Alternative Spring Break: Volunteer Travel
The American ritual known as spring break has evolved from a sprawling beach party into a chance for students to do some good. The opportunities to contribute are numerous and wide-ranging. You can volunteer in a low-income school, help out on an archaeological dig, or work for a crucial environmental cause. This guide to alternative spring break presents organizations focused on volunteer travel, along with recently published articles on the topic, so you’ll be equipped to find a cause and project that suit your own unique interests and talents.
Expand All Guide SectionsWhy Volunteer?
If you remember your last spring break as a blur of crowded beaches, overpriced meals, and bad ... read more »
Alternative Spring Break Trips
The length of your break, the location of your trip, your budget, and work preferences are a ... read more »
Volunteer Tourism Organizations
Before your alternative spring break dreams can come to fruition, you might want some help from a ... read more »
Flights
Volunteer vacations aren’t always cheap, so you’ll want to save money however possible; start with a good deal on airline tickets with help from the sites below.
Dulcinea's Insight
- If you’re volunteering in the United States, don’t forget about Southwest Airlines. The company often has very low prices, but is the only major airline that doesn’t offer tickets on other travel search sites. Visit the Southwest site to find and book flights.
- The findingDulcinea Budget Travel Web Guide provides additional Web sites and advice to help you find a good price on a flight to your volunteer destination.
Dulcinea's Picks
Kayak
is a flight search engine that scours hundreds of travel sites and airline sites to find the lowest prices. Use the simple search tool to get a list of possible flights, organized by price.
FareCompare
aims to simplify the process of finding and booking airfare. Once you’ve found a flight, you’ll be taken directly to the airline or travel site to complete the booking process. The key to FareCompare is that it obtains fare data directly from airlines, and then makes fares available almost immediately, several hours before they’d normally be posted by airlines. Sign up for RSS feeds to be informed of deals all day long.
CheapTickets
has teamed up with the United Way to encourage travelers to volunteer. Look for flight and hotel packages, as well as certain discounts for schools, religious groups, and nonprofit organizations planning group volunteer vacations.
Fly for Good
negotiates international flight discounts for nonprofit organizations, their families and their volunteers. Savings range from 10–50 percent off on more than 24 airlines that only service nonprofits working on international humanitarian issues. Additionally, a portion of Fly for Good's profits are donated to a humanitarian project. Check the homepage for "Featured Non-Profits" to learn of different organizations and potential volunteer opportunities.
Airfarewatchdog.com
posts cheap flights found by actual people, not from other search sites. Find fares to U.S. and international destinations by entering a city name, or check the “Top 50 Fares” and “Fare of the Day” features. Subscribe to e-mail alerts to stay abreast of deals, and check the blog for travel-related news.
Spring Break Safety
There are special considerations to make regarding your health and safety when volunteering abroad. ... read more »
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