Volunteer travel advice
Choosing a placement
Ellie Petrie, from our supplier Pod Volunteer, shares her volunteer travel advice:
“Think about whether you want a structured placement with a stricter timetable. We often find that with animal placements, you wake up at six, you do a feeding, you’re cleaning at ten, then there’s another job to do. We have teaching placements with a similar structure. We also have our own volunteer coordinators there, so if you’re slightly nervous and you haven’t volunteered before, I would recommend a placement like that. Our placements with less structure might suit a more confident person who wants to take it by the horns and get really involved in it. If we think the volunteer is not suitable, then it’s beneficial to tell them at the application stage and recommend they join a different project – maybe one where there is a team that might be more suited to them, or where their skills are more relevant.”
“Think about whether you want a structured placement with a stricter timetable. We often find that with animal placements, you wake up at six, you do a feeding, you’re cleaning at ten, then there’s another job to do. We have teaching placements with a similar structure. We also have our own volunteer coordinators there, so if you’re slightly nervous and you haven’t volunteered before, I would recommend a placement like that. Our placements with less structure might suit a more confident person who wants to take it by the horns and get really involved in it. If we think the volunteer is not suitable, then it’s beneficial to tell them at the application stage and recommend they join a different project – maybe one where there is a team that might be more suited to them, or where their skills are more relevant.”
Our Volunteer travel Vacations
Orangutan sanctuary volunteering in Borneo
Care for stunning endangered orangutans in beautiful Borneo
From
£1195 to £1895
13 days
ex flights
Wildlife photography & conservation volunteering in south Africa
Enjoy amazing wildlife photography while giving back!
From
£2595
4 weeks
ex flights
Namibia wildlife sanctuary volunteering vacation
Care for rescued animals in Namibia
From
£995 to £5395
15 days
ex flights
Balkan Lynx wildlife conservation vacation in Montenegro
Hiking expedition to discover the fauna in Montenegro
From
€2000
10 days
ex flights
Family volunteering with turtles in Costa Rica
Family turtle conservation volunteering in Costa Rica
From
£1302
7 days
ex flights
The great white shark conservation project in South Africa
Encounter iconic Great White Sharks in South Africa!
From
£895 to £3995
15 days
ex flights
Tips on how long to volunteer for
Jon Arnold, from our volunteer vacation supplier Oyster Worldwide:“It’s got to be longer term volunteering when you’re working with people in a teaching environment. A two-week vacation teaching in a school wouldn’t benefit the volunteer or the project at all. There are organisations that do offer two-week vacations – and they work fine for a project that works with animals, you can get stuff done on day one. But when things are about working in a community or in a school, with basic living conditions in a lot of cases, it takes time to find your feet as a volunteer, for the school to work out your skills and how best to use them, and if you’re only there two weeks it’s gone before you’ve really got your teeth into it.”
Where you’ll be living on wildlife conservation vacations
Erin Sparks, from our supplier, PoD Volunteer:
“If anything we describe the accommodation as more basic than it is. It’s very difficult because everyone has different expectations, but all accommodation is of a very livable standard, just remember that if you are working with animals, often in earthy and wet environments, it is impossible to keep living spaces pristine. Some are dorms, others you share with between two and four people – it varies and volunteers are responsible for keeping their area clean and tidy. You’re there to slot in and help out as opposed to be waited on hand and foot.”
“If anything we describe the accommodation as more basic than it is. It’s very difficult because everyone has different expectations, but all accommodation is of a very livable standard, just remember that if you are working with animals, often in earthy and wet environments, it is impossible to keep living spaces pristine. Some are dorms, others you share with between two and four people – it varies and volunteers are responsible for keeping their area clean and tidy. You’re there to slot in and help out as opposed to be waited on hand and foot.”
Why volunteer organisations charge fees
Jon Arnold, from our supplier Oyster Worldwide:“We were very thankful after the Nepal earthquake as we made contact with everyone within two hours of the earthquake hitting. Thankfully everyone was safe and in different places, we got them all out within about a week or so but there was no rush – they were fine. People often say, ‘why have I got to pay for this?’ And that’s the nub of it – hopefully you’re never going to need the support that you’re paying for, but it is there just in case. We have representatives or project coordinators in each of the destinations that we send people to, and it is their job to liaise with us and be there as a friend for the participants. Particularly for the younger ones, it’s about balancing that level of support and independence. Quite often it’s their first time traveling but they’re adults, they’re 18, so we try and let them be as independent as possible. However, they can be safe in the knowledge that there is a support network in place should they need any help and advice, and if anything really does go wrong, then we’re there.”
Marine conservation vacation tips
Becky Edwards from Pod Volunteer on why there is such a great need for volunteers on marine conservation and research projects – and how valuable these placements are: “Research is incredibly labour intensive, it can be a case of counting something again and again in different areas. It’s incredibly repetitive and very hard for one scientist to do on their own. In Thailand they monitor coral predators, which includes a particular species of snail. They count the number in a specific area, and all that data gets fed back into a report. Over the course of two years, volunteers were feeding into that – millions of snails were counted! Day to day, that’s not a skilled job. Once you’ve identified them on the first day, they’re very easy to count. The report was published in a marine biology journal last year, and has been really influential in the policies that have been put in place by the marine protection agency in Thailand. We’ve worked with that project for several years, and it’s lovely to see the influence they’ve had because of data collected by volunteers. It’s made genuine changes on the ground – that’s massive.”Health & safety for volunteers
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Our top Volunteer travel Vacation
Orangutan sanctuary volunteering in Borneo
Care for stunning endangered orangutans in beautiful Borneo
From
£1195 to £1895
13 days
ex flights
Small group travel:
2023: 4 Jun, 18 Jun, 2 Jul, 16 Jul, 6 Aug, 20 Aug, 3 Sep, 17 Sep
2024: 31 Mar, 14 Apr, 28 Apr, 12 May, 2 Jun, 16 Jun, 30 Jun, 14 Jul, 4 Aug, 18 Aug, 1 Sep, 15 Sep
2023: 4 Jun, 18 Jun, 2 Jul, 16 Jul, 6 Aug, 20 Aug, 3 Sep, 17 Sep
2024: 31 Mar, 14 Apr, 28 Apr, 12 May, 2 Jun, 16 Jun, 30 Jun, 14 Jul, 4 Aug, 18 Aug, 1 Sep, 15 Sep
Travel Team
If you'd like to chat about Volunteer travel or need help finding a vacation to suit you we're very happy to help.

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Advice from our travelers
At Responsible Travel, we think the best people to advise our travelers are often... other travelers. They always return from our tours with packing tips, weather reports, ideas about what to do - and opinions about what not to.
We have selected some of the most useful volunteering vacation travel advice that our guests have provided over the years to help you make the very most of your placement - and the space inside your suitcase.
We have selected some of the most useful volunteering vacation travel advice that our guests have provided over the years to help you make the very most of your placement - and the space inside your suitcase.

Don't expect 5 star accommodation but sheer island beauty and a very very comfortable camping like situation. And know that by you supporting the operator, this will improve over time.![]()

- Dominique Bousquet, marine conservation in Belize
It does get messy....old clothes, good boots and some quality gloves that still allow you dexterity but are also washable. - Clanci Ferguson - Volunteering with bears in Romania
Ask any questions you have before you go. They were always prompt and helpful with any questions that I had so I was prepared with what I would be doing and what to take. - Esther Ostrower, Volunteering with bears in Romania
Learn some of the basic language (which I did not do but it would have helped!) and be prepared to just jump in and help with whatever needs doing! Some of the work is not glorious but needs to be done and by having volunteers it frees up the people at the sanctuary to do the other things they need to do. - Amanda Hathway, Volunteering with bears in Romania
Ask any questions you have before you go. They were always prompt and helpful with any questions that I had so I was prepared with what I would be doing and what to take. - Esther Ostrower, Volunteering with bears in Romania
Learn some of the basic language (which I did not do but it would have helped!) and be prepared to just jump in and help with whatever needs doing! Some of the work is not glorious but needs to be done and by having volunteers it frees up the people at the sanctuary to do the other things they need to do. - Amanda Hathway, Volunteering with bears in Romania

Throw yourself into it, the more you put in the more you get out. Some aspects are a little messy but embrace them because your time there is never long enough, and is something you will yearn for when you get home.![]()

- Hans Berents, Volunteering with bears in Romania
At only 18, I was very anxious about going to Brasov by myself for 5 weeks, but it was easily the best experience I have had and 5 weeks was not long enough! - Chloe Grable, Volunteering with bears in Romania
Go prepared to learn, there's loads of really interesting marine ecology information to learn as part of the Environment Management Programme. There are interesting and knowledgeable people there, who are enthusiastic about sharing their knowledge. - Stephen Orwin, Marine conservation vacation in Thailand
Take a trip to a charity shop before you leave to buy shirts/tshirts etc as part of the fun is getting wet and dirty when cleaning and playing with the monkeys. Leaving things behind when you depart helps other volunteers. Take a pack of rubber gloves and leave behind what you don't use. - Sara Lee, Volunteer with monkeys in South Africa
Go prepared to learn, there's loads of really interesting marine ecology information to learn as part of the Environment Management Programme. There are interesting and knowledgeable people there, who are enthusiastic about sharing their knowledge. - Stephen Orwin, Marine conservation vacation in Thailand
Take a trip to a charity shop before you leave to buy shirts/tshirts etc as part of the fun is getting wet and dirty when cleaning and playing with the monkeys. Leaving things behind when you depart helps other volunteers. Take a pack of rubber gloves and leave behind what you don't use. - Sara Lee, Volunteer with monkeys in South Africa