspirations may be, World Packers offers valuable resources to help you find the perfect path forward.

Helping communities around the world is such a fantastic opportunity that can really change your life and open up exciting new possibilities. If you’ve been thinking about it, I say go for it! What’s the worst that could happen?