It’s finally done! I have been working for months on The Underground Guide to International Volunteering and I’m excited to finally announce its release. The 63-page ebook is aimed at introducing travellers to the wonders of volunteering abroad and to help them break away from the usual backpacker trail, get involved with local communities around the world and make a difference in people’s lives in a variety of ways.
When I first started travelling I thought international volunteering was only possible for people who either had specific skills that were in demand or for people willing to pay thousands of dollars to a company to find them a placement. Since hitting the road I have seen how easy it actually is to volunteer and there are plenty of places that would love an extra set of hands… you just need to find them.
I want to share with you what I know about international volunteering in the hopes that you gain the confidence and knowledge you need to search out your own amazing experiences that go beyond beaches and the backpacker trail.
The ebook includes:
- Help deciding whether international volunteering is a good fit for you.
- Advice on how to choose a volunteering experience that is right for you.
- Information on different types of volunteering from conservation to development to disaster relief.
- Practical information on visas, travel insurance, packing, health and hygiene, living conditions and communication.
- Nine interviews with international volunteers sharing their experiences, giving advice and offering inspiration.
- Tips for how to find free and cheap volunteering placements including website reviews that will help with your search.
- A list of volunteering opportunities worldwide that are free or low-cost with organizations I trust.
- Fee-based volunteering: Why I would never do it but why it is right for some people.
- A list of fee-based volunteering companies along with information on whether they donate part of their fee to the actual project.
- Free updates forever as I discover new free and cheap volunteering opportunities and make other updates.
- Insight and first-hand stories and advice from an experienced international volunteer – that’s me!
That’s a lot of stuff crammed in there and, for only $14, The Underground Guide to International Volunteering is a bargain. I am confident that, after reading this ebook, you will be armed with the information and confidence you need to turn a typical backpacking trip into the experience of a lifetime through volunteering.
Ask yourself these questions:
If you answered ‘yes’ to any of those questions then my ebook The Underground Guide to International Volunteering was made for you. |
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Pricing
As if you needed any more reasons to buy this ebook, I will be donating 50% of the $14 price to my favourite volunteering organization, Hands On Disaster Response. That’s $7 of every ebook sale that heads directly to them to help with disaster relief efforts all around the world. I know first-hand how great the work they do is and I want to give back to them since I have gotten so much out of my experiences working with them in Bangladesh, Haiti and Indonesia.
Ebook Reviews
- South America Living
- VolunteeringInfo.org
- Volunteering Vagabond
- 20 Something Travel
- Never Ending Voyage
- Migrationology
- Trail of Ants
- Go Backpacking
- In Searck of Sanuk
- Brooke Versus the World
- Do It While You’re Young
- Traveling Savage
- Wisebread
- Jetset Citizen
- Fox Nomad
- Our Hiking Blog
I would love to know what you think of the ebook so please post a comment below once you’ve read it. Enjoy!
Good job Kirsty. This is info that a lot of people have been waiting for.
- David [not a walking ATM]
Congratulations Kirsty on finishing the ebook! It sounds fantastic and I look forward to reading it. I’m sure many people will find this so useful.
Do you have an affiliate program?
@gary Nope, no affiliate program. Well, I do have one affiliate but they’re Hands On, the folks I am donating 50% of the proceeds to. Once I reach my goal of raising $10,000 which may or may not take an eternity, I will probably introduce an affiliate program.
YAYYYYYYYYYY!!! I’m really proud of you, Kirsticles.
Way to go girl, I’m so proud of you!
I am looking forward to reading it. I love the title and the cover design. Did you do the artwork? Looks very cool.
Kirsty,
I want to congratulate you on an ebook very well done. I haven’t read the whole book yet, but so far it’s worth the price just to get a better idea of what you’ve been doing all this time. This is a worthwhile cause and I thank you for sharing your experiences. I hope to do some volunteer work in the future. Now back to the book…
I just bought & downloaded the book… Wow Tons of great content set out in a professional way, without doubt the best looking eBook I have ever purchased. Based on the first quarter of the book i expect to find tons of great info thanks!
Love the cover design, did you do that yourself? Well done.
Nive work Kirsty, your link was sent over to me by an old uni acquantance, bizarre!!
Hi Kirsty, just Tweeted this and posted on my fB page… now off to buy!
Congrats on the release Kirsty. I’ll be sure to buy a copy and have it reviewed on Go Backpacking!
I just bought and read your book – it’s an absolutely excellent resource for anyone thinking of volunteering, anywhere. I’ll be sure to review it on Women on the Road, and will link to it from my volunteering pages. Well done!
I have really been looking forward to this, and it looks really good. Great job.
Inspiring and lovely! Just like you.
Hey Kirsty, congrats on the ebook. I just sent you an email about it! Let me know if you don’t get it. Cheers!
Hi Kirsty,
I just finished reading “The Underground Guide to International Volunteering.” Well done. It is an excellent guide for anyone thinking of volunteering abroad. I hope it succeeds in getting wide distribution. Hope to see you in Haiti, perhaps by the end of May if my recovery from fractured leg continues to improve as it has over the past several weeks.
Great timing on the e-book…there was even another 7.8 quake in Sumatra yesterday. Best of luck and congrats!
Greg
Great stuff about the e-book. Will be signing up for one real soon!
Your website truly inspire people to not only travel, but to do good.
-Terence (Malaysia)
-www.ecoteer.com (a volunteering abroad website)
I just bought mine, will read it tonight and do a review for my site
Hey Kirsty, I discovered your blog a little while ago and just love what you are doing! Will be buying your ebook right now and once I get a travel blog going myself (if ever, haha) I’ll be sure to put a review up and link to it. Good luck on your further travels and volunteering!
I’ve finally gotten around to reading the ebook and I love it! It’s really comprehensive, honest is a fantastic resource for anyone considering an international volunteering opportunity. I love all the interviews and case studies and am feeling really inspired to get out there and volunteer!
A review will be coming on our website in the next few weeks. Good luck with it.
Great design for an ebook, really great.
This book is what I am looking for. As a Chinese I have been thinking how to be an global citizen by learning from people like you.
Hi,
..Nice guide on international volunteering. Kool keep it up
Thanks,
Cygnus
Hi,
Why am I not surprised that Kirsty wrote this? Have to buy it to see if I figure in it somewhere he he. Looks like a few weeks saving the old pension up to make the said purchase.
Norman
(HODR Alumni)
Just bought the book, had a quick browse and it looks fantastically full of fab info.
Just one question, how do you rate Habitat for Humanity as an organisation? South America bound with them later in the year then hope to find something local with the help of your book
Thanks and good luck
Impressed Kirsty with the comment from Hand on calling you a veteran of volunteering! How many ebooks have you sold now?
Kirsty–I just went nomadic myself and am looking for ways to volunteer in the U.S. Any recommendations for where I can find non-international volunteer travel info? Thank you so much for your help!
Chris
selfmockery.wordpress.com
While I haven’t had the opportunity to read this text, I have to comment on the detracting cover art which has given me serious second thoughts about looking further into the book. I know the phrase, “don’t judge a book by its cover,” should be guiding my thinking, though I can’t get over the racial dynamic implied by the image. As a women of color, I’m offended by the insinuation that the provision of “aid” proceeds along racial lines synonymous with material deprivation and a lack of opportunity. For a book geared towards a universal audience, perhaps the author should consider that the progressive travelers looking to encounter new contexts with helping hands and hearts might also be an “other” themselves. This sort of m/paternalistic mentality is an all too common trope, and one that serves to impede what might be a less subjectifying experience, where north meets south, white meets black, and love is transferred from one distinct camp to another.
Hi i am Anny. I was looking around the web for inspiration – sort of a boost to get me back into writing –
and your blog, you’ve mentioned here gave me tons of it. Stoked I stumbled into it.
Looking forward to keeping up with your posts.
Something like this should have been published long time ago! Thanks!
Hopefully sales are doing great for you! It is always good to see someone giving back and in your case its half of what you earn. i am looking to start traveling but unlike most i use bluegreen corporation and use resorts for my stay. Right now it seems that I really only want to relax and do nothing after working so many hours each week. I applaud everyone who is going out and traveling the world and allowing me to read about it.
Hi Kirsty
I love your blog and ebook. Would you be able to email me on daniel @ ecoteer.com. I would like to invite you to some of our projects on the ecoteer.com site and also to our projects in Malaysia – http://www.helpourpenyu.com and http://www.borneochildaid.org
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Aman dan cinta (peace and love in Malaysian)
Dan
Usefull book indeed! Thanks!
Hi Kirsty,
In which year was your book published? I need that detail for the bibliography of the book that I am writing myself
thanks
giulio
We are a bunch of volunteers and opening a brand new scheme in our community. Your website provided us with useful information to paintings on. You have performed an impressive job and our entire community might be thankful to you.
Kirsty
previously I asked about whether anything has been written about families within your ebook. In spite of nothing written, would the information contained within still relate to families taking on board international volunteering?
Please make suggestions of any other publication like yours that may contain valuable information concerning international volunteering for families.
thankyou
kind regards
Kent
I bought this book yesterday on the advice of Barbara Weibel and find it to be very helpful. Thank you. I am in the process of just starting to do research on volunteering and traveling and your eBook was timely. I have just started a new blog http://volunteeringvacation.com and am going to document my experiences and thanks to your book I have more resources to add. Thank you.
How do I get a copy of your book?
Thanks to everyone who let me know about my ‘Add to Cart’ buttons not working! I think I’ve solved the problem. Sorry it took so long to get to… I was volunteering!
Hi Kirsty,
I love your ebook the International Guide to Volunteering. I know you have said that you’re not going to have an affiliate program – but I wanted to let you know that I have produced a page with your book on it within my website. Is there anyway you can tell where the referrals have come from when you get a sale?
http://www.free-accommodation-for-world-travel.com/volunteering-abroad.html
Hello Kirsty,
I bought your book last month because I was looking for ‘the right kind’ of volunteer opportunities in Nepal.
I already knew alot of what you wrote, but I found the resources and program comparison section really good. The way you wrote the in-depth comparison of ‘voluntourism’ versus ‘free volunteering’ was very objective and you can tell it’s substantiated with experience and research.
I can definitely say it’s made me a different volunteer, and I would recommend it to other volunteers. (Especially people who would go for the voluntour option, it can be a real eye-opener)
I wrote a little bit about my point of view and preparations so far, and I recommend your book: http://www.packedmybag.com/volunteering-voluntourism/
Nice job and happy travelling,
Veronique