Volunteering During The Happy Nomad Tour

Volunteering forms the basis for the traveling I do on The Happy Nomad Tour. Below are the volunteering experiences I’ve had so far.

Volunteering At Fiore Peru – Teaching English And Teaching Myself How To Teach

May 7, 2012

My volunteering opportunity in Casma was to teach introductory English to a class of kids between 11 and 15 years old, and give private lessons to a 15-year-old and 21-year-old who have a more advanced level. Man, it was hard! One of the passions I identified as part of The Happiness Plunge process was teaching. [...]

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The Green Ecuadoran Coast – Fun, Semi-Volunteering, And Awesome People

April 7, 2012

Sua is a city with only three letters and I’ll always associate it with a word that has three letters: fun. I went to Sua to spend time with Jennifer, the awesome Peace Corps Volunteer who went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure I had a good time in what she calls [...]

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Volunteering With Fundacion Comeder de Altos de Menga

March 12, 2012

While searching for a place to stay in Cali, Colombia, I contacted Alejandra to see if I could couchsurf with her for a few nights. By the time she replied, someone else already agreed to host me. When I told her this, she said it was too bad but nevertheless invited me to join her [...]

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Volunteering At Angeles de Medellin in Medellin, Colombia – The Children Are Our Future

February 2, 2012

Before I came to Angeles de Medellin I was full of doubt and questions about what it really means to give and what it really means to help “the poor.” It’s still very unclear for me, but my experience here definitely gave me food for thought and showed me the hard work really required to [...]

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Volunteering With A Budding Indigenous Tourism Group In Chichica, Panama

December 17, 2011

To be honest, saying I volunteered here is a bit of a stretch. I was supposed to be here for a week, but in the end I was only here for 24 hours. Since I moved my trip from Panama to Colombia up a week, I lost the week I would have liked to spend [...]

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Volunteering At Hogar de Pan Orphanage In Cartago, Costa Rica

December 10, 2011

From the outside, Hogar de Pan looks like a normal house. There is no sign and nothing remarkable about it. But inside, it is a remarkable story. The orphanage was started by inspirational couple Victor and Melba. Their son was extremely sick 30 years ago and the doctor told them that he wouldn’t make it. [...]

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Orphanage Rejection, Furry Guest, And First TV Appearance – What A Day!

December 5, 2011

I started Tuesday, November 29th off by taking some pictures of this beautiful flower at Casa del Indio. Jilario, the superintendent, told me that it only blooms once a year and asked if I would take some pictures of it. I was happy to! It was while taking pictures of this flower that I saw [...]

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Volunteering At Finca Amanecer In Costa Rica, An Eco-Community

November 26, 2011

I had the pleasure of volunteering at Finca Amanecer in Londres, Costa Rica for a week. Lots of things attracted me to this place. First, my communications with Elena, the owner, were fantastic from the start (a welcome change from my experience in Nicaragua). Its location was near the Pacific Ocean, but not on the [...]

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Volunteering With Comencemos In Yoloaiquin, El Salvador

November 9, 2011

Volunteering with Comencemos has been a very different experience than I’ve had so far. As a new NGO, they suffer from something all new companies/organizations suffer from – lack of funds. From Rene’s point of view, I think he just wanted me to come and share ideas given my MBA and traveling experience. I think [...]

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