PAY IT FORWARD TRIPS

What I love about the Pay it Forward concept is how it changes people. From the moment you take that first selfless step to help another person you set off a chain reaction that days, months and years later continues to impact lives. Here’s one incredible example…

This website and blog is all about Paying it Forward and looking into different volunteer vacations right here in the U.S., and across the world and sharing personal stories from volunteers about how their experience changed their lives. Erin Hempen, shown here cradling a child in Africa, shares her story about how helping other children, has made her a better mom, wife and friend.     

I met Erin in Malawi, Africa, a country with more than one million orphans. We were both volunteering with a great volunteer vacation organization called Ambassadors For Children. It was Erin’s second trip to Malawi but you could tell talking to her for even a few seconds that it wouldn’t be her last. Sure enough Erin’s getting ready to go back to Malawi again soon so before she travels I asked her to share her thoughts about how her volunteer vacations have made a difference in her life and her future plans.

By: Erin Hempen

“As Winter ends and Spring starts to emerge I again find myself lucky enough to be able to start planning my next trip to the place that changed me so much. There won’t be any preschool carpools, no internet, no smart phone, no reality TV, no dinners to prepare for my children and husband, no toilets to scrub, no laundry to sort…and although while I’m away I will miss those things terribly, I know the journey I’m about to take will be filled with adventure and growth.

Three years ago as a wife and stay home mother I felt this overwhelming need to step away from my life and experience something different. Something that would hopefully bring some peace into a life that had become so chaotic.

Not only did those things happen with my first volunteer trip to Malawi, Africa, but what also happened was that my life took on a new course. One that was not only filled with the joy of being a mother and wife, but also the joy of having a new family of people and children enter my life.

I became renewed and replenished simply from traveling to a place that allowed me to serve others. I was blessed to experience a new culture and was educated about the needs, hardships, and joys that the people of Malawi have. Over the course of my visits to Malawi I realized that not only was I thankful that I had been given the chance to experience such a wonderful place, but I would forever be drawn back again and again and again.

This year the trip will be different for several reasons. The biggest and most exciting is that I have been given the opportunity to share the love I have for Malawi with others. I get to go on this trip as a group leader and bring people to Malawi who have never been and encourage them to have their own amazing an experience. I get to introduce a new group of volunteer travelers to the joys and hardships that Malawians face every day.

Ambassadors For Children (a non-profit volunteer travel company) has asked me to lead not one, but two trips this year to Malawi. Both of these trips will be filled with volunteer work, sightseeing, and experiencing the amazing culture that Malawi has. 

My heart is always heavy when I leave my family to travel to Malawi, but I know what is waiting for me is something so wonderful and so fulfilling I almost can’t imagine my life without it now. I am so lucky to have a husband and children who understand why I leave each summer for a few weeks.

I have a man who has no trouble stepping into my shoes and children who welcome the change of pace. I guess they also get a vacation…a vacation from Mom! Life is a little different for them when I’m away and they are given the chance to depend on a Dad a little more and strengthen their bond. Every year when I arrive home it seems we are all a little bit more relaxed and ready to face the rest of the year together.

I would encourage anyone who is ready for a life changing, mind altering, spiritual awakening to look into volunteer travel. You may find yourself surprised at the difference you can make in just a few weeks.

Ambassadors For Children offers short term trips all over the world, and although I am partial to Malawi any time you choose to spend your time loving, learning, and giving back you will find yourself coming home filled up in a way you never imagined.”

Erin’s Pay it Forward story is only just beginning. Stay tuned this website as we follow Erin’s journey and she shares her heartfelt experience in Malawi. She’s changing lives one child at a time. 

Now it’s your turn. Do you have a volunteer story you’d like to share or a question to ask? Just leave a comment here and I’ll get right back with you. We’re all in this journey together

For more on volunteering with Ambassadors for Children click HERE.

And for more on volunteer vacations you can check out my new book TRAVEL THERAPY: Where Do You Need to Go? and you can get $6 off the book and free shipping by clicking on the link at the top of this website. For more TRAVEL THERAPY trips go to www.traveltherapytrips.com.

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