Summer Vacation/Volunteer

[Edwards]

I'm a teacher and have heard about opportunities for someone with my profession receiving a free trip out of the country in order to volunteer, conduct research, study, etc. After finally sitting down and looking for these on my own, I am coming up short with viable options. Most of what I find has either been put on hiatus due to Covid or has much steeper costs than I would expect. In several instances, I found that it would have been cheaper for me to independently purchase a flight, lodgings, and food then what the volunteer program's package asks. While I could just afford to pay for a trip on my own, I would rather find an interesting program to be part of (because it would help cover costs, provide a meaningful activity, and make it easier to meet new people while there).

Anyway, does any have any experience or suggestions for me?
This would be the first time I've left the United States, so I am not opposed to most locations but would prefer relatively safe and diverse cultures.

TL;DR- Teacher wants to find a vacation/volunteer opportunity for 2023 summer that will take him somewhere interesting and out of the country, which also pays for a majority of expenses. Suggestions?

[Askel]

I find that most of the really good opportunities aren't found by randomly googling around.  Most of the opportunities I've had for paid travel to volunteer my services someplace have been found through networking in fields I'm already pretty involved in locally.   

Research is an entirely other thing. Typically if you want to have your costs covered for that sort of thing, you need to be heavily involved in the organizations conducting that research- i.e. be a poorly paid grad student.   

I've been able to enjoy a couple of a fun gigs in all of the above, but you do not just casually walk into these. All these trips and projects are part of things I've been very involved in for many years and devoted a lot of work to.   

[Freedomin5]

You mean something like Teachers Without Borders?

https://teacherswithoutborders.org/action-paths

I live in China, and while there are many local organizations who would love to hire native English speakers to run summer camps, it’s rare that they’ll hire someone from overseas just to run a camp for a couple weeks. The flights (especially now during COVID times) and the visas are just too expensive or too much of a hassle. They’d prefer to hire someone who is already in the country.

I could see a higher likelihood if you stayed in your home country but maybe went to an underserved area to teach summer school.

That being said, if you want to sign a 2 year contract to work at an international school, there are many very lucrative opportunities.

[uk_american1]

Check out        https://www.workaway.info/

I live in the UK and volunteered in Poland for a few weeks in summer 2019. Granted you would need to pay your flight/travel expenses to get somewhere but once you are volunteering you're usually receiving accommodation and all meals. Many of the hosts (at least in Europe, when I was looking) are interested in the cultural exchange aspect so will often take you to local historical sites or will ask about your interests to arrange something interesting for you.

Specifically I volunteered to teach English as I was having a mid-life career change to teach English and had recently been certified so wanted to gain some experience. Schools and summer camps are very eager to have native speakers to come for a week or a few weeks.

I split my time between two programs, one was an established school that put adults in an immersion experience in a hotel in the countryside. They do these trips all year long and are well organized, you show up at a train station in a big city with other volunteers and your week away begins. They have a high ratio of native speakers to students so you end up meeting native speakers from around the world. My other experience was a small school in a rural town where many of the students had never met a native speaker. It was actually a big thing, the parents of the students took me places of natural beauty near their town, out to a music night, the students drew pictures for me before I left, and one of the teachers in town invited me to visit the local high school.

Both were lovely and meaningful experiences. There are all sorts of options on the site beside teaching, such as renovation, outdoor projects, animal help etc.

[Edwards]

Thanks everyone!
It looks like a majority of my options are for longer periods of time than I would have available.

[uniwelder]

Thanks everyone!
It looks like a majority of my options are for longer periods of time than I would have available.

And the Workaway site that was mentioned? I’ve looked into it but not used it yet. Sounds ideal for your situation and timeline.