Planning a vacation can be a large undertaking whether with family or on your own. Every year I feel the need to plan my annual leisure vacation with my typical process involving researching where the best beach is and what hotel makes the best cocktails.

However, this year I have been meeting with several of our partner tourism boards, including Mexico Tourism, Taiwan Tourism and the Tourism Authority of Thailand, and they are seeing a growing number of travelers visiting their destinations with much more of a purpose. Volunteerism is becoming a larger part of the choice process when planning these vacations. 

Many travel tours, luxury and budget operators are taking travelers to South America and Africa and even here in the United States, offering them a week of community involvement with our version of barn-raising or spending time teaching English to children. If you want to stay close to home your first time volunteering and like the outdoors, the Appalachian Mountain Club offers trail cleanup trips. Cross-Cultural Solutions offers longer stays but more cultural immersion, providing a chance to travel abroad and help plant vegetable gardens, paint houses and help the elderly.

These trips are a noble cause, making your trip a memorable one and hopefully raising your karma a notch or two for the year. Now I need to follow my own advice, put down my margarita and start researching.

— Carly Allen, vice president