By GIGI STONE

When you think of teenagers on spring break, visions of Daytona Beach or Cancun may come to mind â€" not necessarily a trip to Cambodia.
But that’s where Kate McNamara, a 16-year-old New Yorker, went on vacation with her family, volunteering to teach children English and build wheelchairs for land mine victims.
“It wasn’t that long and it was a small group of people … but it made just such a huge difference, ” she says. “It was one of the most rewarding things that I think that I’ve ever done.”
Her mother, Elizabeth McNamara adds, “In a world that needs so much, just to a little bit to make a difference in someone’s life is a very positive experience.”

Watch Gigi Stone’s report on “volunteer vacations” Saturday on “World News.”

Check your local listings for air time.
More Americans are choosing to go on philanthropic vacations â€" along with their extra time and money. Globe Aware, the nonprofit group that organized the McNamaras’ Cambodia trip, says enrollment has gone up 40 percent every year since the organization started in 2001.
Last year, more than 65,000 Americans traveled overseas to take part in volunteer vacations, estimates Stefanie Rubin, director of the International Volunteer Programs Association. Organizers say there was a surge of renewed interest after 9/11 and the Asian tsunami in 2004.
“I think it’s got people thinking about the world: ‘What’s out there? What real need is out there?’ And how they can connect and be a part of this beautiful world we’re in?” says Kimberly Haley-Coleman, the executive director of Globe Aware. “I suspect that there is a growing contingent of people who feel that writing a check to an organization doesn’t feel as significant as donating their time. Both are important.”
It’s not just overseas: After Hurricane Katrina, thousands of volunteers flocked to the Gulf region to help rebuild.

More companies are joining in as well by organizing charitable activities for their employees.

Home Depot provides resources for its workers to help build affordable housing and playgrounds in New Orleans and around the country. Last year, more than 40,000 of the company’s employees took part in one or more of these volunteer projects on their day off.
“Once you do one [a volunteer project] and you see those children over there … it gets your heart and you can’t stop,” says Seth Owen, a Home Depot employee who helped build a playground for Hiram Elementary School in Atlanta.
The company admits that such ventures benefit the company’s bottom line. It gets free advertising by using Home Depot products, and establishes business contacts in the various communities.
“We have to be good philanthropists, good citizens and strategic investors in our community,” says Kevin Martinez, the vice president of community affairs at Home Depot.

Sidebar: Interested in a Volunteer Vacation?
If you’re interested in taking a volunteer vacation, there are some things to keep in mind:
If your company isn’t paying for it, the cost of a one-week volunteer vacation usually starts at around $1,000. But there is a silver lining: It is tax deductible.
The online travel agency Travelocity recently announced a Travel for Good program to make information about volunteer vacations more easily available.
Make sure you’re traveling with a nonprofit not a commercial organization, because they’re required to account for how money is being used.
Check that you’re with a company that provides emergency medical insurance. Companies are joining in as well by organizing charitable activities for their employees.

Voluntourism: Good Times and Good Works

by Steve Kallaugher

Most people come home from vacation with a nice tan and a suitcase full of souvenirs. Carolyn Bentley returned from a trip she took with her 17-year-old daughter, Julia, with a new outlook on life â€" and a renewed bond with her child.

“It was life changing,” says Bentley. “It’s an amazing way to grow yourself and develop bonds with others. You become part of the country, instead of just looking at it out a window.”

With those sentences, Bentley sums up the appeal of one of the fastest growing segments of the travel industry: Voluntourism.

Euromonitor International announced at the 2006 Travel Trust Association Conference in London that Voluntourism will be one of four key growth areas in travel over the next three to four years. A 2006 Travel Forecast poll conducted by Travelocity revealed that 15% of travelers planned on taking a volunteer, educational or religious trip this year. That’s an increase over last year’s record, when more than 65,000 Americans traveled overseas for volunteer vacations, according to the International Volunteer Programs Association (IVPA)

“Voluntourism isn’t simply growing in popularity, it’s exploding,” says Delta Willis, communications manager for the Earthwatch Institute. She cites two reasons for its emergence. “First, the fantastic growth of adventure travel. Second, the increasing number of travelers who want to learn or do good deeds.”

Globe Aware’s experience confirms this: Enrollment in the company’s programs has increased 40% each year since 2001. According to Executive Director Kimberly Haley-Coleman, “Voluntourism is flourishing at such a rate it is hard to comprehend. September 11 changed everything. When that was followed by the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, it made everyone aware of how much is needed. People want to make a concrete connection, to give more than money.”

Getting More Than You Give

The voluntourist concept was born with the establishment of the Peace Corps in 1960. But devoting two years of one’s life to volunteering in a distant country isn’t possible for most people. Still, as a generation of travelers wandered further off the beaten path in their search for adventure, they saw the face of need first handâ€"and they came home determined to do something about it.

Ask any voluntourist why he or she takes precious time from work to serve others and, chances are, you’ll get the same response: “I got so much more than I gave.”

Indeed, Voluntourism is by far the best way to experience in depth the country you’re visiting. Working, eating, and living with local residents takes you out of the bubble most tourists live in, and away from well traveled tourist haunts. It breaks down the barriers that most travelers face, giving you a much deeper understanding of the culture, challenges, and pleasures of the people who live there.

A voluntour vacation may not be a day at the beach, but voluntourists come home refreshed from the changeâ€"even if some projects can be demanding work. They’re also filled with accomplishment and a sense that their spirits have been replenished as well. For time-pressed professionals and their families, who might not be able to volunteer regularly at home because of their busy schedules, a voluntourist vacation offers a means of connecting, not only with themselves, but with their desire to give back.

A Voluntour for Every Taste

Then again, a volunteer trip may well be a day at the beachâ€"literally. There are thousands of opportunities in every part the world, so you can choose a program and place that suites your passion.

Most voluntourist organizations, of course, focus their efforts on less developed parts of the world where the need is greatest- from Nepal and Vietnam to Ghana and Botswana, from Peru and Nicaragua to the Cook Islands…volunteer opportunities in the developing world tend more towards humanitarian aid and development projects, such as Globe Aware’s project assembling wheelchairs in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Getting Started

Questions to ponder while planning your trip:

1. Where in the world do I want to go?
2. What cause means the most to me-humanitarian, educational, medical, environmental, professional?
3. How much time do I want to devote?
4. What are the physical requirements of the work and living conditions?
5. Do I need to know the local language? How can I learn at least a few phrases?
6. What immunizations will I need?
7. Is the organization a recognized 501(c) (3) that accounts for how its money is spent and how much it gives to the local community?
8. Is my trip tax deductible?
9. How much experience has the organization had in the country?
10. Can I speak to previous volunteers about their experiences?
11. What background reading can I do about the country and culture?

Steve Kallaugher is a freelance writer and veteran voluntourist.

Compiled by Jonathan S. Paul and Rosecranns Baldwin

Volunteer Vacations
Just because your idea of a good vacation requires tanning on a beach doesn' t mean you can' t save the world while you are doing it. Here, six of the best volunteer trips, where you can sport a good-works glow along with a sunburn.

Land Mine Aid, Cambodia, Globe Aware Between visiting a floating village on Tonle Sap Lake and the temples of Angkor Wat you' ll help assemble simple metal-and-plastic wheelchairs. There' s no expertise required and you' ll deliver your finished chairs to some of the thousands of Cambodians devastated by land mines. One week trip, $1,200.00;877-588-4562;globeaware.org