15 Unforgettable Volunteer Travel Experiences

Volunteering abroad is one of the best ways to turn an ordinary travel experience into something life changing and unforgettable. There are endless choices when it comes to travel-related volunteering, but not all of them are created equal.

GoAbroad.com, one of the leading voices in the volunteer travel world, recommends making sure the opportunity you're considering meets a variety of criteria including having local community involvement, proven impact and affiliation with professional organizations. Here are some of the most noteworthy volunteer travel experiences to consider for 2018.

Gender inequality continues to be a dramatic problem in India. The 2015 Human Development Report listed India 130th out of 155 countries in the Gender Inequality Index. Volunteering Journeys Women's Empowerment experience allows travelers to spend time working in community centers teaching local women from slum areas skills such as English, health and well-being, computer operations and entrepreneurship.

SEE Turtles is a non-profit that's working to protect endangered turtles by offering conservation and volunteer trips in a variety of locations including Costa Rica, Belize and Cuba. The organization's Nicaragua Sea Turtle Volunteer Expedition takes travelers to a remote corner of the Central American country to do hands-on work with conservationists protecting hawksbills while also exploring a beautiful estuary. Trip profits save at least 100 hatchlings per participant.

Be part of the effort to bring sports and games to vulnerable children in Tanzania by volunteering with Naturally Africa. The project helps children from across Mwanza, getting them involved in activities that are more positive than those they may otherwise become caught up in. Volunteers work alongside locally trained coaches. In addition to coaching, you help plan and organize tournaments for the children.

A trip to Borneo is an experience of a lifetime, one that can be even more memorable when you spend some time assisting with an island coral conservation and diving project. Local coral reefs have been badly damaged over the course of 45 years of fish bombing, a destructive fishing technique. Volunteer manpower is desperately needed to help rebuild fish and coral habitats, which will increase the settlement of reef fish juveniles.

The Cusco region of Peru is a famous stopover for travelers en route to Machu Picchu. But Love Volunteers also offers visitors to the city an opportunity to provide much-needed support and assistance to children and young adults who are mentally disabled or deaf. Volunteers work to support programs that are severely understaffed and underfunded, helping to teach children and assist teachers in the classroom.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Laos' ancient city of Luang Prabang is a fascinating place to visit. One of the top volunteer opportunities here, offered by GVI, involves working with Buddhist novice monks, teaching them English. Volunteers work at Wat Siphoutthabat School, assisting the school's two English teachers. When not teaching, volunteers can explore the region, take rides on the Mekong River, visit the Pak Ou Caves, (which house thousands of Buddha images), or spend time at the Royal Palace Museum.

One of Africa's greatest attractions, Victoria Falls is a popular tourist area on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. For those who want to do more than take in the spectacular falls, International Volunteer HQ offers an opportunity to volunteer on a private game reserve in the area, helping with conservation management activities and research. The reserve is home to lion, leopard, elephant, and rhino and serves as an intensive protection zone for the critically endangered black rhino.

Many under-resourced communities around the world lack quality healthcare facilities and health education. Working with Cross Cultural Solutions, volunteers can help support healthcare campaigns designed to address vision, dental, sanitation needs. The organization will be hosting trips in 2018 to Morocco, Ghana, India and Costa Rica.

Chiang Mai, a mountainous province in northern Thailand, is one of the country's most popular tourist destinations thanks to its natural beauty, historic temples and hiking opportunities. While there, travelers can also work with elephants that were once used in the tourist industry. Volunteers assist with the elephants' rehabilitation and also critically important, help the elephant keepers and other villagers establish alternative livelihoods.

Travelers can have an immediate impact on impoverished parts of Lima, Peru by assisting with construction and renovation projects. The work is focused on the homes of underprivileged families in Pachacutec, a community on the outskirts of Lima, and in orphanages and other community buildings within Lima. Families in these areas often live in makeshift homes and lack the money to complete much-needed improvements and repairs.

Spend anywhere from two weeks to three months working with GoEco in Phang Nga, Thailand educating local villagers, hotel workers, dive shop owners and others about environmental issues and how to avoid destroying coral reefs, fish and turtle populations. You will also be encouraging sustainable economic ventures. Local coastal and marine ecosystems in the area are being damaged by economic pressures and natural destruction.

Travelers flock to Cambodia thanks to the beauty of its beaches, jungles and rivers, not to mention Angkor Wat, one of the planet's most stunning archaeological sites. ELI Abroad offers a variety of fascinating volunteer opportunities in the country, including working with disadvantaged women in Phnom Penh by volunteering with a local NGO that strives to empower those in the city's poorest communities. The grassroots NGO offers training, education and microfinance programs. Volunteers help monitor and evaluate microfinance workshops and prepare training workshops.

Nepal is still working to recover from the devastating earthquake the impacted the country in 2015. Through Volunteering Journeys, travelers can help with that effort. This project, based in rural Nepal, brings together students, career breakers, family volunteers and people of all ages. Time will be spent working with the local Nepali school community, helping to rebuild schools destroyed by the disaster.

Just two decades ago, Ethiopia was devastated by massive famine and various violent conflicts that left hundreds of thousands of children in difficult circumstances. That fact combined with the onslaught of HIV/AIDS has left many children on their own. There is a tremendous need for volunteers to work in day care centers and kindergartens around the capital of Addis Ababa. Volunteers can work during summer vacation, on a career break or even on an extended vacation.

Help families suffering from food insecurities and support the Tel Aviv Department of Welfare and Social Services by volunteering at a food distribution center. The facility provides bi-monthly food parcels to more than 300 needy families. The center relies on volunteers to help prepare and deliver the food to families in the area.