Frommer's 500 Places Where You Can Make a Difference [Paperback]

The recent rise in interest of holidays that involve charity work makes this book (or one like it) something of an obvious choice for a travel-related publisher. Frommer's 500 Places Where You Can Make A Difference has some utility of a sort in providing a starting point for people interested in using their spare time to humanitarian ends. But it's a very weak start.

This book has some serious flaws. Among these are a rather meagre look at the actual benefit of spending one's time performing good deeds, both for the traveller and for the presumed recipient. Many of these programs are expensive, and it's rarely (if ever) made clear how much of the money actually goes to the "right" place. I've done a lot of traveling in odd places, and I know for sure that spending $3000 for a week or two to teach English in a very inexpensive place isn't doing anyone much good, unless the great bulk (like 80% of more) is actually going to the supposed beneficiaries, and in a beneficial way. Is it? Can't tell from this book.

The book also tends to romanticize these projects and their likely results. Many of the countries listed would take a few weeks of visiting before you'd even have a sense of bearings; it's not likely you'd accomplish much of anything in a week or two. The contexts are misleading - no, you won't really be "Hunting Vlad the Impaler" in Romania. I've spent a lot of time in Eastern Europe (for example), and I've spent as little as an hour or two in a village before being asked to consider teaching English there, with food and board paid (plus a little for extras) . . . so it seems crazy for me to think one should pay $2500 for the privilege of doing the same for a period as short as two weeks.

There is little real information on each program (less than two-thirds of a page, on average) and the listings are geared more to programs that sound good, rather than being the most needed. If you're the sort of person who wants to make a difference, can afford thousands of dollars, and only has a week or two . . . then go somewhere for a cheapish vacation and donate the money you save to a credible program. Or structure things so that you can take a half-year and go somewhere where you really can have an effect, because you will have put the time in. A visit to the relative "region" section of Lonely Planet's "Thorn Tree Forum" and a simple query is a much better means of finding programs where you can help. Then you can donate the $20 this book cost somewhere better, too.

I am not a big fan of Frommer's but the topic of this book intrigued me so I decided to give it a shot. I was a bit skeptical at the start, as a few of the first suggested activities felt more like "eco-tourism" (with the emphasis on TOURISM) than grandiose ways to save the world. Not that there is anything wrong with eco-tourism, but at least as I think of it, I see it as more the avoidance of a negative (i.e. "leave no footprint behind!") rather than the creation of a positive as this book claimed in the introductory notes was its mission. However, as I continued to read, I became more and more interested and amazed by the suggested activities, and convinced that yes indeed, these are places and actions where one really CAN make a difference in the world.

I love travel, but had never thought of doing many of things suggested in this book, largely because I had thought of them requiring a larger time commitment than most of us would consider reasonable. That is, most people can't take a year or two off to save the whales or feed the starving in India without serious negative consequences for their own life or career. As idealistic as many of us are, pragmatic constraints often come to bear. But one of the things the reader will quickly note about this book is that many of the suggested activities have a duration of a week or two, which is often a much more manageable amount of time. Many of the activities cost a good deal of money to engage in ($100+/day), which on the one hand goes to a good cause, but on the other can quickly make a large dent in ones savings given that travel to many of these locales is not cheap in itself. But many are not so expensive, and others are "free" in return for a hard day's work, meaning that one could live for several weeks or several months in an exotic locale for nothing more than the price of a plane ticket.

This book is nicely organized as well: not by location, as one might expect from a travel guide, but by theme (animal welfare, teaching children, etc.) which is helpful. If you are like me, you will find yourself naturally gravitating toward certain types of activities more than others, which means that some chapters will be more engaging that others on a personal level. Of course, this book is only a starting point, but that is the point: to raise awareness and spark the imagination. After reading this book, if you are left thinking "wouldn't it be great to do (activity X) in (country Y)?" chances are you can find a way to do this, through a short look around the internet or at the web sites of the specific organizations mentioned here even if it's not specifically mentioned in the book.

"Making a difference" is a noble cause, but it can sometimes sound too overwhelming to be attainable by the common man or woman without oodles of disposable time or money. Yet, this book provides a large number of specific ways in which making a difference really is possible. And of course, although this book focuses mostly on exotic locales, many ways of making a difference can be done right in one's own community. I went into this book slightly skeptical, but emerged thinking of ways I too could make a difference either through one of the programs mentioned in this book or through other means. Much of travel is done to benefit one's own wants and needs. This book does not criticize that perspective, but points out a way in which travel can help others as well.

A review of 500 places where you can vacation to make a difference. The truth in reviewing would be found only after arranging vacations with the guide, and I cannot do that. Chances are the information will age rapidly. However this is a great first step for those of us who would like to do good during our times off, but who have no idea where to start.

The listings range broadly, from digging up dinosaur fossils in the National Parks to rebuilding homes of the elderly in Cambodia. You can help in HIV programs in Cameroon or guide tours in English at X'ian. Renovate homes in West Virginia or clean up beaches in Galapagos. Establish libraries in Nepal or schools in Jamaica.

The book's organization is by type of opportunity rather than geographically, which may be more useful for dreaming than actually planning a trip. Topics include Animal Welfare, Working with Children, Teaching, Scientific Research, Healing the Environment, Building Community, Health, Teaching through Sports, Bridging Cultures, Crossing Generations, Special Events, Getting Political, Spiritual Service and opportunities for people with special skills like medical professionals.

The most difficult thing about the book is the lack of contrast between the awful red ink that summarizes each opportunity and the cheap paper which makes the summaries unreadable. Now I have no problem with using cheap paper on a guide which has a limited time span, but this is difficult physically to read. One hopes that in future editions they go to brown or blue instead of red ink.