topic
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overrated preparation
The Super-Ultimate Zero-Item Packing List of a 6-Year-Traveler
the distilled truth about packing after 70 months on the road
We have mustered the privileged courage to wave our comfort zone goodbye, so why are we so afraid of making puny packing decisions?
topic
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grassroots volunteering
Volunteering 101 Series:
An Orientation on Grassroots Volunteer Work
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Volunteering vs. Voluntourism
self-organized engagement vs. vacation packages – structures, results and ethics
...organizing your grassroots engagement independently, might not only help your own experience and wallet, but also the community you work with.
What You Perceive and What It Is: Volunteering Outlook and Actual Impact
subjective vs. objective evaluations of volunteering results
...it could be a little step on an individual level, like a kid having its first aha moment while learning simple math; or it could be the large-scale implementation of a project that brings about systemic and sustainable empowerment of a community.
Reality Check: Volunteering Benefits & Pitfalls
Are volunteering programs more helpful or harmful?
If implemented right, volunteering programs employed by nonprofits can add value to grassroots projects along various dimensions. However, there are cultural and ethical pitfalls that should be considered when chalking up the benefits...
Volunteering Motives: Who Helps Whom and Why?
Can volunteering be selfless and whom does it actually help?
...we should frisk ourselves for any hidden motives behind our social engagement and do our best to contribute to the empowerment of communities and the transformation of adverse global structures...
Who Is That White Savior With the Complex?
Are Westerners trying to save the world on their terms?
...development assistance can be vital. However, it should never feed into an individual or systemic White Savior Complex that results in a mindset of one side helping the other and distracts from the underlying issues and inequities.
How to Find Free Volunteering Opportunities around the World
avoiding costly and dubious voluntourism agencies
...rev the search engine, skip over the voluntourism industry and dig all the way down to the grassroots...
topic
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travel attitudes
Must I Really Though?
when musts outnumber wants in your wanderlust soles
Aren’t most of us out here, strapped into our backpacks, to declare guerrilla war on bleak society regimes with Mondays? Every child is more of a rebel, when Mom allots musts.
Have You Become an Arrogant Travel-Bully Yet?
when traveling corrupts the humility it should spark
Let’s wipe off that conceited smile, suggesting that we’re carrying an unraveled world in our backpack.
