You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘Voluntourism’ tag.
If you’re a fan of Michael Jackson, or the Jackson family, and would like to celebrate his birthday weekend near his Gary Indiana birthplace, consider the MJ Fanvention by Fluid Entertainment. This event takes place from August 26-29 2010 at the Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza and Star Theare in Merillville, Indiana. Some Jackson family members and friends, and authors who wrote about Michael Jackson including Aphrodite Jones and Teresa Gonsalves, will be on hand to share their remembrances of the King of Pop. Fans will also have the opportunity to take a tour to MJ’s birthplace, the famous little house on Jackson Street. And it seems that there is a voluntourist aspect to this trip to the house on Jackson street because fans will also be involved in tree planting. This remembrance event for fans is one of the first of it’s kind following Michael Jackson’s passing last year. To be honest, this travel package would be a lot more attractive if it involved a stay in LA or Las Vegas … or the Bahamas. But then again if they were in LA or Vegas, they couldn’t include a tour to the birthplace, and for what it’s worth, and not that I’m a celebrity but there probably aren’t many travel bugs who would want to put too much into going to my hometown either even though it’s a lovely place. Click HERE for more information about the MJ Fanvention schedule and the cost of the packages for this events.
Travelocity through Sabre holdings Foundation is offering a Change Ambassador’s grant in the amount of 5000 USD for applicants taking volunteer vacations through designated volunteer travel partners. In my opinion, if you’re truly traveling to volunteer your time and actually planning on rolling up your sleeves and getting your hands dirty then the words vacation and volunteer don’t exactly go hand in hand. Volunteering is a satisfying experience and doing it in a new and interesting environment can be even more so. I guess my only thing is I think potential voluntourists should understand that they are traveling to work, and this will probably be hard work. Your own personal reputation and the reputation of your country is at stake so if you decide to make the commitment to be a Change Ambassador, then represent well. You don’t want to be seen looking idle while there’s work to be done or people are suffering. Here is a link to the Travelocity approved travel partners page.
