I’m learning lessons all the time in this business of volunteering abroad. My client-volunteers do too mostly, but not always. Maybe this will help one of them: I got an email last month from a young woman named Emily who wanted to volunteer in Ghana with children for just a couple of days. She was [...]
Being caught in a traffic jam stinks, doesn’t it? All those idiots getting in your way, slowing you up, making your commute even longer and more miserable. But what if, during you next traffic jam as you’re ready to explode behind the wheel, you thought the following instead: I’m not STUCK in traffic. I AM [...]
It can get lonely on the road less traveled. But sometimes things happen there that remind you it was the right choice for you. I took the photo below in 2005 in India, on a dirt road on the outskirts of Bangalore, quite literally and figuratively on a road less traveled. Just weeks before the [...]
I’m afraid I disagree with Rafia Zakaria’s article The Tragedies of Other Places – That the tragedy in Boston (and Americans’ reactions) shows that America isn’t as complicated as the rest of the world. We are indeed just as “complicated,” if not more so, than any other place. True, we didn’t have 652 bombings last year like [...]
So, you’re finally on-board your international flight for your volunteering trip abroad. Hmmmm…..Now what? 7 Tips on Passing the Time on Your International Flight 1. The Obvious. Sleeping, reading, movies, music, writing, drawing. Also, more and more airlines — especially outside the US — are offering in-flight Internet access. 2. Mimic your destination’s time zone. [...]
Tony Perrottet, Smithsonian Magazine Contributing Writer, has just released his list of the the Top Ten Most Influential Travel Books. I was glad to see that I’ve read a few of them, like On The Road (1957), The Innocents Abroad (1869), and A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy (1768). What are your favorite travel books? Any to [...]
I just composed and released what I believe is the world’s first Google Glass policy. What’s Google Glass? It’s a new computer designed by Google that you wear on your head. Among other things, it gives you the ability to easily record video without anyone knowing. Google’s servers will then be able identify, tag and [...]
I don’t think a trip to Kenya would be complete without a visit to the Elsamere Conservation Centre (with a “tre”!) – especially for those volunteering in wildlife conservation. I made it to Elsamere a little over a year ago for a one-day visit with a good friend (who’s a former client of mine). Elsamere is the [...]
I strongly recommend having a paper journal on your volunteering trip abroad. Yes, it’s also good to go the electronic route — via posts on a blog, Facebook, and Twitter. But we seem to be in the age of over-sharing, which can get annoying and even downright depressing. Surely there will be at least some things abroad that you don’t [...]
Last summer we had a teen volunteer from the US go to Ghana for a couple of weeks. When her father first contacted me and my company Cosmic Volunteers that spring, he said he had major concerns about her going on the trip. See, she had recently gotten picked up by the cops for having [...]
My name is Scott P. Burke.
I'm in the volunteering abroad business.
This blog is where I share what I'm learning about it.Subscribe to my Blog
Recent Posts
- Semester at Sea S.O.S.
- Your Default Setting – Abroad
- Give Me Some Skin
- Down the Yellow Brick Road
- 7 Tips on Passing the Time on Your International Flight
- The Top Ten Most Influential Travel Books
- Google Glass Policy
- Elsamere Conservation Centre in Kenya
- Use a Paper Journal when Volunteering Abroad
- Ain’t S*** to Steal in Ghana
