drwisetravel.com

I’ve been involved in travel medicine for more than 25 years now. During that time, I have seen many changes. Changes in where people go …and where they don’t go, and more importantly why they go.

As a kid, my parents took me exclusively to destinations within driving distance – Ottawa, Cleveland, New York, Detroit. We saw the Parliament buildings, the Yankees, Jimmy Brown and the Cleveland Browns, and the Ford auto plant.They were great trips. Many of my friends also got to visit Florida. In high school, Stratford was the only exotic location offered by the schools, and I chose not to go.

In 1972, at the age of 22 and in the middle of my medical education, I embarked with my friend Howie on a backpacking trip through most of South America. This was not a popular destination at the time, but my passion for Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid led me there. Europe was where most people were headed. Machu Picchu was so uncrowded in those days that you could unroll your sleeping bag on the terraces and have a front row seat for the sunrise the next morning.

Since that time, I have been to every part of the world with the exception of China and Southeast Asia. Still, people come to my office, see my old photos and memorabilia, and think that I am well travelled. Well kids these days get much more travel and experience under their belts than I ever did.

All of my three children, Benjamin, Michael and Carrie, got to travel with me to so-called exotic destinations such as Ghana, Nepal, Guatemala, Uganda and Rwanda. Benjmain subsequently spent a year volunteering in Northern Ghana at Horizon’s Childrens’ Centre after his graduation. Many high schools routinely take student trips to just about every far-off locale. Service work, or humanitarianism, is a key component of most of these experiences. Such trips kindle the students’ interest and desire to travel and work abroad.

Studying international development was not a common option when I was in university.

Now, almost every school, certainly in Ontario, provides opportunities to study about the subject, and to travel and work abroad. CUSO (Canadian University Students Overseas) was the main volunteer sending NGO when I was in school. Today there are countless excellent organizations providing the opportunity for international travel, education and work experiences. VSO, Canadian Crossroads International, Right To Play, Engineers Without Borders, Journalsts for Human Rights, Scarborough College International Development Studies and Humber College International Project Management are a few that I have the pleasure of working with. In addition to these “not for profit” organizations, there are countless other organizations who will be only to happy to help you arrange an unforgettable experience almost anywhere you can imagine.

Some may question whether going abroad as a volunteer makes “ a difference”. I think it does, but I will expand on this in a future posting. My website lists many of the organizations which will help you find volunteer, and not so volunteer experiences abroad. I wish they had all been available thirty years ago.