Learning to Love Voluntourists

利用他们对志愿服务假期的精力和好奇心

The author of a seminal book on responsible travel, who coined the term "voluntourism," explains the activity, profiles the participants, and elaborates on the many benefits the activity is producing abroad.

经过Alison Gardner
高级旅行编辑

借助Travel Alive在尼加拉瓜的语言学习和志愿者计划，造林是六种社区选择之一。照片由旅行活着提供。

I confess to having rather a soft spot for the word voluntourism because I appear to have been the first journalist to coin the word in print. I did this in a feature article I wrote the 1990s on the subject of volunteer vacationing suitable for older travelers, citing some of the earliest players in the fledgling field. These includedEarthwatchand人类栖息地直到今天，这两者都是坚定的短期自愿性模型。近年来，随着客户兴趣的激增，市场上推出了许多新的变化，让我们反思志愿服务和度假旅行的这一值得的婚姻。

度假者选择在世界各地度过有限的假期和度假预算旅行以执行志愿者服务，这是一个非常近期的概念。在过去的20年中，它的发展势头如此，以至于非营利组织和营利性咨询服务和旅行社都在争夺许多不同的议程。凭借“休息和放松=度假”的牢固入门的西方世界思维方式，谁会梦想在度假时工作将成为当今旅游业的一个快速发展的部分？

什么是志愿服务？

Usually measured in days and weeks, possibly a month, voluntourism or volunteer vacationing is not a high school graduate’s GAP year, nor a stint in the Peace Corps. Though some advocates would prefer to ignore the tourism part of the word, it is key to the definition because it helps to define the scope and the expectations of what is offered and what is received. With rare exception, voluntourists pay their own expenses including a built-in contribution to the project for which they sign up. If the experience is positive, they also tend to donate more to the project once they have made a connection and sometimes even raise funds for it once they get back home.

对于选择这样做的人来说，这是时间，个人精力，可能是特殊技能和金钱的长度承诺。志愿者度假者的动机很少是积累职业建设证书或学分和荣誉。实际上，许多志愿人员故意选择一个无需技巧的项目，以便他们可以学习新的东西。与恐龙挖掘上的计算机工程师一起挖掘骨骼，一位退休的小学老师为有需要的家庭建造房屋，或者在亚马逊丛林中录制3趾树懒的电工。

Curiosity is a big motivator as is the notion that a change is as good as a rest. Voluntourists rarely sail on a Princess Cruise or get excited about a week at a multi-national resort with four swimming pools, three restaurants and two championship golf courses.

让我们以美国为例，尽管许多其他国家也派出了志愿服务员的巡回乐队。根据美国旅游行业的“旅行习惯”调查，美国人口的幅度略高于3亿，有24％或接近7500万人有兴趣参加基于志愿服务的假期。婴儿潮一代是接近47％的人。这些艰巨的潜在客户和Boomer年龄人群既是祝福，又是一个巨大的挑战。捆绑活动或仅提供短暂的志愿者体验的非传统志愿者计划作为大型假期的一部分，在该领域受到持怀疑态度的欢迎。一些未经证实的印刷品和互联网资源清理房屋也引起了负责任的旅游圈的合理警报。

志愿者需要不同的选择

One or two decades ago, a small number of non-profit volunteer service organizations focused almost exclusively on serving needy communities where their set-length programs made a significant difference in the economic foundation, natural environment or social support network. They have gone to admirable lengths to discern the needs of the community and minimize any negative impact that short-term visitors may have on local people or environments.

但是，“他们在改变时，”鲍勃·迪伦（Bob Dylan）在自愿旅游前几十年唱歌，这是史密斯（Swordmith）的眼睛。随着需求的增加，重新定义短期并扩大了可能性的创意想法也是如此。这里有一些变体：

志愿者介绍者：Not every vacationer wants to dedicate an entire year's holiday to volunteer service, but they may get excited about doing a day, a few days or a week, balanced off with some other type of vacationing in a destination they wish to visit. If the concept of volunteer vacationing really draws them in, maybe next time their choice will be a fully-committed volunteer vacation of two to four weeks. A volunteer eco-guidebook,Preserving Paradise: Opportunities in Volunteering for Hawaii's Environment毛伊岛的居民柯斯滕·韦斯利（Kirsten Whatley）是夏威夷岛游客的欢迎资源，他们想了解60多个组织的环保志愿者机会。几乎所有建议的自然项目都短期需要一天或更少的承诺。并不是完全进入深处，但即使是水中的脚趾也是一个好的开始。

A “community based tourism” operator,举起假期，最近越过了我的雷达，这是一家由车身商店的创始人和受人尊敬的负责生活当局的创始人安妮塔·罗迪克（Anita Roddick）热情推荐的公司。除了全球目的地的菜单之外，引起我注意的是：“有意义的豪华志愿者假期，融合了志愿服务（3-5天）与令人惊叹的观光。”我的老派思维方式在看似与奢侈品度假和志愿服务的看似矛盾的概念上旅行，但我希望旅行的潮一代会让我直接掌握这种合作的优点。

多任务旅行者：许多人喜欢在度假中取得多个目标。一个共同的目的地混合动力车是在早晨与专业语言老师一起学习语言，然后在下午与当地人一起进行社区社交或环境服务，新的语言技能和词汇立即得到加强。总部位于美国的Travel Alive在尼加拉瓜的Ocotal建立了如此成功的模型，这是一个不完全是旅游路线的小镇。现在，当地语言老师，经过训练的寄宿家庭家庭以及渴望伸出援助之手的收入稳定。六个反映社区农业，环境和社会服务需求的志愿者项目使每个参与者在最低两周的计划中都有很大的范围。Travel Alive的模特吸引了厄瓜多尔组织的注意力，他们在该国开始了类似的计划。

家庭联系志愿者：In the past, few programs accepted volunteers under 18, but that is changing as many more people are aiming to instill their children or grandchildren with volunteer values. What better place to demonstrate such virtues than on vacation, well away from daily distractions and peer pressure? The starting age for a growing menu of vacations that include such a component now averages 10 years old.

同时认识到年轻的生产力和注意力跨度需要与成年人的期望不同，但有时会更明智地从一小剂量的志愿服务开始，或者将学习假期与一些志愿活动混合在一起。然而，全球志愿者在20个国家 /地区，其志愿者的重点是成功的单一家庭强国。“自24年前成立以来，我们就一直与家人合作，”联合创始人米歇尔·格兰（Michele Gran）强调。我们比以往任何时候都看到很多与青少年的代际组合似乎在经验方面获得了最大的回报。”

全球志愿者估计，目前大约有2,000个非营利性和营利性自愿组织和全球公司的公司。尽管这种猖ramp的增长清楚地表明了传播信息以回馈社会和地球的成功广播，但质量控制将永远是一个敏感的问题，无论是在项目发生的社区和环境中，以及在承诺提供志愿者的计划中同意参加并付款。与所有旅行一样，责任仍然与潜在的志愿者进行预先研究，询问管理和前参与者的问题，并自行辨别该往绩是否与营销相符。

任何年龄或议程的志愿书记显然是1990年代后期的美国哈里斯民意测验被确定为寿命增强剂的那样：那些经历丰富和体验的人都会延伸思想和身体。即使十年前，他们的人数也是寻求太阳的人（海滩人群）或娱乐活动者（熟悉的地方人群）的两倍。一旦增强寿命的人品尝了假日志愿服务，随着自愿旅馆的选择不断增长，他们将以不断创造的方式回来为地球服务。

Alison Gardner, Senior Travel Editor of Transitions Abroad, is also publisher of挑战旅行web magazine, a richly illustrated resource for senior travelers featuring ecological, educational, cultural, and volunteer vacations worldwide.See her生物for many more articles she has written for Transitions Abroad.