Guest Post: 7 Reasons Why Volunteering Makes You Cool
Volunteering is something that everyone should take part in at some stage in their lives. It’s an enjoyable and worthwhile experience and benefits others. We should all make time in our lives to help our fellow humans. If you’re still not convinced, here are seven solid reasons you should volunteer abroad.
1. Volunteering Abroad Makes You Well Travelled. If you are a person who loves travelling, and feels the need to seek out further flung places to explore each year, then volunteering abroad is definitely for you. If you are one of the people who likes to brag to their friends that you’ve had lunch with and been accepted into the tiny community of a village no one’s ever heard of, you’ll be right at home when you volunteer abroad. Places like Chisinau or Orhei, Cochabamba, Machu Picchu welcome assistance with open arms, and it’s unlikely your un-travelled friends have heard of any of these towns.
Dave on a double date with his new best mate and their arm candy
2. Volunteering Makes You Feel Awesome Inside. If you have been working the 9-5 and trudging along on the daily commute for some time, in an uninspiring office role for a commercial enterprise, you may feel a little bit like you’re not serving much of a purpose in life. It’s especially common for anyone single reaching the big 3-0 to start to get itchy feet on their career path. Get away and volunteer or teach abroad. You’ll find it hugely satisfying to know that you are helping others to learn and grow and you’ll feel like a part of a community.
3. You’ll Escape The Rat Run. It can be easy to feel hard done by in the UK as the cost of petrol and a pint of milk seems to go up daily, leaving less money in your beer and shoes fund. Getting away from the UK and visiting a developing country to see just how tough life can be for others who don’t have all the creature comforts we do will make you realise you have been taking your rainy days curled up on the sofa in front of “Deal or No Deal” for granted.
4. Your CV Will Be Amazing. If you have been floating aimlessly around the job market along with all the other graduates and unexpectedly redundant workers, you’ll know how tough it is even to get an interview let alone a decent job. Adding a little something different to your CV shows you are adaptable or dependable and will help you stand out from the rest of the applicants.
5. You’ll Have Totally Brilliant New Skills. Volunteering holidays are open to everyone and don’t require any specific skills if you want to take part. However, any skills you might have picked up at high school, in the Boy Scouts or Girl Guides or playing on your X-Box will always be useful somehow. By immersing yourself in a different culture you’re bound to pick up a few words of the local lingo and learn that actually knowing how to tie a reef knot is a good skill to teach to others.
6. Celebs Do It. Yep – all the celebs are doing it – Madonna, Brad & Angelina, Prince William and Kate. Oh and of course Bono, and all the X factor gang who remade the song “Do They Know it’s Christmas?”
7. Volunteering Helps You Be A Better Person. It’s true – if you take in to consideration all of the above, in summary volunteering abroad will increase your geographical knowledge, boost your self-esteem, make you more grateful, boost your employability, enhance your skills and make you look cool. You can’t go wrong really, so get booking that trip!
