Whether to pay-to-volunteer or volunteer-at-no-cost-to-yourself (or as the current debate puts it ‘paid or free volunteering’) – is a difficult and challenging debate and realistically there is no right or wrong answer – it is most definitely not ‘black and white.’

Some people want to travel abroad, to volunteer so they feel good about themselves – what is so wrong with that? Some people want to travel abroad to volunteer to give something back to society – again, what is so wrong with that?

Anyone with a relative, friend, colleague or participant travelling overseas will live in fear of the phone call telling them ‘we have a problem…’ Whether it is reporting illness, injury, accident, crisis or act of God, nobody wants to receive that message. There is a short video on the Sara’s Wish Foundation website which tells stories of just some of the accidents that can happen overseas. Although this website and video are American and based on American Study Abroad students the message is still just as strong for anyone travelling in foreign countries.

The better prepared you can be when travelling abroad; the less likely you are to encounter problems.