Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Money
The biggest issue with traveling and volunteering is the cost. The cost of the program with no money coming (unless you have a lot of vacation time saved up) while having to pay rent and all the other bills at home can be very overwhelming. I recently moved home because I was so set on volunteering abroad, if only for a short time, that I had to sacrafice my rent money.
Finding a balance between doing what you want to do abroad and staying within your budget can be very difficult.
While researching, try changing your search from "volunteer abroad projects" to "low cost volunteer abroad" or "cheap work abroad" will really help. I actually found a few that will give you free room and board plus meals just for the work. Keep in mind though, that these jobs are not as popular. The jobs where you get to interact with animals and learn about culture are a bit more expensive.
If you are interested in teaching English, you can find those projects everywhere. Some will pay you and the others are very cheap. There are a lot of programs that will TEFL or TESOL certify you. They are essentially the same thing and they stand for Teaching English as a Foreign Language and Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, respectively. They also have four week courses abroad where you can get certified while indulging in a country of your choice. Again, those are more expensive than getting certified online or in a classroom near you.
So, don't let cost be the reason you don't look into volunteering abroad.
Finding a balance between doing what you want to do abroad and staying within your budget can be very difficult.
While researching, try changing your search from "volunteer abroad projects" to "low cost volunteer abroad" or "cheap work abroad" will really help. I actually found a few that will give you free room and board plus meals just for the work. Keep in mind though, that these jobs are not as popular. The jobs where you get to interact with animals and learn about culture are a bit more expensive.
If you are interested in teaching English, you can find those projects everywhere. Some will pay you and the others are very cheap. There are a lot of programs that will TEFL or TESOL certify you. They are essentially the same thing and they stand for Teaching English as a Foreign Language and Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, respectively. They also have four week courses abroad where you can get certified while indulging in a country of your choice. Again, those are more expensive than getting certified online or in a classroom near you.
So, don't let cost be the reason you don't look into volunteering abroad.
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