Review | Book review: Lonely Planet’s new guide to volunteering – for people who see travel as more than a selfie opportunity
Fourth edition of Volunteer: A Traveller’s Guide to Making a Difference Around the World tells would-be do-gooders the questions to ask before they turn altruistic adventurer, and is packed with advice - some of it rather obvious
Volunteer: A Traveller’s Guide to Making a Difference Around the World
Lonely Planet
3.5 stars
Lonely Planet travel guides were essential packing when this reviewer left the UK to explore Asia in pre-internet 1990 (and then never really left). Unfortunately, the books often proved out of date. That shouldn’t be the case with the new edition of the publisher’s Volunteer: A Traveller’s Guide to Making a Difference Around the World, a book aimed at readers “looking for a more meaningful travel experience” than taking selfies in front of things for their Instagram.
The guide, published this month, replaces the third printing that was almost four years old. (The original came along 10 years ago, in June 2007.) It’s brimming with know-how and inspirational first-hand accounts for the altruistic adventurer planning a short or long-term volunteer stint, whether they be a fresh-faced gap-year student or a guilt-ridden ex-banker, a trail-hardened loner, a loved-up couple or even an intrepid family with rug rats in tow.
