List of web sites where you can find international opportunities!

This will be my small database of websites where you can find projects all around the world and I hope by time it will grow J Many of them I didn’t use but they look interesting, so here it is. And big thanks to everyone who contributed!

The web sites on the list will lead you to the volunteer projects, internships, cultural exchanges and many different projects. Some are long term, some are short, also I was trying to include as many free projects, but some of them are not... I hope you can find something interesting and good luck!   

Giwing Way - An open Platform for Opportunities to Volunteer Abroad: http://www.givingway.com/

Worldwide network of Art Residences:  http://www.resartis.org/en/

European Youth Portal - Information and oppportunities for young people across Europe: https://europa.eu/youth/EU_en

Database of LTV and EVS vacancies: http://www.youthnetworks.eu/SearchVacancy.aspx

FindEVS – one more database of EVS projects: https://findevs.com/

Scholarship in Indonesia - language, art and culture: http://darmasiswa.kemdikbud.go.id/

International Fellowship in Thailand – Peace revolution: https://peacerevolution.net/

Fighting poverty trough Volunteering – Asia and Africa: https://www.vsointernational.org/

AIESEC Paid Internships (but you need to pay to AIESEC around 200 Euros): https://opportunities.aiesec.org/programmes

Worldwide opportunities on organic farms WWOOF: http://wwoof.net/

Volunteering, working and cultural exchange around the world – Work away: https://www.workaway.info/

Volunteer work in exchange for free accommodation and food: https://www.helpx.net/

Live with a family in the country of your dreams and help them with childcare. Au Pair: https://www.aupairworld.com/en

Help to preserve Tibetan culture with Rogpa : http://www.tibetrogpa.org/home.php

Volunteer Latin America: http://www.volunteerlatinamerica.com/

Volunteers Base is a moneyless help exchange network: http://www.volunteersbase.com/

Help in Lake Bunyonyi Eco Village- Uganda: https://www.facebook.com/Lake-Bunyonyi-Eco-Village-899789693401228/

The NGO list: http://www.thengolist.com/

Join the fight against poverty as a volunteer in Africa or India (only for EU citizens) http://www.cicd-volunteerinafrica.org/

Mladiinfo is an initiative that helps young people fulfill their educational potential: http://www.mladiinfo.eu/#

Volunteering & Paid Work - NOMADS: https://www.facebook.com/groups/nomadsjobs/?notif_t=group_r2j_approved&notif_id=1488460998135404

Intern or volunteer abroad in 40+ countries: https://www.omprakash.org/

International Cultural Youth Excgange: http://www.icye.org/

P.S. Please, if you know any web site that I didn’t include here, post it in a comment and I will put it on the list. Thanks! J

Into the mountains - AuPair Italy and Switzerland

Huh, finally, it was not easy but I reached the present tense with this blog J

So after my Portugal experience my future didn’t want to be planed by me again and my big trip to Brazil was canceled, for good or for bad I will never know. I started to panic in Serbia without job, money and any plan B, but at the end everything went well.

Since my budget was really low and I had to start having some income I needed something fast and close, and I found it. Yes I had idea to find a job in Serbia and stay there some time, prepare for some long project but then I realize that won’t make me happy and I have to continue moving. And in few weeks I was on 16 hours bus ride to Italy.

So I started applying on many web sites and soon I found the Au Pair with a couple of traveling musicians and a kid. First we were in very north of Italy and now in Switzerland. Au Pair is web site where you can find families that need help with their kids, like babysitting, some are single parents, sometimes is one kid and sometimes more, and they will provide you with food, accommodation and pocket money (that will be enough to travel a bit). The family I’m staying with is really nice, they take good care of me and the kid is easy going, also I have plenty time for myself. I even finally started to write this blog J I did met some people that were not so happy with their host families, so take good care where you are going, you will spend a lot of time with this people and only way to know more about them is to ask, so have a long Skype call and make sure you are similar in some ways so you will have topics to talk about. Even my stay with this family will be short (2 months) I can say it’s new and nice experience.

My struggle here is that I’m now in small and very tourist village in mountains of Switzerland. Yes, the view is beautiful but there is not much things I can do on low budget, and also it’s really hard to meet someone since there is no locals. Advice : don’t go to Switzerland on low budget, one hour train ride (go and back) is 54 Euros, and ski pas and equipment for one day is around 100 Euros, so save the destination for the time when you will have some savings. But even this is good because I have time to work on things that I usually don’t, look for my next project, watch my favorite movies 12^th time and read all my books that I have with me. And at least take a long walks in beautiful Swiss mountains…

“because he had no place he could stay in without getting tired of it and because there was nowhere to go but everywhere, keep rolling under the stars...” Jack Kerouac, On the Road

Don’t give up on what you want to do if some things don’t go by plan, but change the plans, there is no situation that you can’t turn it in a good one. There is so much possibilities in this world with technology and internet and we are lucky to live in this time when we can have freedom. Ok not 100% but 100 years ago people couldn’t live a life like me. Let’s just hope we will not destroy this beautiful planet but continue to explore it J

Magic city - Work away, Lisbon

After UK I didn’t want to go to Serbia yet because I had a lot of time until my next project so I found work away in one hostel in Lisbon.  I stayed there 6 weeks and even was short time I learned a lot and had amazing time.

Work away is web site (https://www.workaway.info/ ) where you can find many volunteer opportunities all around the world; you need to pay to the web site around 20 Euros as I remember. for use it for one year. Most opportunities are to get accommodation and food in exchange for 20-25 hours of work per week. What is good about work away is that is very flexible so you can go when you want and stay how long you want (of course you need to plan it with the host).

I was not very smart with this one, because I went to the place without any comments from previous volunteers and from beginning was a bit weird but I did it anyway. The hostel owner didn’t understand what volunteering means and made us work too much and was not nice to us. It finished with me and one more girl left and report him. The work away took it serious and they closed his profile so he can’t take more volunteers.  Latter I met one girl that did many work aways and she told me that this happens a lot in hostels and that the ones out of city worked better for her. What I think is just that is necessary to take good care where you are going, read the comments and speak with the host.

The sad thing that I felt on my own skin is that people start to use volunteers for cheap or free labor. They don’t want to pay workers so they make a project just to save money without understanding what volunteer means. Also there is more and more so called volunteer projects that you need to pay to participate. They start to look for people with special skills or from certain countries and for me this is nonsense. Internet made it so easy to advertise and there is so many web sites that have no guarantee where you are going.

I learned this true experience, more than once, in life like this we need to take risk, we can give our best to avoid bad situations but they will happen anyway. What we can do is take the best from it and learn. My stay in Lisbon was more good than bad, other volunteers that stayed with me in hostel were wonderful people and Portugal is magic country! If you stay in Lisbon look for artistic areas, flea markets, alternative places to eat and beautiful views J  Also its cheap in compare with other EU countries and with so many things to see and do.

“Control is an illusion” Mr.Robot

We can have as many plans as we want and organize, research, prepare but we can never have a control on what happens. We are dust in universe and have no influence on what will happen. So take the best from bad experience and make it good, don’t cut the tree because one apple was rotten. I will for sure use work away again but this time with more care, and even then I am not sure how it will be.

Following the sun - Wild traveling UK

What else I did in UK? Well, I traveled! I went close places, more far places, by bus, hitchhiking, by boat, by foot… I will not speak about all the places I went because there is many, but only my favorite ones J

One of those is for sure Stonehenge summer solstice festival . This festival is every year  and  it is the only day in the year when you can actually go inside the Stonehenge and its free! Many people gather to sing, dance, enjoy under the open sky and wait for the sunrise. It is not allowed to take in alcohol, tents or sleeping bags and they search everyone and will make you leave big bag packs and these things in left luggage office. Anyway if you are smart you can get away with few beers ;) The atmosphere was amazing and it’s definitely on my list of best days in UK! If you would like to know more you can check this link: http://earthsky.org/earth/gallery-the-summer-solstice-as-seen-from-stonehenge

The longest (and the best) trip I did there was to Scotland. If you are in UK, and also some other EU countries you should use mega bus (https://www.megabus.com/). It is hard to believe but I bought ticket from London to Glasgow for 1 pound! Yes, one pound, and also there were other destinations for also one or few pounds, so use it J Also amazing thing about Scotland is that wild camping is allowed and (at least for me) the hitchhiking was easy, but out of big cities, and people were friendly, one wonderful woman even welcomed us to sleep at her home! In 12 days, we spent every night in different place and made a circle from Glasgow to Edinburg (definitely worth of visiting in August during the festival) true Cairngorms national park, all the way to Inverness and back to Glasgow next to the Loch Ness, and true Loch Lomond national park. We just paid for bus from Glasgow to Edinburg and then to Sterling (was about 10 pounds in total) and airbnb in Glasgow, Edinburg and Inverness. I tried to find couch surfing but I didn’t have any luck…  So, Scotland is perfect for low budget traveling, just bring warm and waterproof clothes and a lot of things against mosquitoes or how they call it midges!

My favorite place in England is definitely Isle of Weight where you can walk on cliffs next to the ocean, also camp and if it’s summer go for a swim! There is a day ticket for all the buses and they have discount for small groups, but I would recommend 2 or 3 days for visiting this island.

Also Ryan air will take you to Dublin for few pounds, just make sure if you need visa, I did even that I had residence card for UK, but it was free J

I could write a blog only about traveling in UK and Ireland but I won’t (sorry), so good things to know : Airbnb will be cheaper than a hostel if you are not traveling alone, buses can be really cheap and there is many places you can wild camp, we were told by locals that even if it’s not allowed in that area only thing can happen is that someone ( or police) ask you to move, but it never happened to me, many museums are free ( especially in London) and if you forget to pay your ticket in the train and controller comes you will just pay the ticket ;)

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimension” Oliver Wendell

Open your mind, accept what is in front of you, if it’s different that you know or how you are it doesn’t mean it’s wrong. Try to understand, and even if you can’t, just take it how it is. Listen to the people that you meet on the road, even if you don’t like them, but listen to them with your mind open and maybe they will teach you something…

Different way of living being outdoor instructor - Long term volunteering UK

After US, some time in Serbia and Italy it was time for good old volunteering again. I found a project to go to England for 8 months and be an outdoor instructor. I will not advertise the organization since I was not happy with management and how they work with internationals but this is irrelevant for this story.

Being an outdoor instructor is amazing opportunity to travel the world and do nice work, and everyone can do it, you just need enthusiasm and basic English! Activities can be different, paddle sports, high ropes, survival activities, simple games and it is usually with kids, young people but also families and adults. There is many centers all around the world and some are not asking for any experience and will give you all the training, once you are trained in paddle sports (kayaking, canoeing, sealing…) and high ropes ( Rock climbing, abseiling, zip wire …) depends what they have on site you can find amazing opportunities. This is seasonal job so you can go every season in another country. The biggest organization is Outward bound  (but they will ask for experience) and there is many smaller ones all over the world, on all continents, everywhere! You can try it and if you will like it and wanted to do it for some time it won’t feel like a job and some will pay you fair money. Advice from my experience and stories from other people that did this kind of projects is that every center is different so before you go you need do good check, ask them everything, find someone who was there and ask for their experience, since usually the organization will provide you with accommodation and food this will be important, also working hours and what is their plan for you (what training you will get).  And if you will love it and find yourself to want to do this for many years with time you will get promotions and grow!

During my stay in UK being an instructor I enjoyed doing activities and I met some wonderful people. Also I traveled around a lot and spent time in nature and that will be the next story. What was new for me in this experience is living on site; yes I lived with many people before, different cultures and everything. But this was different, we were in the middle of nowhere, good 20min walk to the train station or store and pub (and that is all that this small village have). I’m not saying it’s bad thing to be out of civilization for some time, but it can be difficult, living in I can say community, every day with the same people, same routine, eating a lot of potatoes. Even If I had experience in similar projects I was struggling, this was different, when you do activities all day you get tired and you are not in the mood to go somewhere if you need to walk, take a train and do the same back. So, I spent a lot of time on site, but used every single day off to go somewhere! Also the English weather didn’t help with melancholic mood spreading on site. But as always, there are good days and bad days!

What I learned during this time is that happiness is inside us. If we are truly happy we will find happiness anywhere but if we are not happy with our self we can go to the end of the world and we will still not find it.

“Happiness is a choice, not a result. Nothing will make you happy until you choose to be happy. No person will make you happy unless you decide to be happy. Your happiness will not come to you. It can only come from you” Ralph Marston

American dream - From east coast to the west and back

How to put more than a year in one story? Challenge accepted!

So, I came to Las Vegas (for month or two, just for fun) where I stayed almost a year. I can guess what you are thinking, probably I was gambling, party every day, go totally crazy, spend all my money, finish on the street and got stuck there. Well it didn’t happened, yes we did go to many crazy parties and gamble a bit, but I will not talk about that, because you know how they say: what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!

Many people have totally wrong picture about LV, they think it’s only the lights, casinos, basically Strip, but actually that is only one street and rest of it it’s normal city where people live not that crazy life. It’s a city where is cheap to live and easy to make some money. Rent is really low in comparing with other cities in US, it has good public transportation, and you can find a job in approximately 2 days. Also if you meet some promoters you can get in clubs for free, sometimes even get coupons for free drinks. So Viva Las Vegas! And there is many things you can do not related with Strip, Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam are really close and also there are lakes and mountains to go hiking and enjoy the nature.

What is also good is that you can go to California by bus (Greyhound is really affordable). After about one year in Vegas, my friend and I decided to quit our jobs go on a trip to California and move to another city.  The plan was to go to LA where we had a friend, we also went to San Diego (which is so beautiful) and then to San Francisco where we booked a hostel. Before you book the cheapest hostel it is good to check if it’s in a good/safe area, what we did, but at the end we booked the cheapest one anyway. Nothing bad happened but latter some people told us that the area is called zombie area, and we didn’t get it until we walked there at night (there was so many homeless people) but they were friendly and we went home just fine J Anyway check it and go to safe area, US is not that safe as Europe and you don’t need to get stabbed for your wallet or something like that, I’m not saying that you should go to hotel or stay just in center but it’s good to have all the info because I heard some people were not so lucky as us. This basically stands for all America. Also be very careful with buses, at least for us it was not very pleasant since most of the people there have cars and go by airplanes, so don’t put nice clothes and take care of your belongings. I’ll say it again: do it, but do it smart!

Next destination was Denver, Colorado. Personally, not my favorite. Yes, it’s surrounded by beautiful mountains, its sunny (more or less) and marijuana is legal. But, here comes but, you need a car, its huuuge, and it’s really hard without a car, also it’s cold and has big changes in temperature, maybe you will go out in the morning in winter jacket but come home in T-shirt. But totally worth of visiting, and if you are there, Boulder is on the must list! Also you can visit Stanley hotel and maybe get some inspiration to write a horror story J As you can imagine I didn’t stay long, but also I decided it’s time for me to go back to Europe.

Last part of my American chapter was going by train from Denver to New York. It doesn’t sound but it’s actually a great idea. The train was amazing! You can make a bed from a seat, there are very few people, there is a bar and a panoramic coach and you can drink some coffee or beer and look around or just comfortably sleep. It would be a bit too much to spend almost 2 days in train so I made a stop in Chicago to visit my friend and then went to New York to get on a plain back to Serbia.

“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there” Lewis Carroll

Sometimes is just good to take what is offered to you, it doesn’t have to be your plan or your dream, just an open possibility. Maybe it will take you to amazing places that you will never think of on your own.

Across the ocean - work&travel USA

This is a story how I went to America with plan to stay 4 months and came back year and a half later. I went to USA with work&travel program, this program is very popular among students in Balkan countries. It lets students to go and work in USA or Canada during a summer break. It is a bit expensive to go but it’s also easy to earn money back with the job there.

Because I did it after my last year of university, and gave all the exams after I got visa, I was thinking that I will maybe stay a bit longer but then come back to Europe, travel a bit more and  do the master studies, find a job, have a “normal” life. But it never happened, 3 years latter I’m still traveling and want to stay this way as long as I can.

My work&travel destination was Ocean City, Maryland and I think it’s a perfect destination for this kind of project, there were more international students then locals, and it was party every day. I was working in amusement park, job was boring but it wasn’t too bad. Only problem was that it didn’t feel that much like America because all the people we met were from our neighbor countries. What was good about this experience is that I was on my own, ocean away from my family, earning my money, paying bills, first time I was totally independent but also free. Then my phone broke and only way I was communicating with Europe was when my friend gives me her phone to send an email to my mother. I used it as an excuse and tried to prolong the time before I buy a new one, it felt good this new life. Even they were paying us minimal wage we had enough to live good and even save something.

Then the time came to go home, season was over and my friend asked me to go to Las Vegas with her. I wanted to go and stay month or two before I come back home. So, we decided to extend our visa, here comes the advice. Don’t, but don’t stay illegal in USA, if you are on J1 visa it’s so easy to get 6 more months of tourist visa and you can do it online. When you apply you get into the process that’s 3-4 months and then you get your extension, so that is 9-10 months, and then you can do it one more time. I don’t know the web site, but if you need it you can easily Google it. Long live the Google! <3

If you are not sure what to do with your life, or even if you are, take a break one year to travel, be independent, feel how it is to do simple jobs, enjoy the freedom far away from your home, learn a new language, eat ice cream for diner and leave a mess in your room, drink too much and come home in the morning, fall in love 3 times for one summer, simply do whatever you want, all those thing that your family and friends told you not to do but you wanted it. Do it for yourself because how Mark Twain said “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did so. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” But at the same time be smart and be safe J