Send Erin, the Epicurean Traveler, to volunteer in Peru!

Erin Klema Start Date: Aug 12, 2015 - End Date: Oct 10, 2015

My Travel Story

by: Erin Klema Start Date: Aug 12, 2015 - End Date: Oct 10, 2015
Hola,

I'm Erin Klema, a travel blogger, who is traveling to Peru from Aug. 28 to Sept. 18, 2015.

During the first portion of my trip, I'll be volunteering at an education center in Huaycán, networking with female travelers, and participating in cultural exchanges. This trip is a joint venture between Unearth the World and Wanderful. I've provided some information about these amazing organizations below.

The latter half of my trip I'll be touring the cities and sights with Contiki to gather tons of blogging material for The Epicurean Traveler and writing and photography material for future professional endeavors. I'll be sightseeing in Lima, taking a train through the Andes to Machu Picchu, boating across Lake Titicaca, and experiencing a truly once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

What I'll Gain From This Trip
Greater cultural understanding by living in and assimilating myself in the local community of Huaycán, a desert-like area on the outskirts of Lima
Meaningful connections with other female travelers and bloggers on the Wanderful-UTW trip
Unique opportunity to empower women and children, a cause this former Girl Scout cares about deeply
Knowledge of Peruvian cuisine, which I'll surely write about extensively on my food-focused travel blog
Personal growth by pushing myself outside my comfort zone -- speaking a foreign language, experiencing South America for the first time, eating foods that are new to me, traveling solo (but within a group), and participating in some perhaps physically-tough (for me) adventures

What I'm Most Excited For On This Trip
Cooking a meal for the local women in Huaycán
A round-table discussion with the local women
Teaching English to and interacting with the local teens
Eating ceviche in Lima, the culinary capital of South America
Creating relationships with my fellow volunteers/travelers/bloggers
Visiting Machu Picchu!
Seeing my first volcano, plus one of the world's deepest canyons, the Andes, and Lake Titicaca

About Unearth the World

Unearth the World (UTW) is a social enterprise that plans personalized and meaningful volunteer travel for groups and individuals. UTW strives to promote cross-cultural learning and elevate social consciousness through responsible volunteer exchange programs. UTW acts as a matchmaker between travelers and our international nonprofit partners to allow people to give back while they travel.

Unearth the World was founded by a husband - wife team, Mike and Kathryn Pisco - after their own personally transformative international experience. They quit their jobs in 2013 to travel the world doing a mix of personal travel and volunteer work. Despite all of the amazing travel experiences, the volunteer projects were the clear highlights of their journey. Volunteering abroad allowed them to travel more like locals, form lasting relationships and positively contribute to the communities visited. But, they also recognized that the current volunteer travel industry is flawed and lacking financial transparency, a focus on the local communities, and volunteer preparation and support. UTW exists to allow others to experience the amazing aspects of volunteer travel while avoiding the problems.

About Wanderful

Wanderful is an international community of adventurous, independent, globally minded women who travel. Wanderful's mission is to connect women travelers together by empowering them with the tools they need to go abroad and facilitating a trusted network that can help guide them in their journeys.

Wanderful believes travel is the key to global understanding and the Wanderful community provides a safe and reliable forum for women to share their travel experiences, ask questions and establish friendships both on and off the web. The Wanderful community values adventure, world citizenship and sisterhood. The organization's goal is to create a strong network of women that can connect with Wanderful anywhere in the world.

Thank You For Your Contribution

Every $50, $20 or $10 really helps me to fund this trip. It's a wonderful opportunity for me to grow personally and professionally and to give back while learning about another country and its culture. I truly appreciate your support.

Thank you,
Erin

Updates

1

  • Three Days Until Peru!

    Volunteering in Peru involves a lot of planning ahead of time.

    These are just a few of the tasks I've had to tackle over the past couple months to gear up for this trip: learn basic Spanish (still working on this one), research Peruvian food, culture, climate and travel tips; book airfare and hotel for solo travel; get four vaccinations; figure out voltage conversions and purchase an adaptor; get a background check since I'll be working with minors; and now, the most difficult task of all, packing everything I'll need into a backpack.

    Always be prepared is my motto when it comes to travel, so we'll soon see if all this planning pays off!

    - Erin

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