ROAD MONKEY
A former New York Times Iraq war correspondent formed Road Monkey in 2008 as an alternative way to travel off the beaten path. His trips are adventure excursions (2009 offerings include biking through Vietnam with days of service work at an orphanage for children born with HIV, and climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro with project efforts to build a clean water system and do local school improvements) with a great get-your-hands-dirty service element built in. Travel groups are kept small and projects are in partnership with local community organizations so efforts and energy are not diluted through lots of middlemen. The founder, Paul von Zielbauer, leads each expedition personally and has a refreshing “We are explorers on a journey, not tourists on a schedule” philosophy. Participants are asked to fund-raise (US$500 tax deductible donations from your own social/work network) as a contribution for the community partner organizations in the destinations.
I would do his Tanzania ADVENTURE PHILANTHROPY trip in a heartbeat.
Shall we plan to meet there?
Change by Doing 