As a result of a series of typhoons, the Batad Rice Terraces in Ifugao, a World Heritage site since 1995, are in danger. The Batad community will be open to voluntourists, who will be able to help as well as have a taste of traditional Ifugao life and culture.

Youth travel specialist STA Travel is expecting a boom in voluntourism as more young people want to give back to communities in their travels.

Once a popular tourist destinations for American citizens, Cuba has been shrouded in mystery to most Americans ever since the U.S. imposed political and economic sanctions. As a result of the U.S. embargo that restricts commerce, Cuba has retained much of its Old World charm…

A mixture of passion to help those less fortunate than myself and the desire to completely immerse myself in another culture led me down the dusty dirt paths of the slums of Mishomoroni, Kenya, to New Hope Orphanage, with the countless rows of wide brown eyes greeting me at every corner. I was 18 and on my own, scared and apprehensive as I had never been out of Europe before, yet I found myself feeling somewhat at home among all of these new, smiling faces…

It’s hard to imagine that traveling four days for six days of volunteer service in Africa would be enough time to bring about anything but a severe case of jet lag. But the trip was eye-opening!

International travel for me isn’t about sightseeing; my adventures are to help orphans have a better life…

An emerging travel trend that combines spiritual, green, experiential travel and voluntourism, “meaningful travel” is an evolving niche in which the traveler is in a position to help the people of the destination through donating money, adopting a cause, volunteering or getting involved.

Think you can’t spare the time for volunteering abroad? Think again.

It would be lovely to be able to take off around the world for years, traveling from needy cause to needy cause and helping people all year round, but for most of us this just isn’t affordable, in terms of time or money…