Worldpackers

I had heard of this app and website many times before using it, but I decided to take a leap of faith and trust it before my trip to Central America. I'm so glad I did. I volunteered at a Sea Turtle Preservation in Costa Rica, with a family in Guatemala, and at a hostel in El Salvador. This was my experience.

Before starting the decision process, I needed to become a member and make a profile. You pay $60 annually to apply anywhere. This $60 can be waived once you have received reviews from your volunteering hosts. Your profile will include education background, work and travel experience, other volunteer experience, skills, interests, and an about me section. You better believe I put my heart and soul into these answers. I left nothing out. Making sure every table my application came across would know exactly who I am and what energy I would contribute to their project. A good amount of the opportunities I applied for either responded to or accepted me- I'll dedicate this to my extensive details.

Next, I had to choose what type of volunteering I wanted to do and where. Before this trip, my mom had asked me to plan one of my international budget trips with her, so I decided I should invite her to volunteer with me at my first stop. She has an extreme love for sea turtles, which is what brought my search to Costa Rica, a country known for their animal and nature preservation. Costa Rica is also notoriously one of the more expensive Central American countries to visit. For this reason, almost all of the volunteering here costs a daily fee. This is for the maintenance of projects. If you do not wish to pay, do not look in Costa Rica. Once I decided on the location, I filtered my search to places that provide full accommodation and 3 meals a day. After this, only places with at least 4 stars and ample written reviews. Be careful with the review part; some show hundreds of reviews, but they are from outside applications. This means you can't view them on the Worldpackers site, and I never actually figured out where these mysterious reviews were from. Once I chose a place, I applied. Do not be fooled into thinking you need to only apply to one place, nor that you have an obligation to follow through if you're accepted by the host. Keep your options open and apply to many different opportunities. Once I was accepted, I received the WhatsApp number for the host and began communicating my questions and concerns. This is pretty much the main process I used to find reliable volunteering opportunities. If that's all you're looking for, you can stop reading. The rest of this will be specific feedback and experiences from each location.

After inviting my mom to Costa Rica, my grandpa got wind and decided he wanted to come too. This was after I was accepted and on board for a plus one with the first place I chose. When asking to include Gramps, they said that was not an option. The generous soul he was, then directed me to another conservation facility down the road that usually accepts more volunteers. After applying to the second place and explaining I'd like to bring my mom and my grandpa with me, they accepted, and everything was dandy. They then sent me a welcome document with preparation details, including a packing list, volunteer expectations, the main food we would be served, where to fly into, where to go after the flight, and how to arrive at the facility. These are all things you should make sure you know, especially if you go well off the beaten path, as we did for this trip. We flew into San Jose, took a domestic flight to Drake Bay, then had to have the facility order a local taxi to pick us up and drive 30 minutes to the camp. This was the easiest option. The other included a multi-hour bus ride plus a boat ride before the final taxi ride- totally around 8 hours after the original flight into San Jose.

How was our experience? Breathtaking, endearing, primitive, and soul-changing. We stayed in a very remote camp, at least an hour's walk from the nearest grocery store. And by grocery store, I mean a large convenience store. The camp was on the beach; it took about 3 minutes to get to the ocean from my bunk bed. Our beds were dorm-style, with 8 beds altogether in the same room. The room consisted of dirt floors and wooden beams, meaning your feet were never quite clean, and the bugs never fully stayed out. Our bathrooms were outside, our showers had cold water, and we hand-washed our clothes to then hang them to dry. We ate mostly rice, beans, and soup. The best part? The volunteer work. We would walk the beach at night searching for sea turtle tracks. We would either follow the tracks to find the nest or find the momma turtle herself and follow her. Once finding the nest, we would dig it back up and collect the eggs, or we would take the eggs directly from the mom if we found her while nesting. On camp, there was a hatchery, this is where the eggs would go. We would redig and replicate the nest. This was so we could facilitate the hatching process up until their departure into the ocean. We could keep poachers from digging them up and selling the eggs, and other animals from eating them. Once the baby turtles hatched, we would put them in a bucket and take them to the beach. This was the most immersive experience I have ever had in nature. Though I needed to give up some everyday luxuries to have this experience, I would do it again in a heartbeat. This was the most enriching and exciting time I've ever had in my life, and I am not saying that lightly. I also met the kindest people, who had travel advice, life wisdom, and unique personalities that I will never forget.

For my next opportunity, I chose to search in Guatemala. I have a Guatemalan friend, who was enough to choose there next. (Your decision-making process doesn't need to be from the soul; anywhere you go will give meaningful experiences.) Surprisingly, when searching in Guatemala, I didn't want to spend a month in the jungle as a hostel worker; I aimed for a more relaxed option. I decided to apply for an Au Pair position with a family in a very secluded Guatemalan city. The process with this opportunity was much different. I did not receive a welcoming pamphlet with instructions and expectations; I simply WhatsApp'ed the mother I'd be staying with and went from there. She asked about me and my desire to travel and volunteer with her, the things I liked, the things I could teach the kids, etc. In return, I asked nothing. I didn't know what to ask. Except when I was in Costa Rica talking about this next opportunity of mine. The other volunteers asked how I would arrive in this town that wasn't commonly known to tourists, if I would take public transport or a private car, and if I considered the dangers of Guatemalan public transport. Nope, I hadn't. I expressed these concerns to the mother, and she was unfazed. Confident, I would figure it out, and she would provide me with as much help as possible. She wasn't worried, so I didn't worry. My mom, however? She didn't love the idea of putting off these answers until closer to my time of travel. Long story short, it all worked out. She basically told me, this isn't America. I needed to ask the locals about bus schedules and time frames; I couldn't just call or look online. So that's what I did. With the help of the locals from Las Flores, Coban, and Guatemala City, I made my way to Cubulco to spend 2 weeks with this family.

Another unforgettable heart-changing experience. This family only spoke Spanish, and my Spanish skills were intermediate at best. Nonetheless, we communicated with our hearts (hands) when words wouldn't do. I had my own room and bed to sleep in. My tasks were to cook most of the meals for myself, her, and her two small children, ages 3 and 5. She provided all the groceries, and when she went out of town for two days, gave me cash if I wanted something different. I cleaned around the house, which included doing dishes and sweeping. And kept the kids occupied while she worked at her flower shop, connected to the front room of the house. This meant I was never fully alone with the kids. Easiest babysitting job I've ever done. Most of my time was spent chatting and playing with these kids; they didn't care how subpar my Spanish was. I met her parents, who generously invited me over for their weekly family get-togethers. She had another elder daughter, 11, who stayed with her grandparents more often, but loved to practice her English with me. It was the most wholesome experience I've ever had. This random family welcomed me into their home, treating me as one of their own. I didn't meet other travelers, or many other locals for that matter. But I did go on my daily runs, improved my Spanish by a long shot, watched Spanish cartoons, and made a ton of forts out of blankets and chairs. It was a unique experience, and I cried on the bus to my next destination. I will never forget the kindness I was shown here or the sweet little boys who will forever have a piece of my heart.

My next opportunity search was in El Salvador. I actually do not remember what sent my search to this small country, but I am grateful it did. I found a hostel looking for volunteers to run the front desk while bringing a fun energy to a very small town called Juayua. (Why-You-Ah) No, I could not pronounce this correctly until I actually arrived here. My application and acceptance were similar to Guatemala; I received a WhatsApp number and messaged the host directly with questions and concerns. I actually got cold feet a week before my arrival. Since my time in Guatemala had been very lonely at times (not being able to fully communicate and whatnot), I was nervous this next opportunity would be the same if there was not other volunteers. The host assured me that I would be in great company (then later informed me that he thought I would be super annoying because of all the questions I asked a week before arriving, LMAO), and I decided to stick with my original plan. This town was very known in El Salvador, so it was a fairly easy arrival. I came from the south coast of Guatemala, taking a shared bus all the way to Juayua, 8 hours long. I arrived and was welcomed an hour later into the Salvadoran culture with a night of beers at the hot springs. By hot spring, I mean it was a big hot tub outside of a resort-looking place. I stayed in a bunk bed in one of the dorm-style rooms. My time, meant to be only shared with one other volunteer, turned into two weeks of hanging out and getting to know four other volunteers. Two started as guests of the hostel and wanted to stay longer, so they asked if they could volunteer too. I spent my time working the front desk, meeting the hostel guests, and exploring El Salvador with my free time. It was laid back but also full of partying. In this small country, it felt like everyone knew everyone. I met a ton of locals, owners of neighboring hostels, everyone as friendly as the next. My time here was chaotic and sporadic, but I wouldn't change a thing about it. (Besides one drunken night that ended with one of the volunteers being kicked out. Maybe I would change that ending- jk it's all a part of the lore)

If you've made it all the way to the end, you've invested enough of your time already. Try something new. Take a chance. The Dutch guy I met in Iceland was the only testimony I needed to leap into Worldpackers. He promised me I wouldn't regret it. Now I'm promising you. I believe in you!