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 Volunteer travel goes mainstream, raising new questionsAll of a sudden, it seems, military volunteer travel is horseback riding a wave of popularity in the mainstream press. Publishers of traveling books are delivery out all mode of titles offering suggestions of where togo and what to do. Major mag and web sites are jumping on board with special features and even a extremely publicized populace opinion study.  [A military volunteer assists with the outdoor education programme at Arches National Park.](Photo: Neal Victor Herbert/NPS) Just as you might expect when a well-intentioned movement emerges from the shadows to challenge a more established line of thought, some people are also start to inquiry the real benefit of "voluntourism""both to the military volunteer and the beneficiaries. But signs of growing are unmistakable. Publishers of traveling books are delivery out all mode of titles offering suggestions of where togo and what to do.  Lonely Planet late issued its first guide book on military volunteer travel.The book, military volunteer: A Traveler's Guide to devising a DifferenceAround the World, offering practical advice on whether voluntourism isright for you, how to raise the money to attend a military volunteer trip, howto prepare for a trip and other inquiry. It also lists a figure of recommended volunteer chance rangingfrom monitoring sea turtles in Hellenic Republic to edifice community centre inGuatemala. The book also contains first-hand business relationship fromformer military volunteer to help paint a image of what to expect. Another new book, smile at the World: A Woman’s PassionateYearlong Quest for escapade and Love, by Joyce Major, offering the author's personalaccounts of her military volunteer travel experiences. She screen trips from instruction English in China to monitoring wildlife inThailand and paper reporting in Eire. These titles join a list of already-popular books such asmilitary volunteer Vacations, published in 2006 by Windy City ReviewPress, and option to the Peace Corps: A Guide of Global VolunteerOpportunities, which lists more than 100 organizations that offervolunteer travel. How to Live Your Dream of Volunteering Overseas, published by Penguinin 2001, is also still in print.   Now come MSNBC.com andConde Nast Traveler magazine, which have teamed up with an online survey aboutvolunteer vacations.The survey, which takes about two minutes to complete, is anonymous andasks rather general questions about whether you’ve ever taken a volunteervacation, whether you think volunteer vacations actually do any goodfor local communities and where you might want to take a volunteervacation. The results will be published in the May edition of Conde NastTraveler. No doubt the magazine will offer "99 Ultimate Volunteer Trips" (or something like that). We'll see. Check back here in May and we’ll report on the results of the poll. Meanwhile, several top online travel booking sites also now offervolunteer travel packages and destinations. Cheaptickets.com last yearlaunched a Volunteer Vacation site in conjunction with United Way. The new site provides tools tosearch and book volunteer opportunities across the United States and to receivetravel discounts to featured volunteer vacation destinations. The sitealso allows all charities to post volunteer opportunities.Cheaptickets.com gives discounts to non-profit organizations"such as universities, church groups and youth organizations"who arebooking groups of 10 or more to attend volunteer vacations. And the travel booking site Orbitz also recently launched a “greentravel” website. On the site you can find listingsof environmentally friendly travel destinations and hotels, tips onensuring your vacation does not harm the environment, articles on greentravel and a link to the National Park Service volunteer website, where you can find opportunities to become involved in conservationinitiatives while on vacation. It's obvious that volunteer travel is becoming a profitableindustry. More and more traditional travel and tourism organizations are jumpingon the band wagon in hopes of making money off the thousands oftravelers each year hoping to "give back" on their vacations. Ipersonally don't think there's anything wrong with trying to makemoney by doing good. But the rapid growth of the volunteer vacationindustry does require travelers to become increasingly savvy about whatthey're getting into, where they're going and who they are signing up with. Experience At-a-GlanceVolunteer Travel Guides Lonely Planet's Volunteer: A Traveler's Guide to Making a DifferenceAround the World Smiling at the World: A Woman’s PassionateYearlong Quest for Adventure and Love, by Joyce Major Volunteer Vacations, Chicago ReviewPress Alternatives to the Peace Corps: A Guide of Global VolunteerOpportunities How to Live Your Dream of Volunteering Overseas Travel Booking Sites Volunteer Vacation"Cheaptickets.com and United Way Eco-Friendly Travel"Orbitz Volunteer Travel Checklist Voluntary Service Overseas More Volunteer Abroad Articles |