Improve Something Other than Your Tan

by WiredBerries Editors — August 17, 2007

Summer is still in full swing, and if you haven't used your vacation time yet, consider skipping that trip to the shore for a truly enriching getaway. Imagine: This year, your volunteer vacation could be teaching basic math to students in a rural African community struggling to modernize. Next year, you could volunteer abroad to help research scientists save endangered sea turtles from extinction. On your volunteer vacation the following year, you could assist nurses at a children's clinic in Romania, help build a home for a homeless family, dig for dinosaur bones, or control erosion on a remote wilderness trail in a US national park. There are so many organizations that offer volunteer vacations: check out the Charity Guide , Global Volunteers , and the Sierra Club for ideas. Plus, you get killer bragging rights...