"Me preguntaba qué hora sería, oía el silbar de los trenes que, más o menos en la lejanía, y señalado las distancias, como de un pájaro en el bosque, me describía la extensióm de los campos desiertos, por donde un viandante marcha de prisa hacia la estación cercana, y el caminito que recorre se va a grabar en su, recuerdo por la excitación cercana, y el caminito que recorre se va a grabar en su, recuerdo por la excitaciónque le dan los l ugares nuevos, los actos desusados, la charla reciente, los adioses de la despedida que le acompañan aún en el silencio de la noche, y la dulzura próxima del retorno". (Por el camino de Swann, Marcel Proust)

¿Alguna vez has permanecido despierto durante la noche en un lugar nuevo y te preguntaste a ti mismo" ¿Qué estoy haciendo aquí? "En una extraña ciudad, un nuevo país, tal vez tu primera noche en la universidad. Nada es familiar: la habitación, la cama, los sonidos del exterior, las personas y los lugares a los que va a ver al día siguiente. Una experiencia inquietante. Tal vez este cambio no fue ideal después de todo. Frecuentemente tengo este pensamiento cada vez que estoy por subir a un avión. Podría estar en la comodidad de mi casa. ¿Por qué me estoy yendo?

Lo que llamamos choque cultural no es un caso de diferencias culturales, esta más relacionado a la pérdida de lo familiar. La popular comedia " The Big Bang Theory " tiene un protagonista, Sheldon, quien desesperadamente se aferra a las costumbres y lo conocido. Es obsesivo y lo encontramos gracioso, pero tal vez sólo por la extensión de su obsesión. Todos tenemos hábitos y encontramos consuelo en lo familiar. Interrupciones menores en nuestra rutina por lo general no son un problema, pero un viaje puede ser mucho más que una interrupción de menor importancia. Puede causar estragos en nuestro estado de ánimo.

Los viajes más satisfactorios no tienen nada que ver con lo familiar. Son viajes en los que se separan de la rutina, donde abrazar lo nuevo, lo diferente. Te sientes vivo, los momentos ya no se mezclan entre sí, tienes sentimientos encontrados y tienes muchas cosas corriendo en tu mente. Algunas tareas sencillas, pueden convertirse en dolores de cabeza, nada es tan fácil como lo fue de vuelta a casa. ¿Cómo reacciona usted va a determinar el éxito de su viaje . Por qué te escondes en tu habitación? Tomar el próximo avión a casa? Acampar en un cibercafé? Todas estas reacciones son más comunes de lo que se podrías imaginarte.

Inicie con una cita del gran novelista francés, Marcel Proust. Su trabajo gira en torno al papel de la costumbre y la interrupción. Y aunque su protagonista anhela la tranquilidad, que realmente cobra vida cuando hay interrupción. La creatividad nace de la interrupción. Así que mi consejo es que viajes! Permite la interrupción entrar a tu vida. La experiencia de la emoción que lo acompaña. No siempre es fácil ni cómodo, pero al final, el bien y el mal vivirá en su memoria como un momento en el que realmente se sentía vivo.

A recent incident in Nepal made me think of some of the airport scams I've seen over the years. But first, the incident. Last week, a Turkish Airways jet skidded off the runway at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport. (Read More). The airport was closed for 4 days because Nepal has neither the equipment nor the expertise to move an damaged airplane from the runway. Nepal has only one international airport, and very little other than tourism to generate revenue. One minor accident (there were no serious injuries) can cripple a country like Nepal. This is the cruel reality of "developing" economies (I've always found the term "developing" diplomatic, but inaccurate, when talking of countries where development may never come).

We had 3 participants stranded in Doha, Qatar, by this mess. 2 of them were actually in the air when their plane was forced to turn around! The third never got off the ground. Hmmm... 3 days in Doha without luggage (luggage cannot be accessed when it's checked through). Not fun!

When the first 2 girls finally got to Kathmandu, the airport was total chaos as 3 times the normal number of flights were coming in (see Sarah's blog). Getting luggage was out of the questions, so they left without it and headed to the ELI Abroad volunteer house (Sarah's picture on the right gives you an idea). The third participant had an even rockier arrival. When she was exiting the terminal in Kathmandu, someone from an unaffiliated guest house pretended he was there to pick her up. Unsuspecting, she was whisked off to a hotel, while our staff (and the two previous arrivals) looked for her. It didn't take long for her to begin to wonder why no other ELI volunteers were there. Fortunately, she was able to contact our coordinator and arrange to be picked up.

This is an ongoing issue at Tribhuvan Airport. The airport authorities don't care. I wouldn't be surprised if they get a kickback. This used to happen a lot in Accra, Ghana. Scammers are smart! What does it take? Pretty simple. You, the scammer, just look around to see what names are on signs and write the name on your own sign. If the victim sees your sign first, you're in business. Just remain vague and say "Yes, yes,yes!", and hurry them off to your hotel.

That is a little more sophisticated than the more common scam. As you exit the terminal, someone comes up, and before you can react, they've grabbed your suitcase and are hustling it off to a cab. You race after, but your luggage is being held ransom for an exorbitant cab fare. Ah, the joys of travel!

I haven't heard recently about the most notorious scam at Tribhuvan Airport. Visa on arrival has always been the most convenient way to enter the country, but what a racket. The guys who worked the visa desk would take your money, and if you had change coming they wouldn't mention it. They'd play dumb. If you asked for your change, they didn't have any - even if the person in front of you had paid with 50 one dollar bills. The only solution was to stand and watch until the next person paid using small denominations that would allow for you to get your change. Then, if you made a stink, you'd probably get it. I always said this was the best job in Nepal.

One smaller issue in Nepal is the cost of a photo for the visa. If you don't have one they'll gladly take one for you. The last time I was there, I think the price was $10. I just take a picture against a white wall and using photo editor I can fit 6 on a 4x6 picture. I get them developed for $.25. Then I'll always have extras when the need arises.

I've been taken once at an airport. And no, it wasn't in Nepal. it wasn't even in a developing country. It was in Ireland! I arrived early in the morning after an overnight flight from the States. I was taking the airport bus into town. You buy your ticket from a guy at the bus stop. I bought mine, but the guy engages you in conversation. This distracts you from the fact that he owes you change. When you're groggy after a long overnighter, you're an easy target for this. Well, I guess I can only speak for myself. I was definitely an easy target. I can't remember how much I lost, but I think it was about 20 Euro ($25 at the time). Oh well. Live and learn. If you travel, you are bound to run into these things. At the moment they might really irritate you, but hey, you've got a story for a future blog post!

By Kevin O'Neill

It's been 5 days since the earthquake of 7.8 magnitude hit Nepal. I was finally able to have a long conversation with Anish, our coordinator. His home, which is located near Bhaktapur, was destroyed by the quake. He has moved into a small house nearby. They do not sleep in the house. No one is sleeping indoors these days. Aftershocks continue to rock the region. A large one had struck a few hours before we spoke. No one in our Nepal family was injured in the quake, but the mental and financial scars will live on.

By Kevin O'Neill

There are some huge companies involved in the field of volunteer placement. I alluded to one in my last post. Today I was looking at the website of another and found the following text.

"Between 30 and 60 volunteers start on our program in Cambodia each month. What does this mean for you? More people to socialize and travel with, more people to meet from different cultures, more people to volunteer with, more projects to work on, more staff support, better infrastructure for volunteers and lower fees!"

Really? This is a plus? It depends on what you're looking for when you go abroad. I've become less and less interested in spending time with other travelers and more interested in spending time with locals. When I was in Phnom Penh, I ran into a volunteer from another organization who said she was living in volunteer housing with 60 volunteers. She wasn't complaning or praising though, just stating a fact. Here's the problem: when traveling becomes too easy, you might as well stay home. By hanging out with a large group of like-minded people, you are, in effect, clinging to the familiar, clinging to home. I've written about this in the past, but not in the context of the different types of volunteer organizations and companies out there. We have a few programs that have a little bit of this group setting, though not on the level of the ones I've mentioned! Here in our office, we think of these as good destinations for young, inexperienced, or timid travelers. Nothing wrong with that.

So big business volunteering can have a downside for some travelers, but for others it may provide a sense of security and a level of comfort that makes travel possible for those who aren't ready a more independent, immersion experience. There is, however, another serious pitfall to big business volunteering: artificial projects. When volunteering models itself after McDonald's, you have to make compromises to meet market demand. You also need to streamline the operation, controlling the product and eliminating unknowns. There has been a lot of talk in recent years about fake orphanages. They have always existed. You can find them in Dickens (see Nicholas Nickleby)! Formerly they were created to get money from donors or government agencies, but there is a new source of revenue: the unsuspecting volunteer. I was reading a volunteer horror story about an orphanage in Uganda that seems to fit this mold. The placement company (one of the biggest) says that they send about 300 volunteers a year to this destination. Many are there for orphanages. Supply and demand. Are there enough orphans? I'd give the link to this blog post that talks about it, but I can't be sure that the observations are legitimate and I don't want to spread falsehoods about a particular organization. Still, this is happening. We've seen fakes - one in Uganda in fact. We've had to discontinue working with some orphanages and children's homes because of questionable practices. Children are recruited by these homes. The more children they have, the more money they can make off donations, volunteers, and funding organizations.

I doubt that any of these corporate volunteer programs knowingly work with scam outfits, but demand creates this sort of thing. Orphanage homes are the most egregious example, but virtually all types of volunteering are suscptible to similar problems. We will never have the numbers that these big companies have, but we still need to monitor all of our programs to maintain their quality and legitimacy.

By Kevin O'Neill