From the swivellin' chair...

Oh boy. Somebody’s just gone and started a new T-List.

The good news is that this one’s a heck of a lot smaller than the original T-List, which Guido from Happy Hotelier tells me now lists 184 sites. The new list, as I found it on TravelMinx, has just 10.

The idea is to repost the original list while adding your own favourites. Instead of rehashing the favourites I wrote about a few weeks ago, I’ve decided to add 2 great blogs written by Travellerspoint members:

• Greg Wesson’s Esoteric Globe - Greg’s a travel consultant with a sharp, introspective blog.
  
• Kiwis Don’t Fly! - Dave’s a Kiwi attempting to cross from Dublin to Sydney without ever setting foot in a plane.
  

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The Originals

• Vagabondish
  
• Brave New Traveler
  
• Leave America
  
• Rambling Traveler
  
• Go Budget Travel
  
• A Month In Venice
  
• TravelMinx
  
• Budget Globetrotting
  
• Ubertramp
  
• GoBackpacking
  

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How do you remove leeches?

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Ever dreamed of volunteering in Costa Rica? Can you afford it? Photo by shinenyc.

Several years ago, I researched doing a volunteer trip and was disheartened when most volunteer programs I found were well beyond my budget. I became sceptical. If these people want me to volunteer for them, why are they charging me so much money to do so?

In fact, it wasn’t the local organisations that were threatening to bleed me dry financially. It was the multinational companies acting as the middle man between them and potential volunteers such as myself. Their exorbitant fees were what turned me off volunteering overseas.

I was startled to read just how much going through an international “voluntourism company“ adds to the price. Rob Meyer, on his blog GoBudgetTravel, showed that a volunteer program costing a mere $450 if arranged directly with the organisation, costs $2245 if you go through a multinational company.

Where’s all that extra cash going?

Scott Pralinsky, the executive director for Tropical Adventures (a “so-called voluntourism company” which operates in Costa Rica), replied to Rob’s post from his own blog, explaining that the extra money helps pay for quite a bit. Besides setting you up with an appropriate local organisation, these companies provide valuable support for volunteers. They also research and decide which areas of Costa Rica most need support. And of course there are administrative costs, advertising, and salaries to pay.

I agree that companies like Tropical Adventures have their place. They are great for travellers who might not be willing (or able) to plan a volunteer trip themselves.

Unfortunately, voluntourism companies also tend to be the most prominent. How many travellers grow discouraged and give up after they find they cannot afford to volunteer - without ever realising that they can organise it on their own?

Should voluntourism companies take greater care to inform potential volunteers that there are cheaper ways to volunteer - even if that means some people don't volunteer through them?

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For those interested in organising their own volunteer trip, here are a few great articles worth checking out:

• The Complete Guide to Volunteer Tourism
  
• 6 Steps to Organizing Your Own Volunteer Trip
  
• How to Save Thousands by Organizing Your Own Volunteer Trip
  

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Machu Picchu was famous long before millions of people voted for it to become one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. But for those of us yet to behold this awesome testament to the Inca civilisation, rumours are that the Peruvian government is pushing entrance prices up.

Will inflated prices or increased tourist numbers deter you from visiting?

Check out Linger’s gallery for more of her amazing images, or browse all the latest featured photos on Travellerspoint.

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Travellerspoint recently toppled over the 100,000 members line, so we decided it was time for an upgrade of some of the site’s social features.

You can now add friends, keep track of what they’ve been up to and (if you’re into snooping) check out who’s friends with who.

The friends system replaces the old contact list. You can add friends in the same way: when you’re on someone’s profile, just click “Add as friend”. If you already had contacts, they will now be your friends. Everything’s just become a whole lot more... umm... friendly?

The major change is that you can now track your friends’ activity. Head over to your friends page to see who’s been posting in the forums, putting up new blog entries, uploading photos or contributing to the destination guide.

Other recently added features:

• Subscribe to Featured Blogs
  
• Put Your Travellerspoint Map on Facebook
  
• Edit the Destination Guide
  

ps. If you notice any problems with the friends feature, please let us know by leaving a comment here.