Planning a summer vacation can be the most exciting part of spring for a family. With so many variables, though – price, location, attractions – the process can be grueling and stressful, especially if the family wants to do something out of the ordinary. According to Linnea Iantria, instructor of geography, geology and planning at Missouri State University and one of the developers of the nation’s first geotourism program, taking a non-traditional trip benefits everyone in the long-run.
“There is an element of the traveling audience that has traveled a lot, and they really want something a little different,” she said. Iantria classified the alternative options into four categories:
- A trip to a foreign country: Children (and adults) gain a global perspective by being exposed to other languages, architecture and food.
- A localized trip with educational components: Visit Chicago and take the children through the Museum of Science and Industry.
- Voluntourism trip: Take a trip where you get to see the sites while also performing some type of volunteer service, like building a school.
- Geotourism trip: Visit a community and help to protect the environment, aesthetics, culture and improve the way of life.
According to the Pew Research Center, generation X and Y highly value volunteer work and sustainable initiatives. This has elevated the popularity of voluntourism and geotourism programs, and Iantria added that these types of trips also give something back to the traveler.
“A lot of people are really into giving back, which is just great,” Iantria said. “In voluntourism, the traveler is not just giving back, but they also receive what they interpret as a return on their travel investment. You’ve justified the expense of the trip by doing something for somebody else.”
With so many underdeveloped countries around the world, and in the wake of natural disasters, there are many opportunities for worthwhile voluntourism excursions. Individuals, families or organizational groups can easily partake through agencies like Global Ambassadors for Children, according to Iantria. One example is a trip to Peru through this organization.
“Two days you go down to the orphanage then drive up to another community,” she said. “You not only have the opportunity to visit Machu Picchu, one of the most famous attractions in Peru, but you’re also going to an orphanage, helping with the kids, talking with the kids, and those kinds of programs have become really popular.”
There is an overlap between many voluntourism excursions and geotourism trips, according to Iantria, because both focus on helping a community. Over spring break, Iantria took a geotourism trip with students to Bluefields Bay, Jamaica, an undeveloped area on the southern coast. The students went on bird walks, nature hikes, and bay and waterfall tours.
In May, Iantria will lead a three-week geotourism trip to Italy with a group of students. This trip, entitled “Beyond Rome,” will take students to Capri, Sorrento, Pompeii, Pesto, Tuscany, Recanati and more. They will visit goat cheese makers, wineries, the home of Niccolo Machiavelli, Herculaneum and even spend a week living in an abandoned village which has been repurposed into a hotel.
“Part of geotourism is to protect the environment and the aesthetics,” said Iantria. “You’re going to this place with a philosophy that you want to protect this fragile environment. So, we’re making much more responsible tourists.”
Making these types of trips more visible and widely available is key to producing more unique experiences and responsible tourists. Each year, Ashoka Changemakers and the National Geographic Society sponsor a geotourism challenge, many of which show characteristics of voluntourism as well. Last year’s winner, PEPY Tours, leads visitors on a bicycle tour through Cambodia. While biking, tourists will stop at a school, which they are financially sponsoring by taking their trip.
“To me, anything like that is incredible,” added Iantria. “Looking beyond what you would traditionally call a ‘vacation’ is worth that effort, but it sometimes is a little bit of an effort.”