TORONTO - Jeff Minthorn has had his fair share of international travel, whether it's studying in Italy, living in the U.K. or working in Antarctica.
Now as co-founder and editor-in-chief of Verge Magazine, a Canadian-based publication focused on exploring opportunities to study, work and volunteer abroad, he and his staff help provide the tools and resources to others interested in heading overseas.
He suggests those thinking of volunteering abroad take time to consider a few things before they start packing their bags.
1) An honest assessment of what's motivating you to go. Determine what you hope to get out of it by identifying your goals and expectations of what you're hoping to achieve.
2) Once that's been established, the next task is choosing the location. "What place holds some fascination for you, or have you always wanted to go," he said. "Or maybe you know somebody who grew up in a certain place and you wonder, 'I wonder what it was like there?"'
3) Decide what you'd like to do while you're there and what skill sets you'd like to develop or put to use. "The motivation, the place you'd like to go to and what you'd like to do there: it's a process then of trying to mesh those things."
Minthorn also recommends that people leave themselves between six months to a year to properly plan for their journey, which will include ensuring you have the proper visas for entry, work permits, and depending on location, the needed shots and inoculations.
Minthorn said it's key for individuals to know what their expectations are and what they're hoping to gain from the experience, but to also be prepared for the unexpected.
"Sometimes, if you treat it like, 'I'm buying a pair of shoes and I want to know exactly what kind of shoes I'm getting' - that's not going to happen with an experience like this," he said.
"You don't know what you're going to get in some ways - and that's why you do it. It's to learn from those ways where you have to adapt and cope."