Rock Star Lifestyle Design

(photo by ~FreeBirD®~)

You guys should know by now that I am into this whole saving the world thing. Through designing my life and the process to getting it where I want (so close), there comes a part of me that wants to explore the world , travel and impact people to do better.

Lofty goals, yea. Is my wife 100% on board - eh, not 100%.

A few weeks ago I saw a trailer for a new NBC show, the Philanthropist. I finally caught it on Hulu last night and got sucked into 3 of the 4 episodes that have run so far. It looks at a billionaire business tycoon who after some internal life hardships (loss of a child and a public divorce) he finds himself starting to care more about people and how being in his position of power can help them. Teddy Rist, the playboy - like a corporate James Bond meets Blake Mycoskie - goes on adventures ranging from Nigeria to Haiti to Kosovo.

(Teddy Rist from the Philanthropist in Nigeria)

What I see out of the character of Teddy Rist, played by James Purefoy, is a character of compassion and one that has built integrity into his life, albeit not from day 1. The same can be said for most of Gen-Y and other young people at least here in the states. We do not grow up looking to change the world. In fact most of us fall into it out of the need for a job, needing volunteer hours to graduate or helping a friend with a project.

Scenario number 3 applies to me. I was living life care free, playing the front man in a rap-rock band, drinking my nights away and sleeping my days away. It wasn’t until Chris from Rock For Hunger tapped us to play his first benefit show that I saw the power of young people and how anyone that puts in energy can make a difference. But that’s another story for another time.

The last way that people are engaging with philanthropy is through travel. By going to other countries for pleasure, they walk out with the ideas and inspiration to make a difference. Their next trip can be classified as a Voluntour Trip.

Voluntourism

For many Lifestyle Designers, Digital Nomads and LIP’ers, the idea of travel is second nature. Adding the value of impacting the community you are traveling through can be equally, if not more rewarding than clicking away on your MacBook on the beach. I’ll let Wikipedia do some further explaination:

Volunteer travel, volunteer vacations or voluntourism is travel which includes volunteering for a charitable cause. Voluntourism often involves extended stays in remote destinations, with significant price tags. With these high barriers to access, many travelers may consider volunteer vacations out of reach. In recent years, “bite-sized” volunteer vacations have grown in popularity. The types of volunteer vacations are diverse, from low-skill work cleaning up local wildlife areas to providing high-skill medical aid in a foreign country. Volunteer vacations participants are diverse but typically share a desire to “do something good” while also experiencing new places and challenges in locales they might not otherwise visit.

While that definition includes luxurious stays, there are plenty of options for cheaper, affordable travel that include a nice stay and access to tours and relaxation in your destination.

Popular travel site, Travelocity even has a Change Ambassadors Grant for those that want to make an impact but may not have the budget. They give away 2 - $5,000 grants every quarter

for the transportation to, as well as the cost of, any trip organized by one of our volunteer travel provider partners for individuals or groups deemed worthy based on the merit of their applications (including financial circumstances) and their ability to meet the grant requirements.

Voluntourism can include building homes for Habitat For Humanity in another city here in the U.S. while taking in sights during off times. Take an adventure and help with child education then hit the waves in Costa Rica.

Online Voluntourism Resources

There are plenty of resources online to book this type of travel, ask questions and plan your adventure. The sites I have been looking into include:

http://www.voluntourism.org/ - A site dedicated to Volunteer Travel. With forums, blogs, interactions and travel tips, this is my favorite resource for digging into this type of travel.

http://www.crossculturalsolutions.org/ - With volunteer opportunities in Africa, Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe, there is much to ponder, learn and offer your hands and time to help.

http://www.amizade.org/ - For students, families and people looking to make change Amizade connects people to organizations through their application process.

http://givespot.com/ - A free volunteer and philanthropy resource center that makes it easy to find ways to make a difference in your community and around the world.

http://sierraclub.org/ - This is an awesome group that protects communities, wild places, and the planet itself. They are the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States and also have trips all over the world.

http://www.i-to-i.com/ - This site is all about life changing travel. Sending over 20,000 volunteers to places like Africa, Asia and Australia, this is a great place to start searching for eye opening travel opps.

http://idealist.org/ - Idealist is an interactive site where people and organizations can exchange resources and ideas, locate opportunities and supporters, and take steps toward building a world where all people can lead free and dignified lives.

Technology, Surfing and Kids

So with all of this talk of voluntourism, I have to be one that walks the walk. The voluntourism project that I am planning is something that I am truly looking forward to. The plan is to travel to Costa Rica and help older students learn basic and advanced computer and communication skills. From working with documents and spreadsheets to emails, social media and networking there is much that can be gained by knowing where to look and where to start.

We do not have a specific group or plan as we are weighing options from OLPC to private sources to groups that are already there and helping. If anyone has any leads, I’d be glad to listen. As for the “tour” portion, we will be spending 7 days at a surf camp and bed & breakfast.

If all goes to plan we will be taking off in early spring on 2010 and anyone that wishes to join is more than welcome.

To Wrap It Up and Get Feedback

If voluntourism is not your thing and you still want to give back to the community, I wrote a cool post over on Corbett’s Free Pursuits Blog this week called How to Surf on a Tuesday and Save the World Thursday.

I would love to know your thoughts on Voluntourism, any experiences with world travel for good and ideas to make everything more possible and marketable for young people. I am a firm believer that we can have our Ferrarris and save the world, just like Teddy Rist.

-Greg Rollett