Looking for a new way to approach your vacation travel.  Perhaps you have heard the buzz about this new way of travel - combining destinations with service iteneraries. Well, if you haven't then you are amongst the few.   Yes, indeed it has become a big trend in the travel industry and for good reason.  The percentage of travelers planning to volunteer during vacations in 2007 nearly doubled from the previous year, jumping from 6 percent to 11 in the latest poll by travel Web site Travelocity. 

From college spring breaks, to family summer vacations, the experience to be had when traveling to offer your time, mind, and money to other parts of the world, can be both amazingly rejevenating, fulfulling, and uniting.  Traveling to a destination and taking part in a service project while enjoying the foreign environment puts you right in the middle of something that is bigger than your world back home.  As you know by following me, this is a key to feeling good about yourself! 

If you are interested in finding some more information about Voluntourism, check out this site: www.voluntourism.org

Just starting to think about it, perhaps these three insights will provide the motivation you need:

1.) VolunTouring adventures can often be less expensive than regular destination travel.  Though you may have to pick up the costs of travel, food, and lodging, most reputable "hosts" will help mitigate these costs.

2.) Being a part of something bigger than yourself can be as rejuvenating, as a week in Caribbean.  You'll be taken out of your daily struggles and put in an empowering position to improve someone elses life or the environment. 

3.) Research has shown that volunteering helps reduces stress, lower risks of depression, and of heart disease.

But...be sure to do your research when choosing a project. You want to make sure you are signing up for a credible, successful organization.  You can do most of this research on the web.  Earthwatch Institute is a good place to start. They run a great operation and rely heavily on volunteers to help supplement their research and conservation projects around the world.

I'll be writing more about specific adventures in the future.