This is a MUST DO, Go do it!

I am 55 years old (a fit healthy 55 year old) and when I volunteered, I had no idea what to expect other than what I had read and been told by the operators of the program. What a surprise I got after arriving in Thailand, I met a group of twenty somethings who became my work partners and a second family. I met many local people who were so thankful for our help which made the experience even more pleasurable. I explored waterfalls, Tea plantations, authentic villages that don't exist in color brochures and the whole experience has left me hungry to volunteer again as soon as I can.

Anyone can look at a travel brochure and the white sands of the glorious beaches and I also love these places but they do not have stories as all the stories are the same. Volunteering will give you stories that no on else will experience unless they actually go and do it. Walking through water all day carrying 30kg sandbags until you can hardly walk anymore, carrying Bamboo to build a bridge in 30 degree heat until you have drank as much water as you possibly can! Digging roads so they are safe enough to be traveled along until you think you cannot dig anymore!!

All the above are challenging things to do but you work at your own pace and at the end of each day, the satisfaction gained through working hard and helping other people who actually need the help is something that is almost impossible to explain, hence the reason you need to try it as it is the only way you will find out what its like .

My favorite story is when I got offered to live with a farmer who told me he would feed me and give me a roof over my head if I stayed and worked on his farm for a year, his name was TIGER and this name has been in the family for 4 generations and folklore would suggest that his great grandfather actually killed a tiger with his bare hands and a knife many years ago. These are the stories you hear when living in the bush with a REAL Thai local who almost lives like our ancestors would have centuries ago, It was outstanding.