New York City A Philosophy For Travelers

Tend To one of New York’s many parks through an internship at the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation .
Deliver nutritious hot meals and a friendly smile to AIDS and cancer patients who can no longer cook for themselves .
Share your love of modern art by volunteering at the Guggenheim Museum .
Break In to the acting world by becoming a movie or commercial extra through one of New York’s many casting agencies .

As a tourist, you are always a foreigner. While hostel-hopping and sightseeing alone can be an adventure, connecting with a foreign country through studying, volunteering, or working can extend your travels beyond tourist traps. Even more importantly, perhaps, you have the potential to make a positive impact on the city. Instead of feeling like a stranger in a strange land, you can understand New York City like a local. With this Beyond Tourism guide, Let’s Go hopes to promote better understanding of New York City and to provide suggestions for those who want to get more than a photo album of their travels.

New York presents many options to those hoping to go beyond tourism. If you choose to volunteer, you’ll almost certainly be responding to serious need. Though its Gotham City facade has in recent years given way to the clean sidewalks of You’ve Got Mail, the city continues to struggle with serious social problems caused by poverty, lack of community infrastructure, and crime. You can participate in projects from distributing food to the needy to mentoring at-risk children to creating affordable housing. Later in this guide, we recommend organizations that can help you find the opportunities that best suit your interests, whether you’re looking to pitch in for a day or a year. Studying at one of New York’s many institutions of higher learning is another worthwhile option. Even New York’s world-famous universities have non-selective summer and continuing education programs that can be fascinating enrichment opportunities. Finally, New York offers numerous short-term work opportunities, which range from clerical (mind-numbing) temp work, to opportunities to be seen on the big screen as a movie extra. Those seeking longer commitments can often find jobs as babysitters and nannies or as waiters and waitresses. Others travel to New York in hopes of climbing the ultimate corporate ladder.

Share Your Experience. Have you had a particularly enjoyable volunteer, study, or work experience that you’d like to share with other travelers? Post it to our website, www.letsgo.com!