I’ve spent a week volunteering in Peru, living in a woman’s shelter, building a wall, and planting trees with 15 other students, and it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. I’ve also spent a week volunteering in Costa Rica, but I lived with a host family and built a house; again, it was as fun as my time in Peru.
- You’ll make new friends in your travel group
By going on a trip with a group of random students, or adults, you’ll quickly bond over whatever happens on the trip. Most of the time, no one knows anyone, so it becomes very easy to make friends and to get to know each other. You work closely with one another, possibly even live together, so you’ll talk about your lives, play games, and go out together. Depending on the circumstances, you might get the change to just explore the town in a group, which also helps with bonding.
2.You’ll feel like you actually made a difference
The people in the countries where volunteers go are used to seeing groups of volunteers and they see that over time, we accomplish a lot by sending groups over. The town in Costa Rica where I worked was a town of Nicaraguan refugees. Groups had already built multiple homes for families there, and we worked on a house for groups of young people to live in. The children are insanely nice and cute, and the adults are very appreciative. They don’t get much help from their own country, so when they see that you’re doing your best to help, they tend to thank you a lot. That feeling of knowing you made a difference in their lives is absolutely amazing and makes you realize that all the work you put in is worth it.
3.You’ll make lifelong friends who live there
Depending on where you go, if you get to spend time with people your own age abroad, you’re sure to make good friends. I didn’t have the chance to spend time with students while in Peru, so I unfortunately do not have friends from over there, but I have amazing memories of Machu Picchu and small markets. But while I lived with a host family in Costa Rica, I became very good friends with the “brother” who is a few years older than me. He and I still text a few times a week, and I sometimes talk to the two “sisters” of the family.
4.You might improve your language skills if you go to a country with a different language
Both countries where I went where Spanish-speaking, which was the language I had taken all through high school, so it helped me immensely. I wouldn’t be as good of a Spanish-speaker today if it wasn’t for my travels to Costa Rica and to Peru. If you’re learning Spanish, I recommend going to a country in Latin America. If you’re learning French, I’d recommend going to a French-speaking part of Africa.
5. You’ll want to go back
I can tell you 100% that I would give anything to go back to either country. I absolutely loved the scenery, the work, the people, and the sight-seeing. I met amazing people, ate great global cuisine, saw some amazing historic and tourist sites, bought souvenirs from small markets (I even bought a hammock, imagine bringing that back on the plane), and made good friends. No matter where you choose to go, you’ll have great memories from it and will want to go back. But if you get the opportunity to go on a second trip like I did, I suggest going somewhere else. I could’ve gone back to Peru, but instead, I chose to go to Costa Rica, and I don’t regret it. By choosing a different travel location, you’ll get to meet new people, see different things, and overall have a different experience.