KEY POINTS:
You're leaving home because you want to immerse yourself in a different culture. And you mean it. You want to learn the language, eat the fried monkey brains, sleep in a local family's house, be attacked by their cockroaches and swim with their sharks. If you're out in nature, you'll be hiking, climbing, surfing, diving or snowboarding through it. You have plenty of time, but not much money. But it doesn't matter if you're surviving on five rupees a day and can't afford a tour,as you'd rather see the local sights on foot and discover the culture independently.
This year
You went to India, South America or parts of Southeast Asia like Thailand and Vietnam. But only to one or two of these destinations because you want to spend at least six weeks there to really get into it.
Next year
You'll be wanting to go to Eastern Europe, Burma, Cambodia, China, Africa. But you won't just be going to indulge in extreme adventure sports or to marry into remote tribes of pygmies who've never seen a white woman before. In these days of enlightened travel you realise that there are certain political, cultural and environmental issues that responsible travellers must face up to. You'll join in with community aid or local ecology projects in order to achieve the meaningful native contact and cultural immersion you crave.
Dream destination
A trip with a travel operator founded by New Zealander, Christopher Hill, called Hands Up Holidays. This firm provide opportunities for both sightseeing and aid in places as varied as Tibet, Uganda, Vanuatu, Guatemala and Laos. After a look around the area, you'll team up with local aid projects and do jobs like teaching, building, office work or childcare. On the Borneo trip you'll spend time trekking in the bush and riding in longboats before working on a community development project, alternating doing renovations and teaching English, while staying in the headman's section of the tribal longhouse every night.
Sample prices: The 16-day Borneo excursion costs around NZ$2500.
