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Book Picks: Home Exchanges, Volunteer Programs, and other Travel-like-a-Local Adventures One of the gladdest moments of human life, methinks, is the departure upon a distant journey into unknown lands. Shaking off with one mighty cloak the fetters of habit, the leaden weight of routine, the cloak of many cares and the slavery of home, man feels once more happy. Travel-like-a-Local Adventures Vacations that Can Change Your Life: Adventures, Retreats, and Workshops for the Mind, Body and Soul Lederman has drafted a very thorough compendium of over 200 options that integrate self discovery, healing, and spiritual adventures with travel. Every time I look at this book I find a whole slew of listings that evoke the response ? someday I?d like to do that. Most of the options are in the USA and are a bit pricey. Those caveats aside ? this is a great book to get the synapses of your brain thinking about the different and exciting things you could do on your next vacation.
For the late 1980s to the late 1990s, Arthur Frommer published the ultimate guide to traveling outside of the mainstream. The New World of Travel contains hundreds of ideas for unusual vacations ranging from language schools to living in an intentional community (formerly known as a commune). Twelve years ago when I first found this book, it felt like a gift from God ? living proof that there was a whole alternative universe to the tried and true vacation path. Now, thanks to Frommer, these options have become much more mainstream, though they remain edgy. Frommer has put most of this information on-line at his website. I would still, however, recommend that you scour used books stores to find this book. It is hard to keep track of all this information on-line. The book is better. Educational Opportunities Cooking in Paradise: Culinary Vacations around the World Want to learn how to cook the perfect sate in Thailand, pozole (hominy soup) in Mexico, or feijoada (black bean casserole) in Brazil? Read this book to find out about over a hundred cooking school throughout the Earth. The book is spiced with recipes and detailed descriptions (including costs and features) of school round the globe. All-in-all, Cooking in Paradise is an excellent addition to any travel or food addict?s library.
Educational Travel on a Shoestring is a fabulous guide to making your dreams to take your family on a learning adventure come true. It covers an astonishing amount of ground. Including saving for your adventure and dealing with kid's temperaments to making money on the road. The only limitation: the book has very little information about traveling abroad with a family.
Alternatives to the Peace Corps contains a thorough list of volunteer opportunities around the world. It is also an excellent guide to the challenges and issues involved in volunteering for two weeks or two years. Volunteer Vacations: Short Term Adventures that will Benefit You and Others Volunteer Vacations is not only a compendium of volunteer vacation opportunities, it is also a good read. I enjoyed the compelling stories of real volunteers? experiences and the advice to help you choose the right program for you. The book is also well laid out and easy to use. My only qualm: I wish McMillon had incorporated more opportunities outside the USA and Europe.
How to Live Your Dream is extremely comprehensive and well laid out. Unlike any of the other books on this list, Collins et al provide a qualitative analysis of each volunteer opportunity listed in the book and a frank discussion of potential pitfalls, challenges, and joys of volunteering abroad. This is the ultimate guide to volunteering opportunities. Archaeo-Volunteers: The World Guide to Archaeological and Heritage Volunteering Archaeo-Volunteers summarizes over 200 places that you can try your hand as a volunteer on archaeological dig. The book covers a large variety of opportunities suited to many different lifestyles and pocketbooks. Like most such compendiums, Archaeo-Volunteers makes no attempt to give volunteers any qualitative analysis of the various opportunities. Home Exchanges Trading Places: The Wonderful World of Vacation Home Exchanges During my youth, my parents frequently exchanged homes during our vacations. We were always pleased with the quality of our new homes, saved considerable funds, and enjoyed the opportunity to live more like a native. However, we were always surprised how reluctant most of our friends were to exchange their homes. Trading Places does an excellent job of addressing the most common fears and outlining the issues that need to be explored to make a successful exchange. The Home Exchange Guide: How to Find Your Free Home Away from HomeM.T. Simon and T.T. Baker The Home Exchange Guide is a thorough, up-to-date guide that is useful if you have already decided that you want to do an exchange and need to know the mechanics of setting up the experience. On the other hand, if you want to decide if home exchanges are right for you, I would not recommend this guide. It may scare you away unnecessarily. It tells you all of the potential pitfalls without much information about the advantages of home exchanges. The book needs real life stories to illustrate and add life to its otherwise somewhat dry text. Yoga and Spas Yoga Vacations: A Guide to International Yoga Vacations Yoga Vacations provides a thorough summary (including participant comments) about various yoga retreats available throughout the world. The listings are overly geared toward vacations in the US; however, other than that, I can't really think of too many suggestions for improvements. I wish that other books covering travel like a local experiences were as thorough as this imminently useful guide. Healthy Escapes: 242 Retreats Where Yon Can Get Fit, Feel Good, Find Yourself, and Get Away from it All Healthy Escapes does a great job summarizing (though it does lack any qualitative analysis) hundreds of spas, fitness resorts, and cruise ship programs that will help you become a fitter, trimmer, and more balanced person. The listings, as too often is the case, are geared overwhelmingly toward programs in the US and Canada (though there are more options in Mexico and the Caribbean than many other such books).
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