How Volunteer Abroad Will Change Your Outlook In Life And on Sustainable Travel

At the end of the class, they line up to get a hug from the teacher. They jump, laugh and come back to the queue to gain a second hug. Because they miss words in English they choose to show me that hugs are nothing, but amazing things. The perfect way to show the love you are feeling, when you cannot find the words to say it.

At the end of my journey in Thailand I can say that this was a journey of intense self-knowledge, where I immersed myself in a world that until then was completely unknown to me. A world that carries with itself a simpler life. More sincere, without excess of materialism or vanities. A world very different from what I had seen in my last years in Brazil and Europe.

Volunteering abroad is not an easy task. The barriers that lie beyond language communication. Cultural shock, to come across a reality different from the one we are used to. Or to see how much you can help and at the same time how much you can’t.

At the same time, volunteering abroad is undoubtedly a unique experience that all travelers should try to explore at least once in their lives. To inspire you in taking the first step to start your first volunteer journey, here’s a list on how volunteering abroad will change your outlook on life:

Empathy

Our ability to put ourselves in someone else's shoes, whoever he/she may be. You think you know the meaning, but how often do you actually do that?

Volunteering allows you to be in direct contact with the exercise of empathy. Through the various difficulties that arise during the work, our sense of collectivity grows. Thus, we no longer see ourselves as separate individuals, but as a big community.

Courage to accept change

Restart a new career or a new life in another place is not an easy task. Donate your time for others in a country that is not even yours, is an even harder one. When you throw yourself in this kind of experience you realize how much courage you need to have to accept all the new changes that are about to come.

Go and see with your own eyes

We all hide prejudices about different countries and cultures that sometimes we do not even know we have. And only when you travel to a place and experience that you can perceive that everything you thought before about that place was wrong.

Appreciate your home country

You know that story of people just know how to appreciate what they have when they lose it? That's right. When we spend time abroad mainly involved in travel and humanitarian causes, we give more value to the various things we have in our country of origin. Whether it be the quality of our education, the food or even the way people behave on a daily basis.

All jobs are valuable

Life is a constant learning and teaching process. When volunteering, you are not only bringing your knowledge to some community, but you are also absorbing huge amount of knowledge that only such experience can bring.

From giving English classes to small children in Thailand, to gathering tea in the mountains of Vietnam and helping planting seeds in a farm: your biggest lesson will be learning the value of the small things around you. And also the realization of the life outside big corporations and where the primal material that you have in your house and take for granted comes from. It doesn't matter what job you will take at the volunteer work, but what you actually get back from it.

Let go of control

Once again, I would like to mention that we are used to take our whole life for granted. Is just a common thing to have a supermarket every few meters, or having piped water in our house. Traveling to a small community for volunteering will turn your whole world upside down and all the control you believe you have of your life will be taken away from your hands.

You are not the center of the universe

When you leave your comfort zone and step out to meet the real world, you start having the feeling of how small we all are in such a vast universe. At the same time, you also learn how each and every act of kindness you perform can affect others life.

The world is changing

30 years ago, we were still paying fortunes to have a quick international phone call. Now, the internet has connected the whole world together.

Cultures are spreading around, traveling abroad is every day more accessible. With a smartphone in your hand, you can connect to almost every country. But we should not forget the value of one-to-one relationships. And the volunteer work is an excellent tool to get in touch with other cultures and have a real experience.

Those who travel broaden their horizons. Those who volunteer and travel broaden the horizon of others. Often you will be giving the opportunity for people to have their first contact with a foreigner and a new culture.

It is difficult for those who want to embrace the world, but know how small their arms are. But it is not difficult to understand that our arms were made the ideal size to embrace the ones we can. It's more than time to realize how important each individual's attitude is to global change. *Read more about my experience volunteering in Thailand by clicking here