I'd first like to say this message board is proving to be a great resource!

Now to my situation. In May, I will graduate University of Maryland with six months from June to January to basically do anything. My initial thought was to travel and volunteer. I have seriously thought about committing myself to AmeriCorps for six months, possibly a conservation corps in the western US.

Then, after reading Kinder's "Delaying the Real World" I realized that I could expand my options and go anywhere and do anything with my precious six months without responsibility. At this point, after speaking to a friend who spent close to a year in Buenos Aires, I'm starting to think I could do that.

So basically, I'm all over the place. I am committed to volunteering/service, and I want to do it a beautiful place. But there's just so many options. Should I focus on an established programs that provides accommodations? Six months doing one thing may be pretty long. Or should I buy my plane ticket to Buenos Aires and hope things work out? Teaching English could take me a lot of places, but I'm the kind of person that rather build something or work outside. Any thoughts would be great. Thanks!

Lance.

By no means am i an expert. I am however in the same boat as you graduating in June. I have done a little traveling and a little service work. 6 months is a good amount of time to do both. there are some really good websites like http://www.wwoof.org/ where you can travel on the weekends and work during the week. or just supplement your travels with a month or so of work in one city. get some travel books from a library and just start picking out places that really interest you for what ever reason and go!

I have a few friends that did Americore and one that did Peace Core right out of college. They all said that while it was an adjustment (of course!), it was the experience of a lifetime.

I applaud your sense of adventure, because in many ways this is the only time in your life where you can (responsibly) drop everything and go across the world.

I would recommend going for a structured/well-known program, instead of buying a plane ticket and hoping for the best. Trust me, a stint in something like the Peace Core will be amazing on your resume! Going w/ a credible program will help you out a lot more than if you just "wing it."

I know that resume-building isn't the point of this 6-month trip, but hey, if you can take this trip and come back with excellent experience, it will make coming back that much easier.

Best of luck!

Oh, I'm so jealous! 6 months without responsibility...so many possibilities.
I'm certainly no expert, but I've done a bit of traveling over the past year during breaks from school. Some has included volunteering, some has been just for fun/adventure.

things to think about:
-- what is your budget? Not sure how much you've looked into volunteer programs, but a lot of these programs have a fee. I volunteered with WLS International in SE Asia and loved it, but could have traveled independently and volunteered once I was there, without paying a program fee. But, as a first time solo traveler, it was nice to have a volunteer coordinator to show me the ropes, and get hooked up with some other traveler volunteers.

-- are you looking to stay in once place or cover some ground? It really just depends on what kind of experience you're looking to have, but if I had 6 months off, I wouldn't want to commit to staying in one place. Not sure if you've traveled internationally before, but it is so easy to meet people, learn from them, and change your plans as you go along. With 6 months, you could definitely travel from place to place and do some volunteer work as you went along.

-- I have some friends who've volunteered with Peace Corps and Americorps. Those that did Americorps seemed to have had amazing experience, but it sounds like you might want to get out of the states. My friends who've done Peace Corps absolutely had a blast, but I think that it is typically a 2 year commitment. There is a Lonely Planet book called "Volunteer" that lists different organizations around the world. Might be worth flipping through to see what type of program you're drawn to, and go from there. I started with a specific type of volunteer work I wanted to do, found a program, and then decided to travel around that area before volunteering. Just one way to do it, but it worked out great.

Not sure if any of this is helpful, but if you have specific questions, feel free to ask. No promise that I'll have an answer, but I'll give it my best.

ps. you're my neighbor. I live in Baltimore!