Your bags packed, your schedule set, and you are looking forward to being away and immersing yourself in your new country for the next two weeks. The reality is that the majority of us will hardly leave the beach and spend the chunk of our time drinking wine and taking selfies. Completely neglecting the beauty and needs of the surrounding culture. However, you could be doing so much more! As a nurse, you have the expertise and knowledge that can aid people in countries with a 1 to 50,000 doctor to patient ratio. Not only will you have the opportunity to give back, but you’ll also learn more about the exciting things the area has to offer and ultimately walk away changed forever, as you gain an understanding of the world. There is more to the country than meets the eye! Getting out, seeing, and experiencing, the things listed here are an amazing way to get the best out of your time away.

Asia

• Assist in the healthcare of villagers in one of the most rural areas in Bohol and Palawan, Philippines.

• Improve the living conditions of women and children in Palampur, India.

• Find activities for children with disabilities at the local health centers in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

• Work in local schools throughout the Ubud area, teaching the importance of basic hygiene and general health.

• Spend a week working with children at a care center and another week working with pandas in China.

• Jump rope with children in Nepal.

• Feeling adventurous? Hike, climb, bike, fish, ski or even paraglide through the Himalaya’s.

• Tour the rice terraces and spice and coffee plantations and taste the famous Coffee Luwak (Kopi Luwak).

• Explore the Cu Chi Tunnels.

• Hug a baby panda in Chengdu.

South America

• Practice your Spanish, then volunteer at a hospital in Quito, Ecuador.

• Help a nurse learn English and understand the medications in Lima, Peru.

• Contribute to expanding a rural clinic in the Dominican Republican.

• Care for Peruvian native wildlife at an Amazon shelter.

• Work in close collaboration with trained dogs and conduct specialized therapy sessions with physically challenged children in Bolivia.

• In Argentina, aid the rehabilitation of children and adults while caring for the horses at the center.

• Explore the Pacific rim; shop at the markets or visit the historical museums to learn more about beautiful Lima.

• Teach English at Angeles de Medellin in Colombia.

• Fly down a zip line through the dense Dominican jungle.

• Kiss a tortoise at Santa Cruz Island.

• Meet the Peruvian locals.

• Scale a waterfall in the Amazon.

Africa

• Shadow and learn from local doctors at a private health clinic in Addis Ababa.

• In Tanzania volunteer to lead a first-aid workshop at the help2kids Health Project.

• Help to develop educational materials on health for the centers in Ghana.

• Assist midwives when they visit the pregnant women who live in remote locations in Kenya.

• Feed and care for the Cheetahs in South Africa.

• Help local farmers in Namibia by elephant conservation monitoring and construction.

• Start at Arusha and take a safari through Tanzania.

• Take a tour in Namibia; you can visit the sand dunes and desolate plains of Sossusvlei and the Namib Desert or the skeleton coast.

• Take a taxi from the Kenyan village of Lunga Lunga to the port city of Mombasa to shop at the many exciting markets.

• Drive the garden route in South Africa.

• Trail the mountain gorillas in Rwanda.

• Circle the pyramids.

Europe

• Provide care to refugees arriving in Italy.

• Help marine researchers collect scientific data on a cruise in the northwestern Mediterranean, Italy.

• Work alongside biologists and other marine specialists on a marine conservation in Spain.

• Hike the Camino de Santiago in Spain.

• Assist local staff in providing physical therapy care to babies, children, and adults in Romania.

• Work with the staff at a child care center in Albania on awareness campaigns to improve the rights of children and youth with disabilities.

• Go hiking through Albania’s national park to Dajti Mountain to observe local wildlife, including the wild boar.

• Take a canal tour in Amsterdam.

• Go skinny dipping in Sweden.

• Eat oysters in Croatia.

• Hop the stones of Giant’s Causeway in County Antrim.

• Sail around the Greek Isles.

• Stand on the end of the continent.

Australia / Oceania

• Support the Fiji Shark Conservation & Awareness project.

• Join a local group in Australia to support the conservation of bats and their habitat through work, research and education.

• Support kindergartens with special needs in Samoa.

• Improve the quality of patients with disabilities in Fiji.

• Participate in Wombat Rescue in Australia.

• Climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

• Go Scuba Diving along the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Queensland.

• Take the 6-km coastal cliff walk from Bondi to Coogee in the Sydney suburbs.

• Go on a camel ride on Camel rides, Cable Beach.

• Swim with sea lions and dolphins at Baird Bay.

• Panning for gold in Ballarat.

North America

• Obtain lab specimens and provide patient care assupport at the National Jewish Health Center in Denver, Colorado.

• Educate patients on Food and Nutrition, Health and Wellness or related lectures at the Center for Health Services in Illinois.

• Work in an acute care setting in Pennsylvania.

• Responsible for delivery of professional nursing care for assigned HIV patients in Jamaica.

• Develop individual patient plans for hospitals in Mexico.

• Bungee jumps from the Royal Gorge Bridge.

• Ride a cable car in San Francisco.

• Take a helicopter tour over Hawaii.

• Take a picture onto the Statue of Liberty in New York.

• Ride a fan boat in the Everglades.

• Stroll the Hollywood Walk of Fame.