This Earth Day, we’re celebrating the 2025 theme and call to action: “Our Power, Our Planet.” As travelers, there are certain steps we can each take to ensure we are making a positive impact on the communities and environments we visit. One sure way to give back on your travels—while also making heart-warming memories—is to book a trip centered around volunteering.
Voluntourism done right should mean helping to make the world a better place while connecting on the deepest level. Helpful hands-on holidays can mean fresh perspectives gained from unexpected apertures and a widening of our world views, from charity-funding trips to exchanges with grass-roots NGOs that shape our character for the better.
Can I get a quick visual on your dream vacation scenario? Ask me after a long day, and I might say a sun lounger, a swim-up bar, and the promise of zero responsibilities. But ask me to recall my most rewarding, far-flung moments and it’s a different story.
I’m thinking of the time I spent at a school for children with disabilities. I tagged along with the engineering department from a luxury resort in Sri Lanka. As they volunteered, odd-jobbing and fixing, students practiced English phrases with me. I was reminded how stigmatized disabilities are in many communities. I learned about programs that train young women who are deaf to become highly competent pedicurists, and how women who are blind excel as massage therapists.
In Costa Rica, instead of a day on the beach, I jumped onto the back of a pick-up with Aguas Claras’ maintenance team. We bounced inland up rocky tracks to an Indigenous village. As we rebuilt the roof of a Bribri woman’s home, she told us about the challenges of parenting alone. It was a prime example of how choosing accommodation providers that invest in social outreach can help make a genuine difference in people’s lives. Not everyone can slot seamlessly into a hotel’s back-of-house activities, but there are countless ways to make our travel meaningful.
While in South Africa, reviewing beautiful boutique hideaways, I also spent a day at the Sustainability Institute, which London’s Lexi Cinema funds. They invited me to share social media learnings with hospitality students. As the students sharpened their online profiles to boost job prospects, I learned about how many of the children at the adjoining day care center in Stellenbosch had fetal alcohol syndrome. This wake-up call about the uncomfortable legacy of winemakers paying wages in booze made me even more motivated to choose ethical producers for everything I eat, drink, or give. As for my daughter, who was a toddler at the time, her time with the loving team in the basic, bustling kitchen will stay with her in a way plumped cushions and precious antiques never will. In a world of rose-tinted curated lifestyles, I feel immensely grateful to have experienced a few small steps in the shoes of those from differing walks of life in the places I visit.
