by Original Volunteers

For any parent wishing to support their son or daughter on a trip abroad, communication with the travel organisation is essential.

In our experience, parents often call us at the last minute simply to check something to find that we have no record of any booking, flights or general information. Unless your son or daughter has already proved themselves able to take responsibility for making their own travel arrangements, it’s probably wise to check with us in advance!

Please don’t be afraid to get involved. We welcome your support and it will be beneficial to everyone if forms have been filled in and flights booked well ahead of the scheduled departure date.

The majority of our projects are well-established and have already supported hundreds of young people. Even if your son or daughter is travelling alone rather than with a group, they will be fully supported. 80% of our volunteers travel alone to projects which means almost everyone is in the same position and will be keen to make new friends.

Fortunately, mobile telephone signals are pretty good all over the world. However, in our experience many young people need to be reminded to call home! Once they arrive at their destination, they’re usually quite tired and overwhelmed by their new surroundings. They’re welcomed by lots of other volunteers who take the time to settle them in which results in at least a few days of constant socialising! Of course, they will call you when they need something but it’s always a good idea to encourage them to get in touch to let you know that they have arrived safely. If your son or daughter has not forwarded you the contact details of the project coordinator (all volunteers are sent this before travel and are advised to leave them with their family), please call our office and ask for the coordinator’s contact number or we can contact them on your behalf.

It is of course common sense to not send your son or daughter away with lots of money but how to make sure they have enough funds for their stay? A practical method to avoid them over spending on their first weekend off is to send money over weekly via a money transfer service like Western Union. Money can be collected in minutes abroad as Western Union can be found all over the world even in the most remote locations so there is never one far away. Please check with the project coordinator which is the best agency to use to transfer money. Another option is to simply put money into their account on pre-arranged days if they are travelling with a Visa card so that they can withdraw it from a bank or ATM.

For more information about travelling with us please visit our FAQs page at https://www.originalvolunteers.co.uk/faqs.html

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