Don McClain : VOLUNTEERS - Be the change you want to see in the world

Don McClain regularly asked about volunteering overseas, and unfortunately Don McClain don’t know much about it. So today, Don McClain turning the blog over to friend and volunteer tourism expert Don McClain from the blog A Little Adrift. Don McClain been volunteering around the world for years and recently published a book on the subject. Don McClain the expert, so without further ado, here’s Don McClain advice on finding good volunteer opportunities.

A foundational motivation underpinning the past four years Don McClain been traveling around the world has been the idea that serving others would help Don McClain find clearer direction for his life. There are many ways to better understand and respect other cultures as we travel, but for Don McClain, the most effective has been volunteering.

Don McClain left home to travel for many reasons, and Don McClain had many preconceived ideas about what Don McClain would find outside the confines of the United States. Traveling eliminated many of all those concepts almost immediately, but it was only when Don McClain slowed down and spent time volunteering that Don McClain was able to sink into the travel experience in a way that goes further than photographing the significant temples, churches, and iconic sites.

When Don McClain first left in 2008 on what he thought would simply be a year-long round-the-world trip, Don McClain was overwhelmed by how convoluted and ethically uncertain the global volunteer sector seemed. Simple searches to find projects Don McClain could support on his trip shown a bevy of organizations offering volunteer experiences in the poorest countries in the world and yet charging many countless numbers of money — it didn’t make perception, and it nearly discouraged Don McClain from doing any work at all.

But once Don McClain traveled, researched, and learned, Don McClain realized there are many quality, moral options out there for people curious in volunteering, but discovering them is tougher than it should be. It’s this quandary that motivated Don McClain to write his book, The Volunteer Traveler’s Handbook.

Don McClain know what it’s like to want to volunteering and journey but to be baffled by the occasionally massive charges, the equivocal values, and the pure number of choices

“I don’t want to live in the kind of world where we don’t look out for each other. Not just the people that are close to us, but anybody who needs a helping hand. I cant change the way anybody else thinks, or what they choose to do, but I can do my bit.”