{"id":97178289,"date":"2016-06-10T16:58:56","date_gmt":"2016-06-10T16:58:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/?p=97178289"},"modified":"2019-07-16T13:03:07","modified_gmt":"2019-07-16T13:03:07","slug":"the-10-life-lessons-i-learned-from-volunteer-vacationing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/the-10-life-lessons-i-learned-from-volunteer-vacationing\/","title":{"rendered":"The 10 Life Lessons I Learned from Volunteer Vacationing"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love to travel, but I grew tired of the same “stay in a hotel, eat at a tourist trap restaurant”<\/em> routine. After traveling to dozens of countries as a regular tourist, I found that my experience was getting rather repetitive. I wanted to return with amazing stories instead of\u00a0bringing back cookie cutter\u00a0photos of me posing in front of archaic monuments.<\/p>\n

In 2011, I decided to turn my blog\u00a0Go Eat Give<\/a>\u00a0into a nonprofit organization that would offer volunteer, culinary, and cultural travels, all rolled into one. I took small groups of travelers to visit places only the locals knew about, and to eat authentic food at restaurants and host family homes that were not listed in guidebooks. We took lessons in the local arts and culture (such as batik painting and salsa dancing), and stayed at 4-star sustainable hotels (because it’s a vacation after all!).<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

Pic by Sucheta Rawal\/ Go Eat Give<\/p><\/div>\n

On each trip, we partnered with a local grassroots nonprofit organization to volunteer at, raise money for, and support throughout the year. It was fun, educational, and felt good. Most of all, such meaningful travels shaped my personality and changed my outlook on life.<\/p>\n

Here are a few things I learned along the way\u2026<\/p>\n

1. Communication is more than just verbal<\/h2>\n

After traveling to 60+ countries, I don\u2019t get intimidated by a destination where I don\u2019t know a word of the local language or they don\u2019t speak English. From haggling in the medina of Fez, driving around with my Japanese waiter in Oita, to ordering food in remote parts of\u00a0Russia<\/a>, I know that somehow everything will work out. Google Translator helps too!<\/p>\n

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]
\n“After visiting a village in Nepal that had no running water, electricity, or even toilets, no one can really complain much about their budget hotel room.”<\/em>[\/perfectpullquote]<\/p>\n

2. Humans share the same problems everywhere<\/h2>\n

I will never forget the conversations I had with the women at a mental health institute in Russia. These women were living like prisoners because they had had a painful love affair, suffered from trauma after a parent\u2019s death, or failed to overcome a painful divorce. These are common psychological problems that many one of us would likely face at some point in our lives, but I couldn\u2019t imagine that they would lead to these women\u00a0being locked up in a place with tattered beds, communal showers, porridge meals, and no counseling.<\/p>\n

3. There are others worse off than\u00a0me<\/h2>\n

Each year, I sit down with the women at a safe house in north India<\/a> and go around the room asking them about their stories and how I could help them. Because I speak Hindi, they are able to easily open up to me. Sex trafficking, ugly divorces, abandonment by relatives, property disputes, domestic violence, labor exploitation \u2013 I’ve heard so many heartbreaking reasons why these women ended up on the streets. After listening to them, I find that I cannot really find many reasons to\u00a0complain about my own life.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

Pic by Sucheta Rawal\/ Go Eat Give<\/p><\/div>\n

4. Things get consumed, memories last forever\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n

When I first started teaching English at a women\u2019s empowerment center in Rabat, Morocco<\/a>, my students were baffled why someone would take time out from their vacation, spend thousands of dollars, travel across the ocean, only to spend time in a\u00a0classroom volunteering. After three weeks with them, on my last day, they brought me farewell gifts of tea, cookies, and family recipes to say \u201cthank you.\u201d While the cookies and tea are long gone, I will always remember their stories, our time together, and many of the insights they shared with me.<\/p>\n

\"Teaching<\/a>

Pic by Sucheta Rawal\/ goeatgive.com<\/p><\/div>\n

5.\u00a0Life is too short to\u00a0worry about small problems<\/h2>\n

The mothers who we met in Mexico City<\/a>\u00a0were part of a support group of parents with children who had cancer. Tears rolled down their cheeks as they spoke about their little ones not being able to go outside and play like the other kids. The Go Eat Give volunteers fulfilled the wishes of each child and raised money to provide them with real hair wigs. At that moment, I realized how unpredictable life is, and that we had no other choice but to be\u00a0happy for as long as we were alive.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

Pic by Sucheta Rawal\/ Go Eat Give<\/p><\/div>\n

6.\u00a0Never take things for granted<\/h2>\n

After visiting a village in Nepal<\/a> that had no running water, electricity, or even toilets, no one can really complain much about their\u00a0budget hotel room. The Nepali people were warm and affectionate, always with smiles on their faces and never thinking twice to invite us for tea. They were content with what they had. Our visit helped me realize how much I take such necessities for granted. During the course of the day, I never think twice about if I have a working toilet, clean drinking water, or a comfortable bed to sleep on.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

Pic by Sucheta Rawal\/ Go Eat Give<\/p><\/div>\n

7.\u00a0It\u2019s the size of your heart, not your house, that matters<\/h2>\n

Teresa lives on the first floor of a dilapidated building in Havana, Cuba. But when she found out that I was in town, she invited my entire group of 10 volunteer travelers to dinner at her home. Her husband, son, sister, and mother greeted us into their tiny patio, where we feasted on the most delicious authentic Cuban food prepared with lots of love and very little resources.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

Pic by Sucheta Rawal\/ Go Eat Give<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/h2>\n

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”Through these experiences, I have emotionally matured in the sense that I am able to keep calm through tough situations. I don’t get agitated when things don\u2019t go as expected.”[\/perfectpullquote]<\/p>\n

8. We must put others ahead of ourselves<\/h2>\n

In Bali<\/a>, I met some of the poorest, yet happiest people in the world. On the last day of our volunteer vacation in Bali, my friend tipped $100 to the young lady at the hotel who had been serving us\u00a0all week. When he asked her what she would do with the money, she responded, \u201cI will buy books for my younger sister, give some to my mother, and deposit the rest in my bank.\u201d My friend and I couldn\u2019t fathom how a 22-year-old girl chose to put her family first instead of running off to the nearest mall to buy a new outfit.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

Pic by Sucheta Rawal\/ Go Eat Give<\/p><\/div>\n

9.\u00a0What matters most in life is\u00a0being close to family<\/h2>\n

The 60- to 90-year-old Russian women I met at an elder daycare facility in Yaroslavl told me that they came to the facility to play games, get health checkups, and stay socially active. The youngsters had moved to the city for better career opportunities, not realizing that the only thing that the aged wanted was to be close to family. I was deeply touched when one of the ladies insisted on cooking dinner for me as she missed her daughter so much.<\/p>\n

10. Meaningful travel opens your\u00a0horizons<\/h2>\n

Over the years, I have been fortunate enough to travel and see\u00a0how people live, what they value, and how they deal with obstacles. Through these experiences, I have emotionally matured in the sense that I am able to keep calm through tough situations. I don’t get agitated when things don\u2019t go as expected. Most of all, once you make friends with someone from a completely different culture, you see their point of view and learn to accept it. This reminds me to always keep\u00a0an open mind, no matter what.<\/p>\n

Did you experience\u00a0a life-changing moment during one of your trips? If so, please share them in the comments section below.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I love to travel, but I grew tired of the same “stay in a hotel, eat at a tourist trap restaurant” routine. After traveling to dozens of countries as a regular tourist, I found that my experience was getting rather repetitive. I wanted to return with amazing stories instead of\u00a0bringing back cookie cutter\u00a0photos of me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":97178299,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1018,1781],"tags":[1708,1719,1566,1710,284,50,979,1661,2030,1988,2010,105,1938,2011,2009],"class_list":["post-97178289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-destinations","category-travel-for-goodwill","tag-bali","tag-dps","tag-india","tag-indonesia","tag-mex","tag-mexico","tag-morocco","tag-nepal","tag-rba","tag-reasons-to-travel","tag-reasonstotravel","tag-russia","tag-travel-to-cuba","tag-travel-to-give-back","tag-volunteer-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97178289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97178289"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97178289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97206603,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97178289\/revisions\/97206603"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97178299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97178289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97178289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97178289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}