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Welcome to Cheryl's Travel Blueprint! I’m a former Spanish teacher turned travel advisor, passionate about curating unforgettable experiences. My expertise lies in European adventures (with a special love for Spain), cruising, and all-inclusive Caribbean getaways. I specialize in creating tailored trips for families, multi-generational groups, and teachers—whether they’re traveling solo, with colleagues, or leading student groups.
In this podcast, we celebrate the joy of travel, uncover hidden gems, share practical tips and tricks, and embrace the spirit of adventure. Each episode features inspiring conversations with fascinating guests from all walks of life as they share their unique travel stories, lessons, and favorite destinations. Whether you're planning your next getaway or simply love to dream about the possibilities, this is your place to explore the world from wherever you are.
Let’s embark on this journey together! 🌍✈️
I'm your host, Sheryl Johnson, and welcome back to Sheryl's Travel Blueprint, where we explore the deeper side of travel, connection, culture, and experiences that stay with you long after you return home. Today, I'm thrilled to welcome Kimberly Haley Coleman, founder and executive director of Globe Aware, a nonprofit that leads short -term volunteer service programs in more than 25 countries. Kimberly's journey is incredible. from an MBA in international business and years in global finance and tech, to walking away from Wall Street to build meaningful, culturally respectful volunteer experiences around the world. She's a speaker, a multiple patent holder, a university lecturer, a Texas Business Hall of Fame inductee, and a true champion for ethical international service. Kimberly, thank you so much for being here today. Cheryl, thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to have the chance to talk to you. Excellent. I'm so glad that we were able to make this work because I have so many questions for you. And I'm, I'm just been intrigued by by your story. So I guess I'll start with this first question. You walked away from a high powered work life in finance and and tech to build a global nonprofit. So what sparked that transition? Well, it wasn't just one day where I decided to quit and do something else. It was a really circuitous path. I actually, before I was in the business world, I was in the art world. I got a master's in art history. I was always drawn to anything that would put me in contact with other cultures. And so I, but I was on the for -profit side of the business and was finding myself in other countries and for work. And would find myself over the weekend in a country and already having seen the tourist sites and not knowing what to do with my time in a way that I felt like I didn't need to. and doing something. So I started seeking service opportunities and found it was just really hard of a real challenge that nobody wanted to take you short term because the amount of time it would take to train you or take somebody off of what they're already doing to show you how to do something. So it was really a consequence of that. Realizing that, hey, this is tough. It made me want to do it even more. And when I came home, finding that other people were interested in it too, and that it was doing something that was hard to achieve in a regular corporate work environment in terms of feeling connection. and meaning and part of that just being outside of a normal work a day corporate doggy dog environment that it allows your mind to really experience the world in a different way and to gain a larger perspective not just for yourself and your own home culture but also even for humanity in terms of what binds us all. That's great. That's amazing. It's just interesting how destiny, I don't know if it's destiny or what it is, but puts you into that position to kind of forge that path for you. So that's amazing. Your keynote titles alone tell stories. Jet lag, jungle toilets, and joy. Can a week abroad really change the world? here's what I'll tell you is it changes the person serving and it touches the person you're serving alongside and ultimately I think that's the genesis for all change and that same philosophy that you know you really have to take that first step to get on a journey of any kind. And it can be different for every person, but I have so many examples of the change that happens. And I find that we have a lot of people, when they first hear about us, they're focused on the service we're doing, instead of thinking about what's happening to the person volunteering, because they're both important. They're equally important. And strangely, when we focus on what might ostensibly seem like the selfish thing, like what is this the volunteer getting out of it, it actually is the thing that makes it sustainable. You know, the fact that when someone is going and serving side by side on a project that's important to them in a cooperative way, what that does to the person, who's done it. I'll give you an example. The first time I gave a wheelchair to a landmine victim, it's usually children that are maimed by landmines. They're underground, and they're round, and they're brightly colored, and they were put there during the Vietnam War. They ultimately will work their way to the surface. And they're really designed to maim, not to kill. So it's kids that pick them up. And I really thought, we assemble and distribute them in Cambodia to these kids. And I thought looking at the child, giving it to the child, was going to be really transformative for me. And it was actually, I'm a mother. My kids are grown and out of the house. But as a mother, I looked at the mother of this child who had had a vision for what her child's life was going to be. and having this moment where now her possibility of what the future of her kid now looks like having some mobility. Seeing that in the mother's eyes, as a fellow mother, I could have just written a check for a wheelchair, but it wouldn't have connected me to this mother in this way, without having to speak the same language. And then we see kids who will go on location with their family members on our programs. And we have them in 26 countries around the world. And they don't know anything before they're coming in, right? There's 10 -year -olds, 12 -year -olds, 8 -year -olds that they didn't sign up. Their mom signed up to go on this one -week program, right? And while they're staying in what I would call mid -range modest accommodations with running water and electricity and flushing toilets and all that, so many people in the communities where we work don't. And so when we are installing concrete floors, in the homes of single moms that are often 13, 14 years old in Guatemala that have no access to health care and no electricity, no running water. They're living in homes made of whatever refuse they can find, whether it's cardboard or corrugated metal, on the open earth. And so we are there putting in a foundation into their homes and a little garden. And in order to mix the concrete, we're having to pump and carry water across the streets. And I tell you, an eight, 10 -year -old doesn't think much about the value of running water, but when you see all the people in the community bathing their kids with that water and having to boil it before they drink it, you get really careful about that water. And we see people who, you know, that very night, instead of taking a 30 -minute shower, they're taking a five -minute shower, and they're turning the water off in between brushing their teeth. So is that changing the world? Well, it's changing the volunteer, and it's leaving that single mom with a home where she can actually bleach and clean the floor instead of having her babies, you know, picking up amoebas and bacteria on the open earth. So yeah, I think change is possible, but it does look different for everybody. We all process things differently. The beauty is that you put people in this environment, what things happen so organically and naturally in terms of the change and transformation that can take place. And that's such a powerful, what a powerful way to learn. I don't think there's any other way that somebody could get that type of a lesson other than to experience something like that. That's amazing. Absolutely. And I think just to be able to have more people experience that would just make us all better as humanity. joy and empowerment that comes from this. You know, you can imagine, um, I feel like teenagers these days, obviously, uh, so many of them, um, are scrolling and have a lot of screen time and feel that they are compared to this infinite number of people online that look perfect and feel that their place in the world feels not very tethered or important or significant. And, uh, they might question what kind of difference they can make or why they even matter. And I think this is a danger of just looking at themselves in comparison to whatever they're seeing online. But if you go and you're seeing, hey, I just provided someone with a home or really enhanced their quality of living or gave them mobility or whichever project they choose, without having to be a rocket scientist or a surgeon, that we felt we see this impact of people realizing that they can make a difference, that they do matter, they feel empowered, and their feeling of insignificance dissipates, you know? And we all deserve that. We all owe that to one another. And it's why I said, you know, there have been irresponsible service projects abroad. You don't have to look far to find them. Fortunately, I think we've come to a place where people are more aware of what to look for in an organization and in an experience. And so once people do that and put themselves in a responsible environment, the kinds of things that allows them to do that Nobody on these programs are heroes. We are working in communities as equals. Actually, we are learning. The local communities are faster and better at every project we do. So that's why I say it can be, I don't know, a misnomer to focus too much on the service we do because we are an extra pair of hands with open harps learning, learning, learning, learning while we serve alongside someone. And that's the really powerful thing, focusing as much on what the whole experience does and not just at the service component. Because again, the locals know what they're doing. We're in a position where we're trying to understand the real beauties and real challenges of a culture. Traditional travel is a beautiful, wonderful thing. With this kind of travel, we're seeing the world in a little bit different perspective. We are learning, hey, if you are in Guatemala, most of the locals don't have easy access transportation if they get hurt or have a heart attack, and that's a real challenge, not having an iPhone. But a real beauty is how much you're sitting there with the family that we're building things for, and you get to see how much time you spend in most of our communities with family, faith, and friends that we don't have in our own native culture. And what a beautiful thing that is. So we're really learning both those things. And if you're a traditional tourist going off and on a tourist bus and going to churches and museums and standing in line, there's a place for all of that. You're learning something different. And so we feel like that's a lot of that value. That's where the magic is. That's amazing. So can you kind of take us back, you were talking about responsible organizations, can you kind of take us back to the year 2000 and the gap you were trying to fill in that, you know, between these worlds when you founded Global War and how you you know, navigated all of those things? Well back then people really had a few options. They could be a Peace Corps volunteer for 27 months. A lot of people don't have that kind of time or they have a mortgage and kids and things that make that very difficult. Or they would go with student organizations that would often be all summer. But that left out a lot of people, a big demographic. If you're a working, busy professional, it'd be hard to fit that into your life. Or you would go with a church mission trip. And so if you're connected to a church that says, for example, they might have a sister relationship with a church in Uganda where they go once or twice a year. So if you already had that relationship and were able to go at the time the church offered that, that might be a good option too. But those were kind of the main things, so it wasn't very available. short term, highly structured service opportunities for busy working North American. And that was really the gap we were filling, uh, doing something that, you know, in our case, it's six nights. You come on a Sunday, leave on a Saturday. We do them over Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, President's Day and so forth to try and make them work more easily within a, uh, Corporate lifestyle and that's really the gap we were filling. You know, we don't have any religious or political affiliation We're not doing any sort of proselytization or conversion and all of our projects are open basically every other week throughout the year so it's it's it's Different because it's almost like a cruise because you can go to the website and say hey I want to go to this country in this week and you sign up and everything else is structured for you You know your food your accommodations you get picked up the project materials are bilingual coordinators with you the whole time, with bottled water and medical insurance, all of that. So it's just like a cruise in the sense that you sign up and everything else is handled. And so we're really trying to make this accessible to people who just otherwise wouldn't have the time to find themselves doing these kinds of experiences. Wow. OK. So it looks like you've thought of everything. And this is wonderful, because I know, as a traveler, I've looked into those kinds of things and I've read about people, you know, I've talked to other, you know, co -workers and things like that, and they talk about their service work through their church and things like that. So that's, you know, that's just perfect for, like you said, a typical North American who has, you know, so many responsibilities and, you know, you only get weeks off. Yeah, so that's perfect. So can you kind of walk me through what you, like, could you kind of give me, like, a picture of what say I get to my destination like what would what would that kind of look like? Sure so let's say and we have I will say to our travelers look very different people aren't just going with a significant other they're often going with a friend or a child or solo because they're meeting fellow volunteers on the program and so let's say that somebody wants to go on our Kenya program where we're building waddle and dob style homes for families out there. So you sign up, we send materials that, you know, we have an orientation, we have podcasts and a YouTube channel, but we find that a lot of times people just don't read it. So aside from getting to the meetup point, everything else can be handled once they're there. So let's see, so you arrive in Kenya. Our coordinator, Pius, our coordinators have all been with us years and years and years, picks up our volunteers, meet up point, gets everybody checked into the accommodation, has an orientation about this is what we're going to do this week, this is how we're doing it, why we're doing it, and why it's important. And then depending on, hey, if they're jet lagged because they're on an Asia program and they've just arrived, that may be all we do that evening. So it really depends on are you going to Costa Rica or Guatemala, what the schedule looks like. But when you start your workday, so let's say it's a Monday and you're in Costa Rica, our coordinator will say, okay, we're going to start the day at breakfast to discuss a cultural item that you might not know. So for example, did you know in Costa Rica we don't use traditional mailing addresses? We don't have them. If you're shipping something to someone, you have to write a paragraph. You have to say, this is going to Federico Herrera, 600 yards east of the White Church, as you're going through Cartago, four miles south of whatever. And it's to have this conversation that, again, a traditional tourist wouldn't pass. So that's a breakfast. Breakfast is provided. All the meals are provided. And then after breakfast, we all go to the work site. You've got 10 or 12 people on our team. Our coordinator and whatever foreman are needed for that project that are also local, so that we've got a coordinator there showing you, OK, this is how we're doing and what we're going to do. And oftentimes, the recipients of the project are there. working with us as well. So it doesn't matter if you speak the language. We're all learning how to do it, looking at it, but our coordinator's bilingual and is there as needed and working alongside us all. So we're working on the project. We stop for lunch and continue working an hour or two later. But this is where some work groups work really fast. Some work slower and need more time. There might be two and three -year -olds on the program where we're getting things done in a different way. So every group has a different pace. One thing we've found consistently, particularly if they're beyond teenage years, they often don't want to stop working after our six hours of work for the day. They want to keep working, eat, and the local community is always so shocked by that. Um, so we always have extra work available if people insist on doing that. But from our perspective, uh, getting to know the local community is just as important. So we do our work. We have three to five planned but optional cultural activities. So if we're in Peru, you know, you go and see Machu Picchu and we see the Sacred Valley. So it really depends where you are, but we know, we know people aren't going to want to come all the way to Costa Rica and not see the rainforest. We know they're not going to want to go all the way to Cambodia without seeing Angkor Wat. So this is all built into the week. So we're doing cultural activities and sites, but you have a couple hours free time every day too. So that week, that schedule, usually the work is skewed toward the morning. that if it's hot in the afternoon, we're done working and we'll do the cultural activities and then have free time. So that's the typical things that are involved in a week. And then in the evening, at dinner, we usually have reflective exercises to say, what is a kindness you observed today? What are you grateful for today that you might not have thought about yesterday? So it's structured. And it's our coordinator that really is the magic here, because they're taking our volunteers everywhere. Because we're getting everybody from the accommodations, to the work site, to the cultural activity, back to the hotel. There, when they have questions about the work project or the local culture, So that, and that's pretty much the same on all of our programs in terms of the workflow and the activities and what the recipe is for the week. You know, service, cultural activities, free time, and of course meals. But so again, it's for anybody who's ever been on a cruise where, you know, your meals are provided, the activities, except people aren't having to choose or not whether or not they're doing the service. Everybody's there at the worksite. But anyway, that's what a week looks like for us. Okay, so just listening to this, I can imagine that that's probably a lot different than some of these other volunteer programs that people, service programs that people go on because of the, because it seems that they're, you alluded to it earlier that some programs are unethical, I don't know if you said unethical, but Yeah, I don't want to use that word. You know, I would say back in maybe 2011 to 2016, there were a variety of organizations that were doing things like putting really vulnerable orphans directly in contact one -on -one with people they shouldn't have been, or putting people high on ladders, or operating heavy equipment and machinery, or operating where it was war -torn, or a disease outbreak, or having them handle bodily fluids when they're not doctors, you know, all sorts of irresponsible things like that. Or, organizations that were painting themselves as heroes, that they were in a position of superiority to the local culture, and coming in and saying, we know what you need and how to do it, and here's what you've got to do to live life right. You know, that's just not the way we feel responsible organizations should operate. And again, I do think there's a much bigger awareness for that kind of thing than there was, say, 20, 25 years ago, even 15 years ago. A lot of those organizations weren't able to survive COVID when so many borders were closed. So, you know, we are guided by certain principles and certain criteria. Our projects have to be chosen by the local community in conjunction with our coordinator. Our coordinator is always from that country, from that community. So they're delicately balancing the productivity expectations of our volunteers and the needs of the local community. making sure that it goes through our criteria of safety, making sure it's culturally meaningful, interesting, and significant. We're not just going to go and paint the inside of a room or stuff envelopes for an organization. The volunteers' growth and world perspective is a huge part of what we're after here. Everyone's changed by it, the local community and the person. Again, it's that two -way street. We are going through both sets of criteria. the local communities and our criteria to find both the community and the work project that will suit both of those lists of needs. Okay, so obviously hearing this, it's clear what the differences are and it's also really clear that there's no way that you can come from this and not be changed as a traveler. I wonder, is there a process after this experience that you share with your volunteers to find out Well, this is one of the things I do think is beautiful about social media is it does allow us to live and connect in a way, you know, so if you've just gone to our Guatemala program, when you're going to our Facebook, our Instagram and LinkedIn and all that, you're able to see these little clips every day of, Oh, I remember I was there just last month and this is what they're doing now. And there's Carmen. Look, she's made her favorite, um, uh, tortillas again. And we get to see that. So. But we also find what happens in a lot of cases is once somebody's, they usually want to start closer to home, usually in Latin America, which we understand, they're going to Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Peru. And then once they realize that it's not as, you know, we cannot eliminate all risk, you can fall and twist your ankle anywhere or get hit by a car if you're not paying attention, if you've got free time and walking around in a city. But once you realize that these are pretty controlled conditions and pretty safe, then they start going much further afield. And so what we've seen in terms of our subsequent follow -up interaction with the volunteers is usually that they're following along and interacting with people in an online space and then adding to their cultural repertoire by going further and further afield in terms of their next program locations. The other thing that's happening that is new and perhaps driving that, new in the last, say, 15 years, a lot of employers have corporate responsibility programs and contribution matching for philanthropic objectives where employees are allowed to designate, you know, if they make a contribution, their employer will often match it. So, you know, our programs are like $1 ,500 for the week. It's tax -deductible. But the employer will often pay half of that. So it's employees getting a tax deduction off of their income, and then the employers paying the other half. And so I feel like that may be driving some of the subsequent follow -up is people realizing, hey, this is a really great way of, it's great for the company because the employees are getting to choose how they want to be philanthropic. Hey, I want to help single moms in Latin America. That's what matters to me instead of, hey, we're all doing United Way or whatever. So I feel like, and then the community, of course, is enriched by it. And then the volunteer has this non -taxable benefit, where, as we've said, they come back, change themselves. So I feel like some of this subsequent interaction that happens is actually being shaped, in some ways, by some of the corporate policies that have come up over time that haven't always been there. OK. Well, that's a win -win for everybody, I think. So if you're loving this conversation and want more stories about meaningful travel, how to connect deeper, travel smarter, and explore with purpose, make sure to subscribe to Cheryl's Travel Blueprint. We have new episodes every week with experts, creators, and leaders reshaping the way we see the world. So hit that subscribe button before we continue. So I want to ask, how does GlobalWare choose the communities and partners you work with around the world? So when we started, we would put a lot of time into that. We would go to communities and say, hey, where do people already want to go where there's real need, super interesting, safe, all of that? Who has projects that we can actually work on? Because again, we're not building hospitals and roads. So we spent a lot of time on that. Now we get so many communities that contact us and ask us, Hey, can you send us volunteers? So when that happens, we start by seeing, do they already have very clear needs outlined with a locally organized group? Because if they don't, it's not going to be a good fit for us. But if there's, for example, a local grassroots women's cooperative that have come together that say they need more nutritional resources and what they need are, you know, stoves and access to seeds and help putting in irrigation. If they've already identified what it is they want and how they want to do it, then that's one of the first steps for knowing that it's going to be a good partner. Because again, we're not going to choose that project. Then once we've seen all that, we're also looking at the same time, what is the safety situation assessment? We follow all that Canadian, British, and American State Department safety guidelines. Is this a do not travel zone, and so forth. And these can change. Tanzania right now is at a higher risk level than it used to be. So every now and then, we'll have to make changes based on the changing safety situation. But once we've done all of that, then we have to identify, well, who is going to be the person leading this regionally as the coordinator, guiding everyone through the week? And it's got to come from that local community. So if we don't have all of those elements in place and we can't find it, then we're not going to do a project there. Fortunately, we've got 26 countries where we've been able to meet all of that criteria to make sure that it's a good environment for our volunteers. Can you share an example of a project that created a lasting measurable impact? I'm sure there are lots, but... Yeah, I mean, that's our main criteria is that we're not just, you know, giving out money and candy, but something that's going to help people sustain themselves. And that's one of our two mission statements. You know, we're promoting cultural awareness, but we're also promoting sustainability. So if our projects aren't helping people stand on their own two feet for the long term, then we don't want to do the project. So yeah, in all cases, that's really our goal. And look, we've had failures. We've had to stumble a bit along the way. We had a water filter project in the Andes Mountains back in like the year 2002 that we realized the water flow wasn't working through those Sawyer filters at that altitude very well. So we've had to learn some things the hard way. But all of our projects, you know, really there's something about getting to build a home and get to know the family that you're building it for, like in Kenya, where you're seeing what their old home is like compared to the new one that we're building, and then getting to see that same family featured in our social media over time and seeing the living in that house and what a difference it makes. I really You know, we on occasion will do larger scale things like libraries, classrooms and schools. And it's usually if we have a corporate group, you know, we'll have 250 people from a company where they go on a week not listed on our website and we will tailor that program for them and try and even go in line with whatever the mission is. statement of their company or organization is. So for example, if they're focused on helping kids with special needs, then we will make a sensory garden for kids with special needs and work in conjunction with whichever group has already organized themselves around helping that community. So really I would say all of our But all of our projects are designed to really help people in the long term. And that's part of the beauty of it. I think a lot of people are surprised when they come home and see homes built in Texas, for example, where the framing looks like toothpicks made with wood and then drywall. And you go to the countries where we're building houses with local materials, and they're so solid, they're likely to last decades and decades. And a tornado might have trouble ripping them up. So it's really a chance to challenge assumptions as well that we might think that the way we do things is always the right way or the best way, but when you allow yourself to see how other people are tackling their perceived challenges, we all learn. We all learn and we're able to say, well, what is, have I ever thought about the way I'm doing something, is it the right way? Should I be thinking of any other side of this? And these things, again, happen very organically, very naturally when you put yourself in an environment where, hey, the food is different, the language is different, the architecture is different, their faith systems may be different, so that, again, you have a chance to challenge the way you look at the world and grow your brain. It's a beautiful, wonderful thing that also causes immense joy. This is not just about serving and working hard. This is about what happens when you serve for a greater good. to your heart and happiness. And again, that's why it's so sustainable, because once you've done it once, you want to keep doing it. So it's the joy. Yeah. And I can imagine. I don't know how you could not be changed after an experience like that. And so is there a way that you prepare the volunteers beforehand for what's going to happen when they step into these communities? Yeah. Like cultural awareness, those kinds of things. Right. We do have, so our orientation packet, which is designed to take through, through all of that, you know, here's what you need to pack. People always worry way too much about what you need to pack. Really two pair of shorts and two shirts goes a long way in almost every location. But, uh, but you know, everything, what to pack, what the weather's like, what the local community is, uh, what the project's going to be, who your coordinator is, their background. You know, we have all of that. We have it also in video form and we have it in podcasts. Our, experiences. If somebody's gone with a group, let's say a book club is going on the project and one person has been the main contact, a lot of times the one main contact will have gone through all of it and everybody else didn't. And so we provide a lot of materials so that people who want to read all of that going into it will get an opportunity to have a more preparation for what they're about to experience. But we're designed so that even if they don't go through it, those materials, our coordinator will walk you through it on arrival. Now, the one exception I will say to this is, and we make a really big deal out of it, is what we can't help people with in advance is, hey, you've got to have your own passport. We can't get a passport for you, and any sort of entry requirements. So there are a couple of countries where, for example, you might need a visa. like India, and we give the information. Here's how you get it, but we can't get it for you. Right. And there are a couple places where malaria prophylaxis may be currently recommended, and we're not allowed to recommend it. because we're not medical professionals. So we legally have to say, we think you should talk to your medical professional about whether or not malaria is needed here. So there are a few entry requirements that we cannot handle but that we put in our not just in our materials but then we have separate emails where that's the only thing in the email like we can't get your passport we can't get your visa and if there's a you know so we try and be really really clear about that but otherwise in terms of preparation we provide a lot and But we don't expect that everyone's going through all of that. And fortunately, most of that are things that on arrival can be done. We'd love it if everybody went through all our materials. But we know people who are busy won't necessarily get to all of that. And that's OK, too. Very true. So you've worked in more than 25 countries. What destination surprises your volunteers the most? Or maybe what surprises you as well? That's a good question. I guess there might be things that surprise me in any location. I think cultures are so different. We are such a product of how we're conditioned. And this is something that becomes apparent. If you look at how people approach disagreements and confrontation, this is handled very differently culture by culture. For example, in Thailand, in many Buddhist countries, showing impatience is the rudest thing you can do. And you go to Eastern Europe, that is not the case. It is not considered rude to show impatience. And so I think a lot of people are surprised by reactions. If you're in Thailand and you're with a bunch of Buddhist monks that own nothing but an orange robe and do nothing but meditate all day and do good things for people, the way they approach what we might see as, I'll just say it with an example because it's easier. Let's say an elderly woman is crossing the street and falls. My natural reaction here would be to run over, oh my goodness, let me help get you back up. A Buddhist monk will run over. They're not really supposed to help, although in this situation, you're not supposed to touch people of opposite sex if you're a Thai Buddhist monk. But they would help in this situation. But they would laugh because they've been conditioned not to show a negative emotion. And if you don't know that going into it, you might think, well, gosh, that's rude. But their philosophy is very different. It's about kind of spreading joy and not negativity, and that you'd still go over and help them, but you would be laughing as you got them out. So there are surprises like that in every country in terms of how they approach situations. But if you don't know the reason behind it, it might seem rude or weird or odd. In a similar vein, the reason that a Thai Buddhist monk is not supposed to touch someone of the opposite sex is not because they're considered better or above or superior, it's because their whole philosophy is to avoid suffering. And their philosophy is, where does suffering come from? If you are attached to something or someone and something happens to them, that is the greatest pain. So imagine if you're a parent and has a child and something happens to the child, that's the greatest pain. So a way of avoiding that is not having children. Doesn't mean they don't love children. So a way of avoiding, hey, if I'm married to a man and something happens to that man, then I've caused suffering for myself. So a way of avoiding it is not getting married, just serving society. So you might hear, don't touch someone of the opposite sex, even on the shoulder, as, hey, it's sexist. Well, hold on, back up. Let's look at why that's there, just to understand it. You don't have to agree with it. just to learn, just to learn. So a lot of surprises in that area, I think. Yeah, for sure, for sure. So I have to ask, can you tell us about the Camino del Mab Trail in Mexico Project? Yeah, well, that one's a really fascinating one. I could talk to you forever about that. How can I make this quick? If you've been to Mexico and seen any of the amazing cenotes, these white limestone water structures, they built it because 30 million years ago when a big asteroid hit, a lot of people think that may be why the dinosaurs are no longer with us, that when that asteroid hit off the coast of Mexico there, and there's not a lot of soil in that part of Mexico, it's a lot of limestone, but it created all these cracks throughout the surface of the Yucatan. And so now when it rains, the acid mixes with the leaves of the trees, gets into the cracks of the water, and has hollowed out all of these big white limestone formations that are beautiful to swim in. Also, there was a large industry there from the 1500s until 1920 with plantations and a lot of exploited labor making ropes and baskets and things out of the local fiber that comes from there. Of course, I'm not thinking of any of the plants. And those plantations were all connected with similar to like rail tracks to get goods between the plantations by the plantation owners. So one plantation owner may be importing bourbon and another one may be importing, I don't know, tomatoes, and they would trade using these tracks. And then there are all these old ancient Mayan and Olmec ruins all around. So a group of scientists about 10 years ago that were going out on the weekends, going and seeing these cenotes, these Mayan ruins, and these old colonial structures from the plantations were like, these are all connected by these paths I was telling you about. Why aren't tourists coming out here? It would be great for the local community that have no jobs, where the jobs have all left and gone to the city. We should make something out of it. So what we've been doing is reviving the paths connecting all of them, putting up signs and bathrooms. And so you have everything from these old, glorious, beautiful ruins that look like something from out of the jungle book to these palaces that were left behind. And then all these cenotes, over 3 ,000 of them that you can jump into, all connected. You can bike the path. It's 130 kilometers. My daughter did it in a couple of days. Some people take a week. You can go for a day or two. But that project is so fascinating because nobody about it. And it is jaw -dropping, seeing everything that you can see. And it's a quick flight. You know, you go to Merida. It's so fast and easy. So what we're doing is really getting to be on the path and help create infrastructure as a part of that project. It is so unique in all the world. It's so, you know, people are familiar with the Camino del Santiago in Spain and, you know, camino meaning path. And this just connects across culture and time and nature. All of these amazing things, led by scientists and local Mayan communities that are still speaking these old Mayan languages. So it is, I just can't tell you how shocking it is for somebody who hasn't heard of it. When you get there and see it, you just can't believe everybody's talking about it. Because they don't know about it, you know. It's an amazing project, though. You're passionate about it. It makes me just want to, I should have had a plane go. Yeah, because it's helping bring jobs. Look, all the local women are learning how to cook for the local tourists in a way where they're not going to get sick from using local water systems. And so they're getting paid per meal in a way that more than, you know, they're getting paid $10 or $12 a meal, which is more than they would make doing any other work that they can find. We're building community centers where now all the communities and kids are able to come and gather together. You get to see how you hook into this community in a way where it's giving them sustainable life, right? And the name of the fiber, by the way, is called anakin. We call it sisal. Sorry, it takes me a while to find. I'm old enough where it's up there in the brain somewhere, but it could be hard to connect in the past. But yeah, I am deeply passionate about it. And these are communities that have a lot to give. They're really warm. Some of them are shyer than others. That's one more reason. can be kind of shy. In Costa Rica, they can be kind of shy. But once you're there for a few days, you can get past that. Wow. So I imagine that you probably can see it on their faces of the volunteers, those shifts that take place by the end of the trip. I'm sure that they're I don't even know. Yeah. Well, you know what? I'm not on most of the programs, unless they're big corporate groups. I tend not to. I get to go with our local coordinators there, but of course, we get to see a lot of the social media that everyone's posting. And we enjoy that because to see what are, through their eyes, what are they noticing that we forget because we're so used to it. It could be anything about the local, just mother nature and what she's doing, you know, in Costa Rica, there's this pepper grass, you know, you just put your hand over it and it closes up or, you know, just all the miraculous wildlife, the sloths and the toucans that are all around you. And so when our volunteers get to experience that for the first time, the wonder is apparent on their face. That really helps reconnect us to that side of it all, the surprise. Absolutely. So for someone nervous about service travel, what would be a great starter destination or project in your opinion? I do think closer to home is a good idea in that situation because then you're not also going to be dealing with jet lag. if you're already dealing with culture shock, and the culture shock won't be as deep. You know, we share so much with Latin America that if you go to Costa Rica, their clothes aren't going to be that different. And their food, it may not be the same every day kind of thing, but it's still recognizable. For chicken, rice, beans, salad, these things we're not unfamiliar with. But we get to see how they make their sugar and how they make their coffee. And you get to see things in a way you wouldn't see them otherwise. I think closer to home is a way to dip your toe in the water, so to speak. quite easily, because then you're spending less time on a plane. You know, if you're coming from Florida or Texas and you're going to Costa Rica, it's a two hour or two to three hour flight, and you're gonna be on maybe an hour or two off from your home town, but it makes it feel more approachable. So that's where I'd say. And Guatemala program, oh my goodness. Mexico, yeah. Okay. So, after having done this for several years, what has it taught you about people, about connection, maybe resilience? So, you know, we certainly, you can see very clearly how everyone really does want a lot of the same things. They want their kids to go to bed with a full belly and not have bullets flying over their heads and not worry about what will befall their children if they walk to school unsupervised. these are universal things. And so getting to see and experience that, it doesn't matter what language or what conditioning you have, those things we all have in common. So I'd say that in terms of learning how we're connected, you don't have anybody in our program having to even bring that up as a question or a topic because it is so self -evident when you're there when you're living it and and that's perhaps the most beautiful piece of it is that seeing what we share and how all we are really all bonded by that and it really is just so clear. You know, when you go to South Africa, our programs in IY, Isimathoye, to a township outside of Hout Bay, near Cape Town, and the kids, they're not shy. They're very easy to interact with and run up and want to play soccer and do hopscotch and things like that. So we're The interactions can look different because of the conditioning I mentioned, but the ultimate goals are all the same as wanting to be comfortable and healthy and avoid suffering. And it doesn't matter if they're Catholic or Buddhist or Muslim, we all want our children to be safe. And I do think these experiences provide a way to genuinely experience it. Absolutely. that you'll, what kind of, do you think you'll see some innovations or trends that will shape the future of global volunteer work? You know, I'm wondering if, because we didn't know that the corporate piece of this, the employee engagement was going to be what we were seeing, and so I'm wouldn't be surprised if we see even more development in that area, where instead of just thinking about service coming at you through a church or community, but hearing about it through these alternate channels, that that might be a bigger factor going forward. I have to say, we still really think that service starts at home and in your backyard and with your neighbors and making sure that they're in a good place. Right now, the day we're talking, we've seen there's 80 million Americans being impacted today by freezing temperatures. And so, first and foremost, we should be making sure our neighbors are okay. This does not take the place of that. This is something different. And we occasionally get criticized saying, why are we helping people in Vietnam if you've got issues where people need help at home? And that's true. We think people should be looking, first and foremost, at home. To the extent that people have that extra capacity and amount of resources, that's just what that's there for. It's an opportunity to see what does poverty look like in the United States as opposed to Cambodia. You know, you can be, like I said, below the poverty line in the United States and have access to a flushing toilet. And you can be middle class in Cambodia and not have access to a flushing toilet. So it gives you, again, that perspective on relativity and how things are different. But I would hope, I mean, if I could wave a magic wand, it would be to make a carbon footprint free way to travel so that everybody would get to know one another easier because we have to acknowledge there is a cost. And so in my opinion, if there's a cost and we want to maximize how we use that time, if we've spent the money and the time to get on an airplane, what else can we do to make sure that the value proposition has been worthwhile? And so I hope that there are, you know, the reason that a program like this is tax deductible and it's 501c3 is they are carrying out the work of an organization. I hope that we can see more incentives. more methods and ways of enabling this, because one of the things that we don't have is the ability right now for people with very few resources to participate in this kind of thing, because it means you have to have a passport. It means you have to be able to afford airfare. And so I hope that there are ways, because again, it brings our planet closer. It makes us all realize how unified we are, which can be easy just to see the separation and the division. We see it in the news every day. So I hope that one of the directions and trends that we see shaping the future are concepts that will enable a larger segment of humanity to experience this. Because right now in the communities where we go, most of them aren't ever going to be able to come to North America. We're bringing the world to them. But I wish there were ways we could expand beyond that. Yeah. You know, this has been such an empowering conversation. We could probably go on and on for for a long time because you brought up so many important details and ideas, things that I'd love to expand on. But I do want to thank you so much for your time and wisdom and the work that you've dedicated your life to. Conversations like this remind us that travel isn't just about the places we go, it's about the impact that we leave and the growth we bring home. And I think you've exemplified that. To everyone listening, if this episode inspired you or made you rethink what's possible through travel, make sure to subscribe to Cheryl's Travel Blueprint and that way you'll never miss an interview, a destination, a deep dive, or a new travel insight. And if you're curious about service travel or global wares programs, check out the links in the show notes and we'll see you in the next episode.