There’s a new way to travel; it’s called volun-tourism. I know; you’re thinking that helping out in another city or country has been around for decades, so how is this new? It’s new because of how you travel along with the well-planned activities once you’re “there.”
Quoting from their website, Fathom Travel (www.fathom.org) is “a new kind of cruise that combines your love of travel with your desire to make a difference.” The new company, part of Carnival Corporationi, calls their travel Impact Travel, or Travel with a Purpose. Starting this April, Fathom will begin offering separate 7-day cruises out of Miami to two highly desirable Caribbean destinations: Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Your home on the sea, and while docked in port, will be the newly refurbished 704-passenger Adonia.
Planned activities in the Dominican Republic include working side by side with local residents in existing programs that focus on improving the lives of children, families and communities. Planned activities in Cuba include participating in an ongoing cultural exchange program that gives you the opportunity to interact with the Cuban people, one on one. And as with most cruises, there are optional add-on activities that you can partake in during your spare time.
If helping to make a difference sounds exciting to you, read more about these new opportunities at www.fathom.org. Not only do you get to go on a cruise, you get to help people, and you are able to visit two very interesting countries. I applaud Carnival for creating this new brand of travel with a do-good emphasis.
Stuart Gustafson is America’s International Travel Expert® who speaks on cruise ships, writes novels, writes a monthly newsletter, and loves everything about travel. Visit his website at www.stuartgustafson.com.