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Volunteer vacations abroad

Sure vacations are nice, but a vacation where you can have a once-in-a-lifetime adventure? A vacation where you can help make the world a better place? A vacation where you can live and work in some of the world’s most remote places, immersed in local communities and cultures?

A volunteer vacation is when you use your vacation time – either an upcoming school break or time you take off from work – to contribute to a cause that resonates with you. This doesn’t mean that you give up recreational activities, just that you make time for service work as well. A chance to have an adventure – and to help make a difference in the world.

GVI offers impactful, ethical and supportive global volunteering vacations. All GVI’s volunteer vacation programs allow you to contribute to global sustainable development goals outlined by the United Nations. These include goals promoting greater equality between genders, higher quality education and improved global public health. Starting at 1 week in duration, we offer volunteering vacations in Africa, Asia, Australasia and South America.

Positive
impact

Build a better world by contributing to vital, locally-led project work that strives for a more just and equitable future.

Ethical
work

In line with the UN’s SDGs, we are committed to ethical and sustainable engagement with our local partners and communities.

Beautiful
community

Learn from the world’s most unique and significant cultures, in breathtaking remote locations.

What are volunteer holidays all about?

Overview

Who can join

When can you join

Dedicated to improving gender equality? You can support our women’s empowerment projects in Costa Rica, Fiji, Ghana, Nepal, South Africa or Thailand.

For those looking to volunteer with children on their holiday, you can join our early childhood development initiatives in Costa Rica, Fiji, Ghana, Nepal, South Africa or Thailand. Please note that GVI does not support orphanage volunteering or donations to orphanages.

Or if you’d like to use your holiday to contribute to improving the health of communities around the world, join one of our global public health projects in Fiji, Nepal, South Africa or Thailand.

Don’t see anything that appeals to you? We offer many more volunteer holiday programs. Find one here that aligns perfectly with what you, your friends or your family have in mind.

Anyone from teen volunteers (age 5 and up) to older volunteers (50+) can join one of our volunteer holidays. If accompanied by an adult guardian, 14-year-old teens can also join one of our family volunteer holidays. Our volunteer holidays are the ideal choice for intergenerational families looking to book a service trip abroad, because we are able to offer specialised support to both teens and older adults.

Couples also choose to go on volunteer holidays with us, and we offer private accommodation when requested. Our trips are also perfect for those looking for volunteer holidays for singles, and other volunteers travelling solo. The safety support we provide is especially valuable to those travelling solo who identify as women or females, and are looking for a volunteering vacation to join. We offer airport pick up and drop off, and solo volunteers stay on base with our staff, other volunteers and interns who have all undergone a police check. Meals are provided, as is transport to and from the project sites.

College students who are often looking to make themselves more appealing to employers will also find many benefits in joining one of our volunteering holidays. We’ve designed these to equip volunteers with skills like English language lesson planning, but also transferable skills like teamwork and intercultural communication.

Our volunteering holiday programs are available year round and you, your friends and family, can join for as long as you’d like, starting at 1 week.

Summer is always a popular time to travel abroad and we have plenty of summer holiday volunteer opportunities available.

Using your winter breaks to travel south can be a great way of getting away from the cold weather. It being the holiday season, also means it’s a time when many are focused on contributing to a sense of communal well-being. We offer many Christmas volunteering programs around the world that you or your family can join.