Although it’s called “volunteering”, the volunteer is nearly always required to pay. This is not unreasonable, since accommodation and food are provided. How much you pay varies greatly, depending on the project, and often depending on the facilities available for the volunteers.
The other big question is what kind of work are you expected to do? Chris and I are pretty fit and healthy, and not afraid of hard work, but it seems that doesn’t always apply to all volunteers! We’ve chatted with some of the permanent workers on projects, and have learned that the quality of volunteers they receive varies a great deal. And this goes a long way towards explaining how much (or how little) work is expected of volunteers. If the project managers can’t be sure whether they’re getting willing workers, they’re unable to give the volunteers too much responsibility, in case the work will not be done. This can be frustrating if you’re a willing volunteer! Plus if you’re only staying for a few weeks, it’s tough for the project managers to spend a great deal of time training and retraining new volunteers every few weeks.
We did begin one project that very quickly turned out not to be what we expected. There was some miscommunication and misunderstanding, we were too eager to believe that a lot of research was involved, and didn’t read the somewhat scant information given on their website, and it turned out to be more of a tourist project than research-based. That taught us the lesson that we need to do more in-depth research, look for unbiased reviews, ask more questions and read between the lines when choosing a project.
7 top things to consider:
When Imperfection Strikes! What happens when those closest to us ultimately disappoint? Why do we…
We hadn’t done much planning. After all, we weren’t even sure we would get across…
My “Medellin Jubilado (Retiree) Odyssey” contained a trap. I toured,, was a wonderful tourist. I…
I have always believed in intuition and never more than on January 19, 2021. A…
We two have been motivated to hike and climb mountains through our 45 years of…
Fortunately, we were gifted with good genes at birth. We’ve kept persistently active walking and…
This website uses cookies.
View Comments
Wow, I'm impressed and envious of your adventures, though some are of the "misadventure" type as well. One year after retiring at ages 61 and 56, my husband had 2 neurological surgeries within 6 months of each other to make room in the spine for the spinal fluid. That went well, but his cord was nicked and he lost all of his muscle mass and agility. You are doing things we had planned to do, but life tossed us some different plans.
However, we volunteer at our local university and are involved in the community in several other ways, so we are content. My husband plays golf which doctors told him was the BEST thing he could do for his condition.
I finally (after working all those years) got around to creative writing and discovered I had several book inside me. In four years, I wrote a coming-of-age travel memoir from age 10-27 that I published last year. Book is entitled At Home in the World: Travel Stories of Growing Up and Growing Away. You may enjoy the view of a young person traveling. Look for how to purchase my book on my blog, mentioned below.
Now I'm working on an historical fiction book. Writing lead me to develop my blog, Traveling Light, to expound upon not only traveling and how we travel, but also the spiritual side of travel and to explore diversity in our own communities. I do hope you and others will visit Traveling Light at http://rhondawiley-jones.com.
I share all this with you and others who are reading to say, retirement is what you make it. We have enjoyed every day and each other more and more.
Hi Rhonda, thank you for your kind comments, I'm so glad you enjoyed the article! I'm really glad to hear that you and your husband are making the best of unexpected circumstances. You are a living example of what I always tell people: do it, don't procrastinate! Good for you! So glad your husband is well enough to play golf. And well done you, for exploring creative writing!
All the best, Danila