Trips That Can Transform You

Given the ready supply of cheap traveloptions, such as cheapfares, cheapdeals, cheapairplane tickets, discount hotel rooms, cheap auto rentals, discounttravel deals, and cheapvacation packages, potential travelers trying to settle on adestination should consider making a trip that will make them better people.

Trips such as going to Cambodia to volunteer at an orphanageor learning environmental stewardship on an organic farm in Scotland willexpand your heart, help you live more mindfully, and inspire a better versionof you to emerge.

The following are trips recommended by Smarter Travel thatcan be transformative:

• Learn tolive mindfully and become grounded in nature by taking a hiking and wellnesstrip in Peru. Descend through ancientagricultural terracing, wander the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu, and interactwith craftspeople in a local market. Trymeditation, yoga, and journaling while traveling.

• Inspiresocial responsibility in yourself and your family by attending a social justicesummer retreat in New Hampshire. TheWorld Fellowship Center has been bringing together families who often returneach summer since 1941. Participantsswim and canoe in the lake, eat family style with others, and join in talentshows. Daily workshops touch on issuessuch as green politics, combating racism, Brazilian capoeira movement andpercussion, blues poetry, painting, and music classes. The center fosters a sense of community thatis fostered by likeminded campers whose lives are immersed in noble causes.

• Be amentor and friend to children in need by volunteering at an orphanage inCambodia. Live, work, and play with kidsand staff at an orphanage on the outskirts of Phnom Penh and become part of thechildrens centers extended family. Many of the children at this facility have been orphaned either becausethey have HIV and/or have parents who have died from AIDS. Help organize games, teach English, and leadsports, art, and dance classes. Theorphans take nothing for granted, live in the moment, and exhibit an infectiouslove of life.

• Understandthe impact of fair trade and support local communities by going on a fair tradereality tour in Guatemala. Meet and workwith womens cooperatives and grassroots organizations that are making adifference in impoverished areas. Hearstories from weavers, cooperative farmers, coffee plantation workers, andactivists fighting against mining companies that are violating humanrights. What you learn will impact whatyou purchase in the future, how you think about global human rights, and whatyou teach your children.

• Deepenyour faith and feel empowered traveling with other women by going on The Natureof Israel tour with AdventureWomen, a company which specializes in groupadventures for women traveling alone. Strengthen your faith by visiting and reflecting on the Holy Landsmajor cultural and natural sites. Sailon the Red Sea, go an archaeological dig, float on the Dead Sea, and explore aJordan River nature reserve. Travelingalone can remind you or who you are when others are not making constant demandsof you.

• Embracea healthy lifestyle by detoxing and attending a yoga retreat in Thailand. Join others who will help you stay the coursewhether you are fasting, going on a raw food diet, or are committing to a dailyyoga practice. Take a detox program thatwill provide you with take home guidelines for establishing a healthy routinefor the rest of your life.

• Connectwith ecosystems, creatures, and cultures by taking an experiential ecotour inCost Rica. Interact with wildlife, visitrural communities, and ride horseback through the rainforest. Visit an off the grid farm and practicesustainable farming and try your hand at milking cows and gathering chickeneggs. Play with local children and helprestore their homes and schools. Ultimately you will gain a more meaningful perspective about yourself,family members, and other cultures around the world.

• Help theneedy and gain a new perspective by participating in disaster relief inHaiti. This island nation continues torebuild itself after the 2010 earthquake. Explore the countrys culture and get involved in local communitydevelopment projects. Visit a school andorphanage. Meet with womens groups andmicro credit organizations. Your viewson extreme poverty, North American standards of living, U.S. rates ofconsumption and waste, as well as U.S. foreign policy, are sure to change.

• Learnhow to survive by taking a wilderness survival course in Utah. See what it is like to have no food and onlythe clothes you are wearing, a knife, and a water bottle as a guide shows yourgroup how to navigate in the wilderness. Go solo for several days and use skills you learn to start a frictionfire with no matches. You will leavethis experience with clarity as to what is really important in your life.

• Learnhow to establish a sustainable food system by attending a living-learning foodschool in Scotland. Become familiar withcooking secrets that will help you get the most out of local and organicvegetables.