Peter Greenberg

I think as you get older you can really appreciate traveling to far away places more than you did when you were younger. There is something gratifying about going from your world to another world and pretending you lived there your whole life. You try to immerse yourself in the local culture in an attempt to be one of the crowd.

Now, Peter Greenberg (no relationship to my pal Steve) reveals a new way to soak in each destination through something he calls as “voluntourism.” Before I get into voluntourism, let me tell you about the source.

Peter Greenberg is one of the best known travel news journalists. He is Travel Editor for CBS News, appearing on CBS This Morning, CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley, and CBS Sunday Morning. An Emmy Award-winning investigative reporter and producer, Peter was named one of the most influential people in travel by Travel Weekly, along with Al Gore, Bill Marriott, and Richard Branson. Catch him online.

Greenberg explains that more and more cruise lines are offering the chance to give back to local communities during your trip. The same thing is going to happen through tour groups and travel sites.

Right now you can check out the opportunities through Crystal Cruises, Semester at Sea, and Hope Floats.

The participating charities are a few miles away from group destinations. They usually last four hours. You might question why you would ever spend valuable time during a vacation on volunteer work. The answer is pretty simple. You meet some of the most interesting people in the world when you least expect it. Let’s all try it once.