The Voluntourist: A Six-Country Tale of Love, Loss, Fatherhood, Fate, and Singing Bon Jovi in Bethlehem

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The Voluntourist: A Six-Country Tale of Love, Loss, Fatherhood, Fate, and Singing Bon Jovi in Bethlehem

3.61 of 5 stars 3.61 · rating details · 178 ratings · 53 reviews

VOL-UN-TOUR-ISTn. 1. A guy who attempts to save the world in an attempt to save himself. 2. Someone who can only do it two weeks at a time.

When Ken Budd was thirty-nine, his father collapsed after eighteen holes of golf. Ken and his wife raced to the hospital--but it was too late. In the weeks that followed, as grieving friends revealed how his father had changed their liv...more

Paperback, 464 pages

Published May 8th 2012 by William Morrow Paperbacks

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Nov 19, 2012 Adam Archer rated it 1 of 5 stars

I didnt like it.

I thought the premise was fascinating; a guy who is struggling with the loss of his father and the fact that he will never be a father himself (his wife does not want kids) and starts volunteering around the world. I have read a few other books about volunteering abroad and really enjoyed them (Leaving Microsoft to Change the World - The Heart and the Fist, etc). This book seemed right up my alley.

But as I sat here in Tanzania in my own two year volunteer trip, the book did not...more

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Aug 24, 2012 Caren rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-nonfiction

This book is the author's story of coming to terms with his father's sudden untimely death. Yes, it is also about his coming to terms with the knowledge that he will never be a father (because his beloved wife, his high school sweetheart, doesn't want children), but that is somehow tied up in losing his father. Perhaps all of his adventures are a study in a father/son relationship. His father comes across as a kindly but hard-working guy, often absent from the family mentally because he was so c...more

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May 31, 2012 Lyssa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Having become more interested in "voluntourism" (the catchphrase annoys me, tho it is accurate) and recently signing up for my own jaunt around the world, I was interested in reading the author's perspective on the experience.

As with any kind of tour, a lot of the experience is about the people touring with you, so I enjoyed reading about the folk he volunteered with. And I appreciated his descriptions of the realities of this kind of experience: bug bites, lack of toilets/running water, custom...more

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May 09, 2012 Lisa Niver rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: travel

The Voluntourist: A Six-Country Tale of Love, Loss, Fatherhood, Fate, and Singing Bon Jovi in Bethlehem by Ken Budd starts with the line, “I want to live a life that matters,” and so he does.

Inspired by the need to deal with the loss of his father, he searches for answers, but this quest requires a passport and patience. Patience to wait in line at customs, for airplanes, for young children in China and Costa Rica, for Ecuadorian birds to fly in the cloud forest, and for all things in Palestine...more The Voluntourist: A Six-Country Tale of Love, Loss, Fatherhood, Fate, and Singing Bon Jovi in Bethlehem by Ken Budd starts with the line, “I want to live a life that matters,” and so he does.

Inspired by the need to deal with the loss of his father, he searches for answers, but this quest requires a passport and patience. Patience to wait in line at customs, for airplanes, for young children in China and Costa Rica, for Ecuadorian birds to fly in the cloud forest, and for all things in Palestine.

During his journey, he states, “I’m not only working for free, I’m paying for the privilege.” From his first moments scraping paint and mold in the lower Ninth in New Orleans, he bemoans, “How can I live up to my father’s life when I’ll never be a father myself?” This juxtaposition of trying to have a life with meaning, and involvement with children as a route to that meaning, are essential parts of his journey and inner monologue. Clearly enamored of his father’s life and how he managed his life and work, Budd states “It’s not even dying that bothers me. It’s dying without making a difference in the world. Without doing a damn thing that matters.” Most people want to make a difference but they have no idea where to start. Budd’s book points out that you can start anywhere on the map and even with only two weeks at a time. He is a fantastic role model for getting out there and making a difference. And his father’s death is a reminder that we all have only a limited time -- at the end of our lives no one sits and thinks, “I wish I spent more time at the office.”

His expeditions out of his normal routine help him to elucidate his grief. He takes the time to mourn his father and to look at his life while also mourning that he will not be a father. As he says, “Sometimes in life, you can drive a familiar road and still not now where you’re going.” But Ken Budd is forcing himself to change his life and help others although while in the South American cloud forest, as in so many of his volunteer sites, he wonders, “What good are we actually doing here?” It does seem that the person who gets the most benefit from volunteering is the volunteer, although Budd clearly shows how much the programs he participates in -- from teaching English in Costa Rica to feeding lunch in Kenya -- do help the locals with whom he interacts.

Budd recounts reading the Tibetan lama Sakyong Mipham and his words, “Thinking we have all the time in the world, we waste it.” Budd does not waste his time. As his dad told him, “if you’re going to do something, Budo, always do it right.” Although in the beginning it does seems as if his “renewed quest to be a better person began with [his] being a selfish jerk.” Budd does “fling [himself] around the globe” without his wife, and getting out of his comfort zone to heal after his father’s death does stand a chance of ruining his relationship with his wife, who does not want to be a mother.

He shares many moving moments from his assignments and I do like when he says while in Ecuador improvising, “Enjoy what you have instead of lamenting what you lack.” Budd’s evolution to a person who really appreciates what he has is worth reading. I hope the reader becomes inspired to take a journey and see just how lucky you are!

Budd's ultimate message may be summed up: "Don’t wait to cherish your life! Start today!"

This review first appeared at Wandering Educators.
Lisa Niver Rajna is the Geography Awareness Editor for Wandering Educators. You can find her at WeSaidGoTravel.(less)

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Mar 17, 2012 Kristen rated it 2 of 5 stars

Following the death of his father, Ken Budd realized how much he respected his father and the life that he lived. Wanting to be like his father and realizing that he would never have children of his own, Ken became a voluntourist. He helped rebuild in New Orleans after Katrina, taught English in Costa Rica, helped at a school for autisitic and disabled students in China, researched climate change in Ecuador, helped with Palestinian projects in Bethlehem, and helped at an orphange in Kenya. The b...more

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Aug 27, 2012 AfricaAdventureConsultants rated it 4 of 5 stars

While not strictly about African travel, this is a great read about Ken Budd living through something of a mid-life crisis after his father's death and the realization that he would not become a father himself. He deals with these crises through volunteer travel (not a bad outlet!). He visits six different countries and does a different type of project in each, though more than one is focused on caring for children. Ken visited New Orleans to help with post-hurricane clean up, taught English in...more

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May 18, 2013 Denise is currently reading it

The premise of taking time out of your upper-middle class American life and volunteering time in various 3rd world countries is a very interesting one. Since I am just about to go to Costa Rica (on vacation), I am re-reading that chapter for local color.

The contrasts between his six volunteer stints are quite strong-post-Katrina clean-up in NOLA; Costa Rica; China; etc. Also, his experiences bring out the silly American trend toward monolingualism and might inspire readers to study a foreign lan...more

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Jun 11, 2012 Kelli rated it 4 of 5 stars

I wavered between 3 and 4 stars for this book. After the sudden death of his father and his own realization that he will never be a father himsekf. Ken Budd decides to take on international volunteering vacations as a way to give meaning to his life and allow him to make a lasting impression on the world. Budd's writing style is funny,descriptive and easy to read. His travels take him to New Orleans, China, Costa Rica, Equador, Bethlehem and Kenya where he does a variety of tasks from home renov...more

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Dec 25, 2012 Amberlori rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book had a really interesting premise to me, a man coming to grips with two losses in his life setting out to discover something about himself, and hopefully in the process help out others.

The unexpected death of his father is the catalyst to his journey, and it plays a part throughout his story. Sometimes, though, I felt like his flashback stories about his father had no relevance to the story at hand. They seemed sometimes just sort of thrown in and I often felt they detracted, rather tha...more

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Apr 19, 2012 Sam Sattler rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: travel, memoir

After Ken Budd’s father succumbed to a fatal heart attack suffered on the golf course, Budd took a long, hard look at his own life and decided that something was missing. His was a childless marriage, but Budd was reluctant to push his yearning for children because he knew that his wife did not want a child. Budd did know that he wanted to live “a life that matters,” one in which his good deeds would live on long after he was gone - but he did not know where to begin.

When, just a few months late...more After Ken Budd’s father succumbed to a fatal heart attack suffered on the golf course, Budd took a long, hard look at his own life and decided that something was missing. His was a childless marriage, but Budd was reluctant to push his yearning for children because he knew that his wife did not want a child. Budd did know that he wanted to live “a life that matters,” one in which his good deeds would live on long after he was gone - but he did not know where to begin.

When, just a few months later, he received an email from his employer outlining opportunities for volunteers to help New Orleans residents clean up and rebuild in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Budd decided this was just the thing to turn his life in a new, more positive direction. His two weeks in New Orleans, as described in The Voluntourist, would lead to five more “voluntourist” trips around the world, trips during which Budd and other travelers would pay for the opportunity to perform the most basic labor for people in desperate need of relief.

After New Orleans, Budd would spend two weeks: in a Costa Rican school; in a Chinese school for mentally handicapped children; deep in the Ecuadorian jungle working with a conservationist group; observing daily life in Palestine through the eyes of ordinary Palestinian families; and working in a Kenyan orphanage. Along the way, Budd reminded himself to live (and to test himself) by a philosophical truth he picked up in Costa Rica from another “voluntourist” – “you only learn about yourself when you’re outside your comfort zone.” This would certainly be the case for Ken Budd.

The Voluntourist tends to drift a little, often resulting in a feeling of repetitiveness as Budd returns time and again to the same personal issues he struggled with during this period in his life. Perhaps, this was done because Budd intends for his readers to watch his thinking evolve over time as he experiences the cultures of more countries and deals with numerous children - but it makes what is already destined to be long book (near 450 pages) longer than need be.

That said, The Voluntourist will be of great interest to arm chair travelers because of how much time the author spends with ordinary working citizens of the places he visits. Budd is definitely not a tourist; he literally gets his hands dirty by being very willing to take on whatever task he is asked to perform. It takes Budd a while to figure out that he is not expected to perform miracles, or to make permanent changes in the lives of those he comes into contact with – it is more about bringing some relief to people whose lives are harsher and more physically demanding than his own. In the process of doing this, he will achieve his heartfelt goal of living “a life that matters.”

Rated at: 3.5(less)

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Apr 02, 2012 Nada rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: other-review-copies

Review first published on my blog: http://memoriesfrombooks.blogspot.com...

The Voluntourist is subtitled "a six-country tale of love, loss, fatherhood, fate and singing Bon Jovi in Bethlehem". This memoir really tells three stories. It is a look into the growing popularity of voluntourism. The book also is a travel journal, describing the places and people Ken Budd encounters on his journeys. Finally, this memoir is a personal journey as the author struggles to reconcile to his father's death an...more Review first published on my blog: http://memoriesfrombooks.blogspot.com...

The Voluntourist is subtitled "a six-country tale of love, loss, fatherhood, fate and singing Bon Jovi in Bethlehem". This memoir really tells three stories. It is a look into the growing popularity of voluntourism. The book also is a travel journal, describing the places and people Ken Budd encounters on his journeys. Finally, this memoir is a personal journey as the author struggles to reconcile to his father's death and to the fact of his loving but childless marriage.

Voluntourism is the idea of people traveling to different locations of the world, combining travel and vacation with a chance to do some good. Ken Budd has traveled multiple times as a voluntourist, sometimes with his wife and sometimes alone. The projects he describe range from rebuilding homes in New Orleans to studying climate change to working orphans and special needs children. He describes the amazing need for help, the ability of these projects to utilize whatever skills a person brings, and the sometimes discouraging feeling of how little you can do in a short time. The book talks about the challenges and rewards of voluntourism presenting a useful perspective for anyone considering such a trip.

In the context of the book, Ken Budd's memoir also acts as a travel journal. He travels to many different places including Ecuador, Kenya, China, and Palestine. Through his experiences, we get a brief look into these places and people, allowing the reader to be an armchair traveler. What makes it more interesting is that this is not a typical tourist's view, but a deeper look through the people that he meets.

The final aspect of the book is Ken Budd's personal journey. He undertakes these adventures as he feels his life incomplete after the death of his father and after accepting the fact of a life without children. For me, this was the incomplete part of the book. The projects and the places of travel were the highlight of the books. The emotional journey is reflected in glimpses making parts of the book come across in a somewhat detached manner. I wish there was more of his story.

*** Reviewed for the LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program ***(less)

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Mar 22, 2012 Yasmin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Ken Budd's father dies abruptly, causing him to question what gives his own life meaning. He gets an email calling for volunteers to help out in New Orleans after Katrina. After that experience, he decides he will become a serial voluntourist, visiting several countries to help with a variety of projects: an orphanage in Kenya; studying climate change in Ecuador; a refugee camp in Palestine.

It's an interesting read, although I felt the prose could have been tightened in some areas. He did a good...more

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Jun 14, 2012 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars

A few years ago I spent four months living in an apartment in Ulan Bator, Mongolia with a friend fresh from Peace Corps. His friends numbered in the dozens and stayed on our couch, floor, everywhere, for weeks at a time. There I got a first hand account of the trials and tribulations of volunteering in a very foreign country. They told tales of terrible kids, tortures of the flesh, and then also went into great detail of the nightlife or lack of it, the food, the culture, much more in depth than...more

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Jun 06, 2012 Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: travel

Ken Budd is trying to come to terms with the reality that he desperately wants children and his wife, just as firmly, does not. His beloved father passes away and Budd realizes that there will be no children in his life to mourn his passing. He decides to use this passion to raise children to help others and volunteers for a series of trips to assist others. In the course of this book, he ventures to New Orleans after Katrina, China to work with special needs students, Costa Rica to teach Englis...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Karla rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013

After Ken Budd's father suddenly dies, he begins to question his own life and the fact that he will never have children (his wife doesn't want children). Budd embarks on a series of volunteer trips. While on these trips he comes to grip with what the meaning of his life is going to be without children. An interesting look at voluntourism - what it actually means to those who are helped, how it changes the person volunteering. The tales of Budd's father that he shares often seem to have nothing t...more

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Oct 13, 2012 Susan rated it 3 of 5 stars

After the death of his father and his grief at not being a father, Ken Budd goes on a self-discovery jaunt of six countries as a volun-tourist. He embraces experiences such as rebuilding homes in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, teaching English in Costa Rica and helping in a Kenyan orphanage.

Unlike Eat,Pray, Love, Budd explores his ideas, his craving to make a difference and live a fulfilled life while spinning a candidly entertaining tale. A storyteller with brutal humour, open-mindedness...more

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Jun 18, 2012 Georgette rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: armchair-travel-essays

I liked this book a lot.

After his dad passes away suddenly, Ken Budd faces an attack of "What have I done with my life to make a difference?". It's something those of us who lose parents or close loved ones often ask. Death has a funny way of clarifying and prioritizing things. Ken and his wife had decided that kids weren't in the equation, and that decision is now coming back and smacking him in the back of his head with uncertainty. He decides he wants to go to where help is needed and lend a...more

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Nov 19, 2012 Barb rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. As someone who truly enjoys reading about travel, this was a must read and I wasn't disappointed (for the most part). The author takes you to the places he has volunteered in and tells a vivid and mesmerising story about each experience. My only complaint (and why I didn't give it a 5) was his story about volunteering in Palestine. In this chapter I felt the author became preachy about the situation there.
Otherwise, if you like travel literature, give this one a look....more

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Apr 30, 2013 Brian rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was another "random grab" from the library - looked interesting. Turned out to be a really enjoyable, absorbing read. I'd love to be able to do this (combine international vacation/travel with volunteering for various worthy causes) but having kids kind of knocks this out. Of course that is a major theme of his books, this being how he reconciles "leaving something" for the world without having children of his own.

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Jun 19, 2012 Patricia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The subtitle of the book really summarizes it best: A Six-Country Tale of Love, Loss, Fatherhood, Fate and Singing Bon Jovi in Bethlehem. This is a thoughtful book that examines the author's feelings about giving up his dream of fatherhood, the rewards and challenges of short term volunteer stints in other countries, and ultimately, being grateful for the life he has and inspired to do more for others.

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Dec 28, 2012 Tim Cowley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: humor, non-fiction, travel

Really enjoyed the wit and humor that went along with Ken in his travels overseas. His introspection into his past, present and future life situations helped to glue his numerous trips together. I love reading travelogues and found myself wishing, however, that there was twice the number of trips and half the amount of writing about each trip. But it is what it is and I would recommend this to others who enjoy travelogues, short-term volunteer trips, or in general Americans who want to know a bi...more

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Oct 20, 2012 Bryan Mclellan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Great stories from a diversity of volunteering trips around the world. That is the vast majority of the book though. While the cover makes ado about coming to terms with his fathers death, his marriage and his lack of children, these parts of the book are very brief. More of a travel journal with bits of a childhood memoir than shared introspection for others to learn from.

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Sep 22, 2012 Vanessa rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book, and it inspired me to look into voluntourism trips for myself. It's great for anyone who likes to read about travel, about children, about trying to find your purpose, or just about the world and unity in general. It's very easily readable, with conversational and modern language, and certain parts of it touched my heart. It might also make you realize what, and whom, really matters in your life, and how the littlest things sometimes make the biggest impact.

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Feb 13, 2013 Carol rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: library, non-fiction

Picked this up because of the title reference to Bon Jovi (which -- spoiler alert! -- turns out to be only a casual reference to a group sing-along of "Living' on a Prayer"), but stayed for the interesting combo of self-reflection, personal growth, global volunteer experiences, and quest for living a life that matters.

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May 17, 2012 Carol rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very interesting account of author's various volunteer adventures in 6 different parts of the world, including China and Palestine. Having volunteered personally was quite interested to read other accounts of the experience. Included recommended sites to pursue volunteering abroad.

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Jan 23, 2013 Keith Ford rated it 1 of 5 stars

Damn boring book! I made it 50 pages in before I tired of all of his whining and inability to find meaning in his altruism. If he and his wife hadn't decided to have a child by the time they were 40, then its too late. A woman pushes the envelope of health when having a baby after 35.

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Jun 17, 2012 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very interesting. I think this speaks to all of us who have lost a parent and want to do something that brings meaning to the world. I know I just recently went through my own need to make a career change to something that brings value to the world after years of believing that chasing financial success would make my dad proud. At times the author's politics can be a bit heavy--and I say this as someone who agreed somewhat with the points he was trying to make! Overall, a good read though.

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Oct 28, 2012 Jim Dykstra rated it 4 of 5 stars

Searching for something after his fathers death, Budds Voluntourist experiences provide him an opportunity to examine his marriage and life. Buds does a good job describing the people and places he visits and he manages to highlight causes without preaching and proselytizing. A book worth reading.

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Jul 12, 2012 Jill rated it 5 of 5 stars

Loved this book, even though crime stories are my favorite, I try to read some type of auto-biographical/historical book in between my Michael Connelly. This one was a great spin on charity work.

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Oct 23, 2012 Frank rated it 5 of 5 stars

A witty and sometimes heartbreaking memoir of a man in search of meaning after the sudden death of his father and realization that he and his wife would remain intentionally childless. Ken Budd skillfully weaves the themes of meaning and loss in a painfully and joyfully honest account of a round the world series of volunteer trips in which he encounters the deep needs of our world and comes to the realization that the life he left is the one he most desires.

Budd's writing make the trip worth ta...more

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About Ken Budd

KEN BUDD is an award-winning writer and editor whose writing credits include Smithsonian, the Washington Post, McSweeney’s, Stuff, Washingtonian, Modern Humorist, Opium, and Worldview. Ken lives in Burke, Virginia, near Washington, D.C., with his wife.

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