Delaying the real world: volunteer proposal wins fellowship abroad

I wrote the book while I was volunteering in Cuba after graduating from college in the hopes that it would inspire more young people to take unconventional paths and live oversea.

I worked with my publication company to create the unique fellowship. We intended the award as a ticket to escapade for a gusty young individual who exemplified the spirit of Delaying the Real World. Now that I’ve weeded through the mile-high stack of escapade proposals, I can speak for the pipe dreaming of my peers. Itchy feet is at an all-time high. Present, young people want to be anyplace in the world but the business office cubicle.

The family contest drew the widest spectrum of applier imaginable, from college seniors craving adventures in Kingdom of Thailand to overworked bankers eager to study yoga in India. We heard from returned soldiers from Iraq and best friends planning zany road trips. They wrote from Berea, Bluegrass State; Seoul, South Korea; and everyplace in betwixt.

South Pacific Ocean a Magnet

A figure of subject in our pool of proposals struck me. First of all, the South Pacific Ocean seems to have a magnetic pull on our coevals. Australia is by far the most popular choice; New Seeland was a close smuggler up. Those look to experience more exotic and budget-friendly lands proposed trips to sou'-east Asia.

The lands of Latin United States have a strong appeal, the focus of which is unimpeachably Costa Rica, spread out to United Mexican States and crawl into Federative Republic of Brazil, where capoiera dancing has replaced Argentine tango as the new machination. Africa’s diverse nations are surely on the radar of young Americans, particularly those interested in military volunteer projects or educational work.

Europe Still Popular

While young people are look far beyond their boundary line for adventure, they haven’t ruled out the classic travel experiences. Backpacking Europe is as popular as ever. In fact, judging from the number of graduating seniors who proposed sojourns through the “old country,” the European backpacking adventure has become the capstone of the college experience.

Our applicants proved that you can personalize this classic rite of passage to your liking. The diversity of their proposed itineraries goes to show that you can “do” Europe in an infinite number of ways.

Plenty of young people recognized the chance for adventure here in our own backyard. The most common adventure proposed for the Delay the Real World Fellowship was the classic American road trip. Whether doing a kind deed for a stranger in every destination or stopping at every Hooters from Savannah to Sacramento, the cross-country proposals were inventive to say the least.

One type of trip I was surprised to come across so frequently in the proposal pile was the heritage trip. A remarkable number of young people want to trace their roots back to the country of their parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents. These proposals often had a creative spin to them, like traveling to Sicily to write a children’s book about the Italian immigrant’s experience or making a documentary in Poland about an inspiring grandparent. Other heritage trips had an altruistic purpose, like traveling to Uganda to volunteer in the small town of one's origins.

Volunteer Proposal the Winner

In fact, it was the volunteer proposals that inspired our fellowship committee the most. It is hard to read through a pile of projects relating to AIDS relief, literacy campaigns, children’s health, education for the developmentally disabled, and so on, without believing in the compassion and vision of our generation. Ultimately, that was why we chose our winner, Alex Katona, a recent graduate of the Univ. Of Michigan, who is fighting to bring equity to farmers and artisans in Ecuador. At age 22, Alex has already launched a nonprofit called Brewing Hope, www.javaforjustice.com, which sells fair trade coffee in the Ann Arbor region. Alex will use the Delay the Real World Fellowship to move to Ecuador and work at a farm cooperative.

Underlying every one of these 1,300 proposals was an aching for freedom and unscripted adventure. After years of full course loads, part-time jobs, and schedules that leave little room for the freespirit, twentysomethings want to take charge of their own educations for a couple of years and see as much of the world as a shoestring budget allows. In the case of one bold young idealist we plucked from the pile, her dream will come to fruition.

As for the rest, I’m optimistic. Where there’s a will to delay the real world, there’s always a way. Visit www.delayingtherealworld.com to hear about Alex Katona’s adventures in Ecuador.