As a tourist, you are always a foreigner. While hostel-hopping and sightseeing can be great fun, you may want to consider going beyond tourism. Experiencing a foreign place through studying, volunteering, or working can help reduce that touristy stranger-in-a-strange-land feeling. Furthermore, travelers can make a positive impact on the natural and cultural environments they visit. With this Beyond Tourism chapter, Let’s Go hopes to promote a better understanding of the US and to provide suggestions for those who want to get more than a photo album out of their travels. The “Giving Back” sidebar features also highlight regional Beyond Tourism opportunities.
Opportunities for volunteerism abound, with both local and international organizations. Studying in a new environment can be enlightening, whether through direct enrollment in a local university or in an independent research project. Working is a way to immerse yourself in local culture while financing your travels.
As a volunteer in the US, you can participate in projects either on a short-term basis or as the main component of your trip. Opportunities for volunteerism, activism, and conservation abound and can be found in cities, National Parks, and everywhere in between. Spend a few hours bringing food to the homeless , several days building a house for a low-income family in the Mississippi Delta with Habitat for Humanity , or months mentoring a child through Big Brothers Big Sisters of America . Later in this chapter, we recommend organizations that will 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 a college or language program, either by enrolling in a local university or through a study-abroad program, allows for intellectual exploration while living as a “real” American student.
Travelers may also structure their trips by the work that they can do along the way—by taking either odd jobs or full-time stints in cities where they plan an extended visit. Regardless of whether you are looking for temporary work or something more permanent, a good place to start your search is the local newspaper, which is usually the best source of up-to-date job information. Internet search engines like www.monster.com are also helpful. Before signing on, be sure you have the correct visa and working papers (see Visa Information).
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For 52 years, we have published the world’s favorite budget travel guides, written entirely by students and updated every year. With pen and notebook in hand and a few changes of underwear stuffed in our backpacks, we spend months roaming the globe in search of travel bargains.
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