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 the actual thing they were there to do, which was teach English. I found out that then that Teaching provides the teacher with much more teaching than the students. The tool is two sided.

Ken Budd goes into great detail not just of what he did, but what happened to him when he did it. It's great to see that someone with such observatory skill is doing something with it. I hope that others who read this will take time to help others even if it's for selfish reasons. IT will change you, no matter what. good or bad, change will happen. Ken was open to it, he saw an opportunity and took it. Thankfully he was fully supported by his work and his spouse to accomplish what he wanted to and indeed needed to.

I recommend this book to any arm-chair tourists. Eco Tourism is in full swing around the world and hopefully Voluntourism is the next fad.

I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.