volunteer abroad

[Crooked]

I think that you would really enjoy Australia, especially if you really want to go out of your comfort zone, but if you go to Canada I really recommend British Columbia. It's one of the most beautiful places in the world, in my opinion.

[nexaeox]

I totally get the feeling of wanting to get away from everything and just go do some good in a world that seems to need it. When I was having my quarter-life crisis I signed up for a program to go abroad and volunteer in Africa helping to build clean water infrastructure. The problem I ran into was it was actually harder to get into those programs because of the additional risks and physical demands - so they wouldn't let you come if you were disabled in some way or had any health conditions. Other options I looked into generally didn't accept civilian volunteers that didn't have some sort of training related to the programs - i.e. they wanted environmental science graduates to come help them set up tree planting programs - not guys who just lost their fry cook job and were trying to find themselves. That was really disappointing to me. I don't know if Sweden has specific volunteer corps or what other programs you're looking at, but it might be worth researching their requirements before you set your heart on anything. Not trying to dissuade you at all because I think it's very admirable! You should def pursue it if that's in your heart. Just saying it's something you might want to figure in your expectations, based on my experience.

I don't know a lot about the sort of volunteer programs that send people to other 'first world' countries in the west though - they might be a lot more lax than places admittedly in more social and environmental turmoil. Speaking as someone in the US and who has some experience with the farming industry, generally foreign agricultural workers work on visas, I've never really heard of out-of-country 'volunteer' farm workers - and I'd honestly be a little wary of any program that claimed to do so. America isn't a country that can't afford to pay workers, so soliciting 'free' labor from Europe sounds to me like a dodgy, possibly not entirely legal program. I can't say for certain, but it def rubs me the wrong way with what experience I have. Again, not trying to dissuade at all, just hoping you protect yourself against being taken advantage of (or worse - any program sending you to another country should be researched thoroughly!)

I do know in the USA now there's some humanitarian groups that are helping move families out of states where they are in danger, both because of changing laws and changing climates. I only really see them collecting money to help finance it atm, but there might be a demand for helping people actually physically pack and move- I'm not sure that would probably require getting in touch with the local organizations in the states themselves. This is mostly places like Texas and Florida, places where the extreme heat and weather is getting worse and insurance companies are pulling out ahead of the worst of hurricane season - which could financially devastate people stuck living there. I won't go on about the other reasons, not the right forum, but I think Florida is probably a good bet for a place a lot of good can be done helping regular people get their life into order during a scary time of turmoil and uncertainty. It would be a beautiful place to live otherwise, certainly worth visiting at least once.

Good luck with whatever you decide on though. I hope it's a fruitful and fulfilling life experience!

[gobblegum]

Between the two, I would choose Australia. Get out of your comfort zone. Go big or go home. I would give a kidney to volunteer in Wales.

[hellraid]

It's been a blast to read your messages thank you everyone. I've been looking more into it. And I think considering I'd need a visa of some sort for pretty much all those places I rerouted a bit and now I am actually just thinking I should go down to like Greece or Sicily and help out there.

Yes I know, I suck at making decisions xD