If you're a Trader Joe or can easily spend a whole day in Whole Foods, listen up. This summer you could be organic farm hopping and learning how to work the land in Italy, Argentina, Chile or New Zealand.

World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms or WWOOF is the name, and sustainable living is the game. Anyone with €25 ($39) and an interest in learning about ecologically sound lifestyles can join the movement. Once you're a member, you'll be sent a directory of farming hosts around the world who you can contact directly to customize your farm stay. In return for your hard labor, which ranges from 3-10 hours a day, you'll be fed and provided with "clean, dry accommodations."

We got our paws on a WWOOF directory and were astonished at the sheer number of possibilities available. Some of the best we found were harvesting wine at a Tuscan vineyard, planting scented gardens for the blind in New Zealand and producing organic rice and sake in a rural Japanese village. On the flip side, we also noticed quite a few opportunities to "help with daily chores" and "sleep in a tent." That's the key takeaway: Research thoroughly!

Related Stories:
· WWOOF [Official Site]
· You've Got to Get a Little Dirt on your Hands [SMH]
· Volunteer Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Working Holidays coverage [Jaunted]]]> CourtScott 2008-05-29T12:30:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/4/14/10033/9766

You're not really down with roughing it but could warm up to the idea of volunteering in an exotic country? Enter Hands Up Holidays; it's 4-star travel with a purpose.

We first mentioned these guys a few months ago when they were organizing a pre-Mardi Gras trip to rebuild the bayou, with accommodations in a funky French Quarter hotel and ticket to a black tie gala included. Now eight new itineraries are up on their revamped website. Two in particular caught our eye.]]> CourtScott 2008-04-14T13:35:10-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/10/31/153124/64

We're in disbelief that it's already time to plan for Mardi Gras, but Easter--and thus Fat Tuesday--comes early next year. And instead of simply guzzling hand grenades on Bourbon Street, maybe you could lift a finger or two to help rebuild New Orleans?

Hands Up Holidays makes it easy with a nine-day trip from January 28 to February 6 that includes an invite to the black tie ball at Mardi Gras. You'll earn it by working at Habitat for Humanity's Musicians' Village, a development in the Upper 9th Ward designed to lure artists back to the city. Even President Bush has chipped in on the project, so you should be able to hack it.

You'll also have time for fun on the trip, with plantation and swamp tours and a flight-seeing excursion. Accommodations are at the Hotel Monteleone, which is a great place right in the French Quarter. While the price tag for the trip seems steep at $2,500, booking a hotel for nine nights on the run-up to Mardi Gras will cost you close to that. Might as well have some fun and do some good while you're at it.

Related Stories:
· Hands Up Holidays [Official Site]
· New Orleans Field Trip [Jaunted]
· New Orleans Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Video Tour of the Hotel Monteleone [HotelChatter]
· Volunteer Travel coverage [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2007-10-31T15:45:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/10/24/82322/397

Everyone likes a long vacation, but in a world of 60-hour workweeks and non-stop communication it can be hard to get away. Globe Aware gets that, which is why the voluntourism organization offers week-long vacations that include work projects and side trips to about a dozen locations.

Volunteers can teach children English and computer literacy in Peru or travel to a rural Andean village to build adobe stoves for cooking. These man-made wonders use a fraction of the energy wood fires do and eliminate carcinogenic smoke, too. Plus they give volunteers an opportunity to see the fruits of their labor while they're still on site.

Globe Aware also offers voluntourism trips to Laos, where travelers build wheelchairs from recycled materials for land mine victims, and to Costa Rica to help restore national forest reserves. It's a chance for travelers to have a big impact without committing a huge amount of time.

Related Stories:
· Globe Aware [Official Site]
· Volunteer Travel coverage [Jaunted]]]> jnaw 2007-10-24T12:30:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/10/15/22841/968

Sure we've slopped Thanksgiving dinners at soup kitchens and adopted families at Christmas, but a lot of us here at Jaunted have been rocking the city life for a while. So there was something about doing good and getting back to nature that really caught our attention. That's why we love the Earthwatch Institute. It offers international volunteer vacations that double as science classes with field research. They answer our desire to get outside, do some good and learn something, too. As far as Al Gore is concerned, this is the ultimate trifecta.

Earthwatch is already booking spots on one of its newest spring excursions. Volunteers will travel to Masaya, Nicaragua to chart the impact of active volcanoes on local wildlife and residents. Wannabe geologists hike the active Masaya Volcano and collect data using GPS and other sophisticated instruments. They also gather soil and water samples to chart the impact of volcanic activity over time. Sure, it sounds complicated, but Earthwatch makes it simple. Plus, it gives travelers a chance to feel like Mr. Wizard--at least for a couple of days.

Related Stories:
· Earthwatch Institute [Official Site]
· Volunteer Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Mr. Luigi]]]> jnaw 2007-10-17T12:15:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/10/9/21422/0200

Cross Cultural Solutions began offering volunteer abroad programs in Morocco earlier this year. Come December, global-minded do-gooders can participate in the second wave of the project. It's a chance to spend a few weeks in the capital city of Rabat, working with locals on community-based projects in shelters and prisons. Volunteers provides services to women and children through local schools, employment training, and social assistance programs.

This type of travel is more than a vacation overseas, warn past volunteers — it's a commitment to the community. Though the work is challenging, volunteers say that's what makes the trip worthwhile:

The most memorable for me was not the teaching specifically, but instead the general interaction with the inmates and how fun it was trying to overcome the language barrier using the few Arabic and French words I knew — there were many rounds of Charades! I felt like most of the students were really eager to learn. Those who were not so interested in English were just as eager to get to know me and the other volunteers.

[Photo: Sundownr01]]]> jnaw 2007-10-10T11:00:09-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/10/2/151216/633

We certainly can't hate on a relaxing spring break full of fun and fish tacos. But there's a better way to learn about the culture and experience the community south of the boarder: Volunteering at Refugio Infantil Santa Esperanza--the Children's Shelter of Hope--in Puerto Vallarta.

The juvenile home houses an average of 45 children, ranging in age from 7 months to 13 years. Most have parents who are dead, in jail, involved in prostitution or who can't provide adequate care or safety for some other reason. Volunteers live off grounds but still get loads of hands on experience. They can practice their Spanish, participate in the day-to-day life of the children, work with crafts, chop potatoes and give morning baths.

Past volunteers say it's a rewarding, win-win experience:

Once I had names down and had proven myself as a trustworthy volunteer--meaning willing to pitch in on the chores--I realized that I wasn't making all of the cultural advances anymore.

Instead of asking questions, like "What is it about jalapenos?," I was answering questions, like "How big is Mickey Mouse in person?" Within weeks I was visiting the house on a more regular basis, greeted every time without fail by a flurry of hugs and immediately joining in on the events of the afternoon.

It may not be spring break, but that's okay: this way the hangover's not nearly as bad.

Related Stories:
· Children's Shelter of Hope [Official Site]
· Volunteer Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Puerto Vallarta Hotels [HotelChatter]]]> jnaw 2007-10-03T12:00:01-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/