About volunteer travel

I left Mu Zi town and came back for more than a week. I've always wanted to write an article about "volunteer travel", but I can't spare the time.

Back to school, many people are asking me about volunteer travel, so I took the time to write this article to briefly introduce volunteer travel and my understanding and feelings about volunteer travel.

Volunteer travel, a word introduction: "labor for accommodation." It is generally realized through youth travel, inns and homestays.

Many people say that volunteer travel is poor travel. But to be precise, volunteer travel is just one of the ways of poor travel. Can greatly reduce economic expenditure. But it doesn't mean that you have to do volunteer travel without money.

The greater significance of volunteer travel is that you can stay in a certain place for a period of time and feel the local cultural scenery.

You can also meet travelers from all corners of the country, listen to their stories and feel your life.

And in the process of volunteering, learn or strengthen some of your skills.

Volunteer travel, as small as rice, oil, salt, sauce and vinegar tea, to discover the meaning of life; Big enough to feel the world, think about life and find the value of life.

Generally speaking, there will be gains, and only you can understand what you have gained.

Next, I will talk about the process of volunteer travel and some precautions:

On the Choice of Youth Hostels as Volunteers

Generally, you can find youth tours or inns that can be volunteers through some social platforms such as Douban Post Bar and Weibo. It can also be introduced by friends who have lived in youth travel.

The youth brigades searched through the internet need to explore and understand their operation, word-of-mouth culture and youth brigade environment. These will directly affect the experience and personal safety of volunteers. (You can learn about the word-of-mouth and environment of youth travel through the US delegation and where to go; WeChat official account, Weibo, etc. Learn about their culture and operation from the media. )

Knowing in advance can help you choose. Whether the youth travel culture fits, whether the environment likes it, the most important security issue.

After that, I will contact the youth travel boss. The term, work content, treatment and welfare of voluntary service. (Generally, volunteers travel for free, and the boss has no obligation to pay. As for travel expenses reimbursement and other benefits, we can only look at the boss's mind, negotiate with him, and don't insist. )

The working period is as short as one week and as long as one month, and there are also long-term recruitment. The specific situation can be discussed with the youth travel boss.

Work content, here I take my experience in Mu Zi town as an example:

Take turns getting up early to make breakfast (few youth brigades provide breakfast, so this understanding is good)

Receiving guests, the guests who arrive at the station can't find the youth travel service, and they should be responsible for receiving the youth travel service. Show the guests to their rooms.

If you can cook, you need to cook occasionally for your own lunch or dinner.

Daily health maintenance, under normal circumstances, there will be cleaning aunts to do, but cleaning up after seeing it is also the responsibility.

There are also some trivial things, such as feeding fish and watering flowers.

The above are some daily affairs of volunteers, and the rest of the time can be controlled by themselves.

If you have some special skills, such as taking pictures, music, writing, etc. , so much the better. Through your skills, you can bring guests a better travel experience and improve the reputation of youth travel. And do some youth travel and cultural propaganda work, which is loved by all youth travel bosses.

In short, for youth travel bosses, volunteer travel can maximize the benefits of economic or youth travel culture promotion.

Maybe the guests will not remember everyone in the Youth Travel Service. But it will be because, remembering a person, but remembering the name of the youth brigade, left a memory here. This is what volunteers do.

? Precautions:

Personal safety: especially for girls, try not to volunteer alone. If at least two people, usually two girls, go together, the youth travel boss will agree to go together, or if there are not so many people, he will directly refuse. (Because it happened, the girl went out to volunteer alone and was molested by the innkeeper. More serious things happened. )

As for boys, I'll weigh it myself, in case I meet a female boss, and then ... just a little!

In short, if one wishes to travel, it is best to choose an absolutely reliable youth hostel. Before going, inform your family, the address, telephone number and personnel of the youth travel service in advance to prevent accidents. If it is not convenient to tell your parents, you should also tell your friends or other reliable people.

Liar boss: There are also many on the Internet, such as hotels that recruit volunteers as free labor under the banner of youth travel. So be sure to pay attention to screening.

Volunteer travel is the most equal employment relationship.

Many people are looking for volunteers to travel for the first time. I added my boss's WeChat and asked about some volunteers, respectfully, and even deliberately lowered my figure. The youth travel boss loves to ignore reason and is full of pride. Just give up such a youth tour.

A good youth brigade must have its own understanding of volunteers. Volunteers basically work for free. Youth travel bosses can reduce economic expenses and obtain labor; And travel expenses can be reduced through labor. Interests are mutual, so nature is equal.

In exchange for sincerity, you only need to bring your own profile and have a sincere heart. If the youth travel boss feels your sincerity, he will definitely invite you to become a member of the youth travel with more sincerity.

About your own requirements:

Although it is unpaid labor, there is also a primary and secondary relationship. Sometimes the youth travel boss will ask you to do something or get angry with you. This is normal, blx can't afford it, and it is not suitable for volunteer travel.

However, we must dare to fight against some unreasonable demands or things that violate our own principles. Never bear it silently. This will only lead to a vicious circle, which is not conducive to the volunteer experience, and may also bring some personal safety problems.

This youth hostel is a temporary residence for travelers from all corners of the country. Interpersonal communication is very important. No boss likes volunteers who are indifferent to their guests and don't communicate with them. It is inevitable to enliven the atmosphere of youth travel, enhance cohesion and publicize the cultural feelings of youth travel.

A youth brigade may not only be a volunteer, but also a store manager, cleaning aunt and so on. So how to live in harmony also needs to be considered. Volunteers traveling together is not a day or two, and it is inevitable that there will be unpleasantness or minor contradictions. How to resolve the adjustment also needs to be learned.

The youth travel boss gives you some benefits, which are extra for volunteers. Similarly, if you do your job well, you can give your guests a better accommodation experience through some of your skills, which is also your added value to youth travel.

You don't have to feel uneasy about my contribution to you. We just need to meet each other's needs.

The benefits that youth travel can bring to you:

Can let you feel the local culture better, free play opportunities around the scenic spots, such as tours organized by youth travel, and your travel expenses and meals will be reimbursed naturally. (not absolutely, of course, it depends on the youth travel boss. Sometimes the boss personally leads the team and goes to some small places.

Through volunteer travel, I can get some convenience in my future work. If there are many volunteers after the trip, they will stay in the Youth Travel Service and become store managers or shopkeepers. Or the boss provides you with some convenience at work through contacts.

You can learn many new skills through volunteer travel. For example, I learned to steam steamed bread, which improved my photography level.

There are many other personal interests that you need to explore yourself.

The above are my suggestions and feelings about volunteer travel, which are not perfect and reasonable. But it's all written here.

Volunteer travel is a kind of life experience, not all of which are beautiful. It can only be said that "drinking water from the source", a good volunteer travel experience, sometimes depends on the opportunity.

In the small town of Mu Zi, my first volunteer trip left many wonderful memories, which I will never forget!