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Beneficial Breaks
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Want to help your child prepare for
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Make sure your child has a quiet,
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J?) Sleep is important—not just on
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Forget lazing on the beach.
During spring break, some teens
opt for an alternative trip—a mix
of travel and community service
that ditches partying for paying it
forward. The concept is getting
high schoolers’ attention, with
some tour operators reporting an
annual 15 percent increase in
participants in their volunteer
vacation—increasingly known as
“voluntourism”—programs.
One reason alternative spring
breaks are so popular among teens is
obvious: They bulk up a young
person’s record with good works
that have the potential to impress
college admissions committees.
Another reason is that teens today
are more socially aware and anxious
to give back, says Alexia Nestora, a
Denver-based consultant who
specializes in the volunteer-travel
industry. “There’s a whole genera-
tion of teens who don’t want to sit
around at Club Med,” Nestora says.
While an alternative spring break
can be as simple as organizing a few
friends to clean up a local park or
serve food at an inner-city soup
kitchen, the experience becomes
more powerful when students
immerse themselves in a community
that’s not their own, says Samantha
Giacobozzi, a program director for
Break Away, an organization that
provides resources and training for
groups planning alternative breaks.
“The end goal of the trip is active
citizenship—someone who will
engage in his or her community.
When it’s done well, the alternative
spring break is a really intense,
impactful experience.”
2 0 8
MARCH
2009
BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS
For high school students looking
for an alternative break, consider
these trips:
■ Through 1 labitat for Humanity’s
Collegiate Challenge, groups of
students ages 16 and up, along with a
chaperone, saw and hammer their
way through a weeklongbuilding
blitz at sites around the country.
Costs range from $15 to $200 per
person, which pays for building
materials, accommodations, and a
donation to the Habitat affiliate.
Students pay for their own food and
transportation. (
h a b ita t.o rg
)
■ Teens ages 14 to 18 volunteer at a
San Francisco homeless shelter and
squeeze in sightseeing trips to the
Golden Gate Bridge and the Mission
District on a group trip organized
by tour company Rustic Pathways.
Teens stay in a hostel, help prepare
their own meals, and are supervised
24/7 by Rustic Pathways staff. The
cost, $1,395 in 2009, does not include
airfare. (
ru sticp a th w a y s.co m
)
■ Fourteen-year-old volunteer travel
company Cross-Cultural Solutions
offers a variety of one-week spring-
time trips overseas, including one to
Cartago, Costa Rica. By day, teens
and their adult chaperones care for
children at a local orphanage.
Evenings are filled with cultural
immersion—Spanish practice, salsa
lessons, and an outing to a nearby
cathedral. The trip cost of $1,765 per
person includes food, lodging, and
transfers, but not airfare.
(i
cro sscu h u ra lso lu tio n s.o rg
) cS)
