In pursuit of meaningful travel experiences, millenials come face to face with the consequences of voluntourism, global consumerism.

by Brook duBois

When I left the U.S. to teach English abroad in South Korea in 2012, it felt like a big adventure. It was about a year after I had graduated from college with a journalism degree that led to few job prospects, lots of student debt and several months of living at home with my parents, feeling like a failure. I had finally found a way out — a temporary adventure that would pay my bills and renew my confidence. I had already been to Europe for a summer during college to study and work and, with the help of a new Dutch boyfriend, the travel bug had made its mark.

In planning to leave for South Korea, I felt like I was finally paving my own path doing something new and exciting and fresh. When I got to Seoul, however, I quickly realized I wasn’t alone; my desire to travel and my experiences weren’t unique. I worked alongside young and newly graduated Canadian teachers who had come to Korea for more teaching experience (an alternative to taking short-term teaching positions at home), frequently met young American soldiers who lived on the military base there, and joined hiking and volunteer groups made up primarily of Western expatriates. I wasn’t alone. And I started to realize travel isn’t necessarily temporary; wandering becomes a way of life.

When I went to Germany and, later, Ireland, to complete my Master’s degree, there were two other young women from our small class who had also taught English in South Korea, and nearly everyone in the program had international experience, almost all under 30 years of age. Everyone, like myself, was young and hungry to do something meaningful, mostly outside of our home countries.

There are certain universal qualities to travelers; most of us probably have a blog somewhere stating our “wanderlust.” A 2013 CNN article on “big, unnecessary, crazy, travel” paints the picture well — it’s no longer unique to travel the globe and Millennials, typically defined as people between 18 and 34 years old, aredoing so at a rising rate. American Millennials are additionally shaped by very slow job growth, student debt, and a community-oriented desire to create change. If you’re searching for a job in the Salt Lake City area, consider working with a Salt Lake City recruitment firm to help you find the right opportunities.

According to a joint report by the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and World Youth Student & Educational (WYSE) Travel Confederation, by 2020, young travelers worldwide are expected to make 320 million international trips each year, up an astounding 47 percent from 2013. Rerouting life by way of airplane, train and car is clearly a rising trend, with youth interested in learning, getting in touch with other cultures, using travel as a source of career development, and, found to be the most important motivation, meeting local people. While Millennials are on the verge of making up the majority of the global workforce in the next ten years, the 2014 PhoCusWright Consumer Travel Report finds that 66 percent consider travel to be a very important aspect of their lifestyle.

While working with international performers in the U.K., Wendy Cummins, a 34-year-old entertainment agent from London, realized she was yearning to see the world her clients were coming from in a more authentic way. In April she left London for Thailand and is planning on spending 18 months abroad as a geographically-independent female solo traveler — a trend she says she has noticed among other younger 20-something women she has met while staying in hostels and shared accommodations. And as long as there is an Internet connection, Cummins can work when necessary and roam when wanted.

“When you’re so focused on what you’re doing that you don’t take the time out to travel, you get a bit suffocated,” she said. “I felt like I needed to get a bit more sun, to see a bit more of the world.”

Cummins’ desire to pack up and travel is similar to my own urgings – I keep the few things I have at my parents’ house to a minimum; otherwise, all of my belongings fit into just two suitcases. It’s also indicative of the massive movement of young people worldwide who no longer fit collectively into one particular stereotype of traveler.  Despite having a steady job, Cummins wanted to do more than just travel for her clients’ events; she developed a wanderlust and found the most realistic way to make it happen for her.

For others with responsibilities or obligations beyond themselves at home, such as family or debt, it can be much harder telling their parents they are leaving, especially if it’s to gallivant around the world. It’s not surprising the privilege of travel is still considered to be in stark contrast to a more responsible and financially stable way of life.

However, in my half decade of roaming, I have met a number of individuals, men and women, who defy this stereotype.

Sierra Pooran, who is a first-generation Canadian, grew up surrounded by family in Toronto who migrated from Trinidad and Tobago. Growing up with a large sense of responsibility for her parents and siblings, Pooran felt bogged down and in danger of becoming burnt out like other women in her family. She spent the last three years teaching in Korea (we met working at the same school in Seoul) and she eventually decided the best thing for her was to go abroad to get teaching experience (her degree is in teaching). Now, 27, she has become financially independent and still manages to support her family in ways she couldn’t before. Pooran didn’t start traveling just because she had a passport and cash burning a hole in her wallet. And she did it in the face of cultural, class and gender stereotypes.

“I did have cousins who congratulated me but flat out said they would never be able to leave their families or had no desire to travel,” she recalled. “But at that point, I had already decided that traveling would make me a better person.” 

Do No Harm

A desire for meaningful travel and to create change by young people worldwide is illustrated by how Millennials choose destinations or spend their time abroad. The UNWTO/WYSETC reports how young people see travel as a part of their everyday lives, but the underlying reality is how this travel shapes or changes the places they visit.

When I began traveling, although only 19 years old, I thought I was fairly aware of the global environment compared to my compatriots — I read the news, had some international friends, and tried to stay conscious of the differences between the U.S., where I grew up, and developing countries. It really wasn’t until I started my Master’s in humanitarian action, well after I had traveled through parts of Europe, North Africa, and Southeast Asia, that I began to read and hear more about the ethics of travel, tourism and volunteering. I had grown up volunteering in the U.S. and Mexico with church and school groups, believing my services—whether cleaning up a community center or donating clothes to impoverished kids—to be inarguably good. Whether I was traveling to Egypt or Hong Kong or Sweden, I thought I couldn’t possibly do any harm as long as I didn’t give money to street kids (a basic lesson learned through movies like Slumdog Millionaire, as kids on the street are often being exploited by gangs or even family members) or preach Western values to people from other cultures.

Chloe Higgins is a 27-year-old aspiring writer from Western Sydney who has been traveling since she was 18, seeking out “moments between moments” in an effort to better see the world. She believes traveling and writing are one and the same in terms of providing a deeper understanding of the global environment and helping relay that understanding to her readers.

“I think as we move through the world, learning to see is kind of a really underrated skill and often overlooked,” she says. “When you start to unpack, you start to see every single piece that makes up a part of a picture has multiple meanings or multiple stories. I want to understand the culture, which I think is part of why I travel, but I think it’s something that takes a really long time, not just in terms of acquiring the knowledge but also acquiring the skills [to observe].”

But these controversies within youth travel and tourism are often overlooked or ignored aspects of the global travel industry, which is why it wasn’t until I was studying ethics for humanitarian aid and development that, even as a frequent traveler, I became aware of the potential consequences of my own ambitions to help the world.

According to the UN Environment Program (UNEP), up to 80 percent of money spent on travel in some destinations “leaks” out of the country to foreign-owned hotels, airlines, and travel companies. Tourism development can cost the local government and taxpayers much more than the upfront cost of a new road or airport – when money gets diverted to demands for tourism, locals can lose out on investment in basic services like health and education. Additionally, locals might be deprived of access to local resources with the increase in tourism — according to the Overseas Development Institute, a quarter of Boracay Island in the Philippines has been bought up by outside corporations, leading to a water crisis and limited infrastructure benefits, like roads, piped water, or clinics, for residents.

While many jobs stem from tourism (1 in every 12 jobs worldwide is tourism related), overdependence in countries with few other industries can lead to devastating effects when tourists stop arriving due to economic depression or natural disasters. Tourism can also create or proliferate dark markets, such as child labor, sex tourism and increased crime.

Higgins puts her finger on the problem of young travelers seeking out meaningful experiences only to realize it can often be flawed or insufficient, even doing more harm than good.

When she went to India to volunteer at a school, Higgins says she had a “full-on, really controversial, and naïve” experience. She wasn’t a trained teacher and had no experience working with kids. “The 18-year-old me was sort of thinking, ‘Oh, I’m volunteering, so therefore I’m making a difference and it’s a positive difference.’ And then I started speaking to people and reading more about these ideas and realizing that maybe [volunteering] is not always the best solution for a range of reasons. But for me it was a way to see a different culture and meet different people and, what I thought at the time, to help in some way whilst still having new experiences.”

Voluntourism, or volunteering for a short period abroad, is becoming a contentious issue as more people, such as Higgins, myself, and organizations are becoming increasingly aware of the dangers of enlisting young untrained workers to do skilled or complex work, such as working directly with vulnerable children in Kenya, building latrines in Haiti or working in clinics in Papua New Guinea. However, while governments and organizations campaign for more ethical tourism, the number of travelers worldwide will continue to increase and volunteer tourism is still a popular path. I like to think the growing attentiveness to these issues will only increase as more of us discover new places, meet locals and become more knowledgeable about our actions.

There is this complex continuum between the selfishness to go discover yourself abroad with an altruistic belief of doing something ‘good’ and the paradigm to do no harm.  It’s a side effect of an increasingly connected and global generation of young people eager to take on the world just because they can.

Following the Trends

Meeting people, immersing in culture, and posting it all online are staples of Millennial travel trends. The proliferation of online communities helps young travelers stake out the best destinations and accommodations and share how to avoid tourist traps, scams and unpleasant jobs or volunteer opportunities. Nicole Brewer, a 34-year-old English teacher in Oman and her friend, Renee Evans, saw the emerging use of online travel groups on Facebook and on sites like Couchsurfing and Lonely Planet, and capitalized on it as a way to share their own travel experiences, reviews, and advice, and to start a community of like-minded individuals. iLuv2GlobeTrot was founded in 2012 and has grown to more than 5,000 followers across social media.

ILuv2GlobeTrot and other platforms like it are helping connect those of us who are on similar journeys but otherwise wouldn’t cross paths.

Before I left for South Korea I was interested in knowing more about what my apartment might be like (as Korean-style apartments are known for being very small), what cell phone plan I should get, how I should go about buying household items and meeting other young people. Social media was ultimately how I discovered my Master’s program in humanitarian action and was the focus of my thesis on aid and media in disaster and is why I get hired (albeit temporarily) to work for humanitarian organizations needing to reach broader audiences.

Higgins attributes social media and the Internet to helping global citizens build networks and communities that span greater distances than communities built in the past.

Social media is a powerful influence on the travel industry. The UNWTO/WYSETC reports young people are often at the forefront of web innovation “because they are willing to cross boundaries and make new links.”

“It is definitely people’s global experiences and cultural exchanges that [have] had an impact on me,” Cummins said. “I realized that actually it was doable for me and I didn’t need to wait. I started following travel groups and I was like, ‘OK, where are they, what are they doing and what are their experiences like?’ [Social media] was my main access point.”

While I have felt a myriad of emotions traveling through Europe and Asia in the past five years, wondering where the end may be, or how I’ll afford my next ticket, or whether I’ll ever find a “real” job, most of my anxiety stemmed from the question of whether my experiences were valuable beyond the personal. I have met and connected with hundreds of other young people exactly like myself: yearning to be different, make a difference, and see different things. An adventure makes a great story, but would it get me a job or pay my bills? What I’ve found while wandering has gone beyond a standoff with some monkeys in Sri Lanka, or dancing with strangers at Oktoberfest, or snorkeling in Egypt; the experiences I’ve gained while traveling have opened my eyes to the often detrimental nature of global consumerism I would never have seen otherwise, the similarities between young people no matter where they’re from, and how to be independent, smart and strong even in the most daunting moments.

Despite the controversial issues related to tourism, travel won’t slow down and Millennials’ desires to see, learn, and grow will only increase. This applies to me as well; I can only hope that as I (finally) find a job in the humanitarian field, my experiences will inform the way I work and live and I can share the lessons I’m continually learning with the travel-loving communities of which I’ve become a part and which have additionally given me a place of belonging no matter where I am.

When asked what might bring her home, Cummins adds, “I’m not done.” She just landed in Vietnam and will explore the country for a month or two before she decides to grab her sack and move on to the next place.

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Brook duBois is a graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism and Ruhr-Universität Bochum and digital storyteller focused on humanitarian disaster and relief. She calls Texas home but can rarely be found there. Follow her on Twitter.