Image at right: At Mission Wolf in Southern Colorado, the breathtaking Sangre de Cristo mountain range are your backdrop to adventure

By Lynn Braz

You face the same dilemma every time you pack your bag: seeing the world is mind-bending, brilliant and a fail-proof way to shift your perspective — but how do you leave behind more than just a carbon footprint? While teaching English in Africa, eco-trekking the Amazon rainforest or volunteering on a permaculture farm Down Under are all well and good, you don’t need a passport to combine traveling with giving back. After all, to paraphrase one famous globe-trotter, when it comes to meaningful travel experiences, there’s no place like home. This month, we looked to America’s backyard and found eight wayyyy-off-the-beaten-trail travel destinations that promise connection, relaxation and altruistic adventure.

What: Make it a double feature
Where: Woods Hole Film Festival, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
How: woodsholefilmfestival.org

Follow in the footsteps of Henry David Thoreau, Edward Hopper and countless other artists and nature lovers with a visit to the quintessential beach destination. Besides the obvious draw of summer on the Cape, an added bonus for film enthusiasts is the Woods Hole Film Festival, which showcases the works of emerging independent filmmakers.

“Plenty of people come here to volunteer,” says Judy Laster, festival director. “Some people schedule their vacation to coincide with the festival.” One such repeat offender is clothing and accessories designer Faye Dearborn. The 33-year-old stumbled upon the festival by accident nine years ago, and has been traveling to the Cape for one week in the middle of the summer ever since.

“I’ve actually given the volunteering-while-vacationing thing a lot of thought,” says Dearborn. “It helps you get involved with the community. It’s a great way to meet people. Because of my experience in Woods Hole, before moving from the East Coast to San Francisco, I looked for independent film festivals as a way to connect.” At least one of those connections has proved to be long-term — Dearborn is now engaged to the director of a festival for which she served as a volunteer.
Volunteers at Woods Hole (from college kids to retirees and everything in between) staff the various movie venues, take tickets, hand out programs and give rides to people in need of transportation. The festival’s alumni have gone to show their works at the Sundance Film Festival.

Woods Hole is also known for being the point of departure for the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard. The town, which Dearborn describes as “really gorgeous and really, really cool,” is also home to two world-class oceanographic institutes.

What: Plant the future
Where: Fruit Tree Tour, Along Interstate 5, California
How: commonvision.org

For intrepid travelers able to commit to a three-month project, Common Vision offers a trip that takes you up the gorgeous California coastline and back, while teaching kids how to plant and care for fruit trees that they’ll cultivate in their schoolyards.

Twenty-five Fruit Tree Tour volunteers travel in a fleet of psychedelically painted, vegetable oil-powered, biodiesel-engined school buses stopping at pre-scheduled schools, largely in underserved urban areas. Kids are taught the entire process of planting — how to shovel, pick, plant 10 to 50 trees — and the impact their work has on themselves and their community. Volunteers discuss topics most of the children have never heard of before — nutrient cycles, soil microlife, the importance of fresh food, tree biology and drumming.

While the 2008 tour is already under way, applications are being accepted for 2009. You could also lend a hand to the group by bringing mulch to a community planting near you. If you lack a green thumb, fear not; A two-week training period precedes working with the school children. “Volunteers become tree-planting experts during the course of the tour,” says Megan Watson, Director of Operations for Common Vision.