Voluntourism and the Digital Nomad - 4/6
Understanding the Interplay of Travel, Volunteering, and Digital Nomadism
Have you heard of voluntourism, the practice of combining volunteer work with travel, and wondered how it can benefit you as well as the communities you visit? As more people embrace the digital nomad (DN) lifestyle, the potential impact of this trend on host communities is an increasingly important topic.
In this post, we'll explore the intersection of voluntourism and digital nomadism, sharing insights from research, industry developments, and my personal experiences from a recent event in Slovenia.
Understanding Voluntourism
Voluntourism refers to the combination of tourism and volunteer work, where travelers spend part of their trip volunteering in a community or a conservation project. This type of travel has the potential to create positive impacts both for the traveler and the host community.
Individuals travel for a multitude of reasons which may include leisure, business, health, and spirituality, among others. In the sphere of leisure travel, there is a growing trend of tourists desiring a break from conventional tourism, seeking novel experiences and a shift from their routine.
Similarly, voluntary work mobilizes countless individuals globally with the intent to make a difference in visiting communities. These volunteers are involved with various unpaid roles across numerous sectors.
The interest in international volunteering skyrocketed over a span of twenty years. Recognizing this surge, major travel corporations aimed to seize this market swiftly. Simultaneously, this rising demand also attracted a wave of entrepreneurs who launched their own ventures in this sector.
Take the case of International Volunteer HQ (IVHQ), a company established in 2007 specifically to address this demand for international volunteering. Their growth has been exponential since their inception. Another example of a popular way to volunteer while traveling is WorkAway.
The volunteer tourism industry emerged in a context that diverged from conventional mass tourism, catering to travelers driven by motivations distinct from the usual. These volunteer tourists (sometimes, not always) pursue more sustainable and ethically conscious tourism experiences. They are drawn to opportunities that would positively impact local communities and facilitate transformative personal learning and growth.
Altruism or Exploitation
It's crucial to understand what motivates people to mix their vacations with volunteer work. We want to make sure this practice is a win-win situation—good for the volunteer and good for the local community.
Many people are drawn to voluntourism because they're looking to grow personally. Traveling and volunteering can help them learn new skills, broaden their horizons, and gain a better understanding of themselves. Plus, who wouldn't want to gain some professional experience while exploring a new place?
Voluntourism is a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in a different culture, learn from locals, and build empathy. By volunteering, travelers can learn new skills and gain practical experience, which can give a nice boost to their career prospects.
When done right, especially through initiatives led by local organizations, voluntourism can be a powerful tool for self-growth and altruism. It allows volunteers to contribute to the communities they visit and to take part in local and global development efforts, improving cultural understanding.
But, let's not sugarcoat it—voluntourism isn't always a bed of roses. There are organizations out there that misuse voluntourism, turning it into a marketing gimmick. They bring travelers to underprivileged communities without creating any real positive impact—sometimes even causing harm.
A study by Bandyopadhyay in 2019 put voluntourism under the microscope. They asked if volunteers from the West genuinely want to help the less privileged or are they more interested in having a good time. The study also questioned whether voluntourism is a new form of colonialism, with the West exploiting other regions for their own pleasure.
This study suggested that some white, Christian volunteers misuse their perceived racial superiority, seeing people in the Global South as a burden that they, as the "superior" race, have to take care of.
From my research and conversations, I've learned to tread carefully when discussing voluntourism. It's a topic that invites skepticism. One person I surveyed was concerned that many Western non-profits have hidden, politically-driven motives, which could prevent them from contributing to host communities.
This skepticism isn't uncommon. A study by Lee revealed that college students when reminded of the potential negative impacts of voluntourism, responded with strong criticism of the practice.
So, while there are definitely pros to voluntourism, it's important to keep in mind the potential cons and ensure it's carried out in an ethical and mutually beneficial way.
How Digital Nomads Reshape Voluntourism?
Voluntourism is an interesting way for travelers to directly engage with local communities. Usually, tourists can only stay in a place for a short time, which means they can't immerse themselves fully in the local community. But here's where the dynamic changes - consider DNs, people who can work remotely and stay in one place for much longer.
Unlike short-term volunteers, DNs stick around for a while, living among the locals and contributing to the local culture and economy. What I find really positive about this is that DNs, due to their longer stays, can make a deeper impact. They can engage in long-term community projects and actually become part of the community.
One of the major criticisms of voluntourism is that many tourists treat it as a 1 or 2-week holiday to have fun, satisfy their own need to feel good about themselves, or even spice up their CV or Instagram profile. But DNs, idealistically speaking, have the chance to make a more consistent impact over a longer period, like six months, making a real difference to the community.
However, it's not always easy or even right for outsiders to identify what a community actually needs. We often need a bridge between the DNs and the locals.
Mostly hailing from wealthier countries, DNs' prolonged presence in economically weaker regions can create a complex mix of positive and negative impacts. We need to carefully consider these potential influences, with an eye toward fostering more sustainable, fair, and mutually beneficial relationships between DNs and their host communities.
Living Learning Lab
The timing of this post is spot-on because we've just wrapped up an event in Slovenia around this very topic. We brought together responsible DNs and local youth in a small village, all with the aim of giving back to the community and creating a positive impact.
Besides helping a local provider with wine bottling and vineyard work, we created spaces where foreigners and local youth could hang out – something that doesn't happen often. One of our participants even created a digital menu for our host's wine case.
We tried not to cram too much ‘‘work’’ into the event, but our participants told us they wanted even more opportunities to give back and preferred work over touristy activities. That was a huge revelation – people genuinely wanted to give back, immerse themselves in the destination, and forge meaningful connections with locals. They didn't want to feel like mere tourists, a sentiment that often arises with voluntourism.
One of our major goals was to create a “soft” impact, bringing life and vibrancy to villages, and nurturing meaningful bonds between visitors and locals. While this might be hard to quantify, it's equally important. Our take-away for our next event (scheduled for next May in the same village) is to strike a balance between hard and soft impacts. We'll estimate volunteer work hours (say, 3 hours a day) and also provide opportunities for travelers and locals to mingle spontaneously.
Our strength lies in understanding the local community and its needs. One of our team members is from the same village and has been instrumental in bridging the gap between travelers and locals. I can't stress enough the importance of involving locals, something sadly lacking in a lot of tourist destinations.
We're not here to impose anything; it's our responsibility to understand the community's needs first and then bring responsible travelers and young people to the destination to help in a meaningful way.
From our recent experiences in Slovenia and my research findings, I've learned that the desire to give back is real and strong, but needs to be guided in the right direction. With careful planning and a good understanding of the communities we're engaging with, we can help foster a more sustainable and mutually beneficial form of travel that bridges cultural divides, benefits local economies, and provides unforgettable experiences for travelers.
See you next week, when I’ll dive deeper into my research findings on the willingness of DNs to give back to host communities.