By Terry Galloway

Instead of sticking to the same, tired tourist traps and boring tours, many international travelers are grabbing paintbrushes and shovels instead. Cross cultural volunteering is giving people like you the ability to go to work in areas of the world where their help is desperately needed. What they find instead, is that these trips have a lot more impact in their lives than the impact they could ever have on the lives of the people they’ve come to help.

1. Opening Your Mind

Serving people of a different culture encourages acceptance of their values and beliefs, especially as you learn and understand more about them. Suddenly, you become a bit less ethnocentric and start to open your mind to the importance of other cultures. As you make decisions, you think not only of how they impact you and your community, but also the world as a whole.

2. Broadening Your Awareness

When you take a look at the world’s newspapers today you see so many stories about wars and skirmishes all over the world, some even in cities in our own countries. Often these stem from one group stereotyping another. Many times these stereotypical attitudes usually mean that the culture of a group is being misunderstood. After your culture exchange travel experience, you start breaking down those stereotypes in your own mind. The knowledge you gain in the field can then be used to educate others who are as ethnocentric as you once were.

3. Improving Your Character

One of the best ways to grow and stretch as an individual is to dive into a work project in a foreign country. You will need to learn to face fears, overcome language gaps, and think on your feet. When your travel experience is complete, you will find yourself more compassionate, courageous, and patient than you were before you left. These character traits stay with you long after you return home.

4. Increasing Job Opportunities

In addition to the way traveling abroad changes your attitude and focus, it also changes your job opportunities. According to a 2007 Global HR News study, some 80 percent of executives surveyed stated that foreign travel was a key factor when they made hiring decisions for openings in their companies. These decision makers believed that applicants who traveled had a greater cultural awareness and international perspective, which is vital in today’s international business market.

We live in a global society, and the ability to adapt to different cultural settings is valuable in today’s job market. Having culture exchange travel on your resume shows that you can think outside of the box and are willing to work with people who view the world differently than you do. These benefits of cross cultural volunteering do not disappear in the weeks or months after you return. They have the potential to change your life for the long term. After this experience, you will never view the world the same again.

Terry Galloway wanted to change her life so she researched Costa Rica volunteer programs to help those in need. With Global Works, you can travel with purpose this year with Costa Rica community service and volunteer programs.