I have had the notion from time to time of offering a traditional Costa Rica vacation package with a twist. And that twist would be allocating some portion of time to volunteering. The volunteer part would not just be about sloshing out ladles of soup in some downtown San Jose soup kitchen. No, it would have as its purpose doing some good, for yourself and others who need your help AND your hope. This element of the trip would consist of real cultural immersion. After spending several nights seeing the side of Costa Rica that most tourists get to see…the surface side…you would dive into the unseen part, the part that is even more naturally and authentically beautiful, but also the part that folks who actually live here experience every day. There is no limit to what such a vacation might look like. It could consist of spending a few days helping out on an authentic campesino organic farm, learning to take a few sustainability clues back home and live in a more organic and sustainable way. It could mean immersing yourself with a few nights stay on an indigenous reserve, learning their culture while participating in some community need, such as helping to build a community center, or place of worship, or school. It could mean getting involved in some conservation effort, such as planting trees in a re-developing forest, or helping protect turtles who have arrived to Costa Rica’s shores after a long journey to lay their eggs and promote their species. It could mean a whole host of things like the aforementioned. Most of all it could make your Costa Rica vacation much more meaningful and impactful to you. Why do we take vacations anyway? Is it not supposed to be a time of physical, spiritual and mental renewal. A “volunteer vacation” can give you a chance to sip those fruity drinks with the little umbrellas by the pool at the swanky resort and then roll up your sleeves and get down and dirty doing something that really makes a difference. That’s real renewal that will last beyond your first stressful day back home.
volunteermatch.org (a place to begin your planning)
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