Big Love/Volunteers for Peace

I decided on our trip across America (see Drive Across America; Travels with Jack) to give myself the gift of mornings. It has been amazing. I am not naturally a morning person and in my early years, I loved the late evenings most. These days, I am too tired in the evenings. On the trip, we learned to get up and get going before dark. We noticed that the mornings are full of promise and energy and SPACE. After noon, it seems, the world has tipped and you are just running to catch up. I love it enough to get up in the dark and meditate, followed by two bountiful hours of writing and researching. By 9AM, I am ready to join the world, having had this time to myself.

Anyway! I have been researching a way to travel in some way that connects my travel to something bigger. I was inspired by an article by Lisa Funderburg, More Magazine (see Big Love images here) in the dentist office yesterday. It is about a woman who went to Thailand--not to lay in the sun or or explore, but to tend to elephants in a sanctuary--elephants who had been abused or abandoned.

This morning, after a couple of hours of looking, I found a great web site. I have set up volunteer programs before and I know why they charge, but most of them are too expensive for me--or you, probably. So, I really like the projects and prices of Volunteers for Peace. Check it out.