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Feel-Good Getaways Volunteer vacations let you go somewhere and get something done for the greater good. 
Work, love it or hate it, is draining; it’s something that saps our mental and physical energy. And that’s why we have vacations to build up the resources we need when we absolutely have to be at the office. "The more time an individual spends away from their everyday environment, the more they step outside of the box and see themselves and their problems in a new perspective," says Rana Walker, president of Diamond Cutter, Philadelphia, a firm specializing in mental health issues. While you can do the beach thing, lounging all day, drinking fruity concoctions, more workers see the value in pursuing their values and gaining peace of mind by taking vacations to give others a helping hand. Agencies like the Earthwatch Institute, Wilderness Volunteers and the Sierra Club link people with service projects taking place across the country and around the world. More people are using their vacation as an opportunity to do good works every year, says Earthwatch's Blue Magruder, Maynard, Mass., especially after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Since 1970, Earthwatch has offered support to research scientists and archeologists around the globe by rounding up people looking for a vacation that offers something more than a cruise or a week in Maui. Participants in the agency's expeditions have dug for human ancestors in Olduvai Gorge in Kenya, observed chimpanzee behavior at a research facility in Washington state, mapped wildlife game trails in the western U.S. and helped excavate American Indian pueblos in the Southwest. You don’t need a degree in sociology or experience in research to take part. They'll teach you everything you need to know, Magruder says. But you'd be amazed how your regular life prepares you for the work, she adds. “We have a project studying turtle nestings in Trinidad where you walk the beach, find the nests, measure them and weigh them,” she says. “The scientist running the program says anyone who's ever done Weight Watchers and can walk can do this.” By finding people with some basic life skills and a willingness to learn and work, the agency fills a vital need in the scientific community, Magruder says. “There's so much good research being done out there, but it takes a lot of field work to get it done and it’s hard for these scientists to find crews willing to spend an entire summer working with them. Our volunteers fill that void,” she says. “We had 500 proposals for projects this year, and only accepted 140.” The trips typically last a week, and cost between $300 and $2,000, plus transport to the site. Onsite meals, travel and lodging are provided. The agency does screen candidates for trips, to make sure they have the physical skills to handle the expeditions, Magruder says. “Obviously if you’re 75 with health problems you wouldn't want to track wolves in the Sierras, but there may be something else that suits your skills and your interest,” she says. Like Earthwatch, Wilderness Volunteers has a tight screening system for its expedition. But, says executive director Deborah Northcutt, they are also careful to have a mix of difficulty levels among the 60 service trips on public lands in the American West offered this year. Members of the 12-person expeditions rebuild hiking trails in Yosemite National Park, pull invasive non-native plants out of Utah’s Arches National Monument, or erect erosion-control structures in Big Bend National Park in Texas. Mostly though, the group gives people who love our national lands a chance to spend some time on them. “We like to say this is a fantasy camp for those of us who wanted to become park rangers but never did,” Northcutt says. The trips typically last six or seven days, and include at least one free day when expedition members are free to explore the terrain around them. Trips are led by two Wilderness Volunteers expedition leaders, Northcutt says, who teach members necessary survival techniques they need, acting as field guides on hikes and serving as camp cooks. Some trips include backpacking to worksites, while others focus more on activities around a base camp, and still others involve car camping. So whatever your condition, there’s a trip for you, Northcutt says. The program is similar to Sierra Club service programs, Northcutt says, but unlike the Sierra Club, Wilderness Volunteers works hard to keep the price of expeditions below $800. All expedition leaders have been trip volunteers at least twice, Northcutt says. But they aren’t the only repeat business for the six-year-old agency. “About 60 percent of our clients have done a trip before. In fact, most people like to do the same trip again and again to see the difference they’re making in the landscape,” she says. Seeing the difference a little time can make is the greatest pleasure both Earthwatch and Wilderness Volunteers have to offer: “It’s just amazing to hear back from people who went on a trip and helped on a dig that made a significant find, or were part of a research project that was successful. There’s a pride and sense of accomplishment,” Earthwatch’s Magruder says. “Most people who go on vacation don’t come back with that.” |
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