Green Holidays

Now is the time to get packing and set of on your grown-up gap year!

Due to the current financial climate in many countries at the moment – this seems to be the perfect time to ask your boss for some time off!

It is normally quite tricky to get your company to agree to a holiday longer than 2 weeks – but with many companies tightening their belts and looking at redundancies and pay cuts now is the perfect time to offer your services!

How Can I Help My Company?
Well, if you think about it, your company is probably thinking on ways to save money. This may include reducing staff hours, offering early retirement, reducing expenditure on stationary and staff services like cafeterias etc.

Basically they need to cut back on as much as possible to keep running at an acceptable level. This is where your salary comes in to action.

You could save your company your salary every day you are not at work.

They could save $1000’s on just you alone – say you were earning $200 per day – that would be a minimum saving to your company of over $6000 a month

So if you were to take just 3 months off – that is over $18,000 saved – plus all other work paid contributions that your company pay on your behalf. You will also be saving them a whole host of other costs that are usually not thought about.

These include the cost of cleaning your office; toiletries and water you would use if still at the office and all the stationary and electricity you use on a daily basis that isn’t strictly work related.

Places like the cafeteria will still be working while you are gone, but if catering for less staff they too can reduce their expenses by ordering and preparing cold drinks and hot food. Same goes for car park maintenance and general cleaning contracts.

It all adds up.

They May Even Offer You Longer!
It could be that your company haven’t thought of this as a way of saving money and so you could be the first to offer up the suggestion to your bosses and get the credit!

Usually, companies will do anything to keep their staff for as long as possible as it is very hard to get reliable staff back when this bad patch is over! So letting you have time off knowing that you will be back in X months could really help them out – and may even help to keep your company running!

You may be brave enough to ask for just 3 months off – but if your company are thinking of stalling all new acquisitions or reducing big projects until the new financial year for example – then they may well offer you a longer ‘break’ so you are off until they need you.

You won’t find out until you ask – and it could be the best move you ever made!

Planning Your Volunteering Green Holidays needs to start somewhere – and these 5 tips should help:

Many people these days are planning to take a longer-then-usual break from work.  There are so many opportunities out there for all sorts of people and all sorts of activities!  There is surely something for everyone and some are just a few weeks long to fit into even the tightest schedule!

Before jumping in to a great adventure however, make sure that you have got yourself covered for some simple things, and make sure that you are going with the best possible company.

It’s easy to just want to get up and go when the travel bug hits you – but you want to make sure that everything is as green as you would like it before you pay a dime!

1) Length of time:
It is better for the environment and the communities you are going to support if you take a longer than average time out there. 

Flying to Asia for 2 weeks – which includes a few days to yourself – means that there is hardly any time for you to make a difference.  It also shoots up your carbon emissions.

However, 2 months in your chosen location can give you time to experience their culture and actually get to know all the people involved while you are there.  It also shows that you and you chosen company mean business – rather than in and out with no real lasting effects in their lives.

2) Company Experience:
Make sure the company you are travelling with has years and years of experience in their locations and in the travel industry. There are many new companies popping up – but can they deliver the goods or are they jumping (late) onto the ethical bandwagon??

Not only will experienced companies be able to prove that their packages are excellent and their community work long lasting – but it also shows you that they mean business and know how to do these things. 

For an example of how not to book your gap vacation, read on…. I recently went to an organised talk where a ‘travel guru’ was talking about her company – and she said that last year she couldn’t find anyone offering advice about gap travellers – so she set one up herself! 

If she was looking for help last year – what on earth would make you trust here for advice just 12 months later?  What type of advice could she really offer you about travelling, volunteering, teaching and living abroad if she has barely done it herself???

If this is your ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ and you are taking time of work or leaving your job – please don’t risk it.  Make sure you put yourself in the hands or a real and proven expert – even if you have to pay that bit extra!

3) Company Ethics:
There are many companies out there offering these fantastic vacations – but where does all the money go and who are they helping?

Check with your short-list of companies what projects they support and where your ‘fee’ is going.  Some companies charge a lot of money for your trip and pocket a large proportion of the money in admin.  Others will clearly advertise that a contribution goes to a charity working locally or to community projects for the long term.

Some trip organisers send huge numbers of volunteers to the same places – not so fair on the other communities and a bit to overwhelming on that one.  Better companies will share out the visitors and limit the impact of it’s travellers.  You are there to help the local people, not socialise with dozens of other travellers from your home country!

Also, make sure that they have a clear responsible travel policy and are a member or at least 1 ethical travel association – the more the better, really.  If you want to be sure you are travelling responsibly with them and that they have considered all their green alternatives for their trips – then don’t book if they can’t answer your questions politely and with answers you are happy with.

4) A Job Well Done:
Ideally, the travel company will make sure that you are suited to the trip you are booking!

By this I mean that they will check your experiences and your aims and will try to send you to the right location in terms of your skills and their needs.  It’s ok to choose your destination – but if your skills are better suited to another project on a different continent than a good volunteer firm will let you know.

You might have your heart set on the Andes – but if they are in desperate need of your skills in the Himalayas they may well see if they can twist your arm a bit.  They would never force you to go somewhere you don’t want to go – but if you are in this for the experience and to help others, then it is certainly worth considering your options.

5) What’s Left Behind:
If you are taking a longer break for your volunteering (a month or more) – make sure that what you leave behind is still in order while you are away.

Cancel or put a hold on magazines and subscriptions so endless amounts of mail don’t sit in your mailbox.  Not only will this show that you are away – it also means that you will have too much to read on your return and possibly waste these resources.  Check dates on all foodstuffs so that nothing is wasted and nothing goes out of date while you are away.

Set up online accounts for everything you can (so you can check it all wherever on the globe you are) and this also allows you to cancel paper billing for most accounts – you can check it all on the Internet – saving endless amounts of paper and postage!  You can even pay bills online though your bank account without having to go home or send the neighbor around!

Make sure that your appliances and electrical goods are unplugged – not on standby!  Buy a timer for your lights if you are leaving the house empty – or consider renting it out to friends for the duration to fund your trip and protect your home – and pets if you have any.  Check your fire alarm batteries and any alarm systems to make sure they are in perfect working order before you leave.

Check your mortgage and insurance papers to make sure you are covered if you are not living there – and make sure that you travel insurance covers the full time you are away – some annual policies only cover 3 months in total over any 1 year!

And Finally:
Enjoy yourself and have the time of your life – coming back a more experienced and more relaxed person!