Breana Johnson

If you’re itching to get out of town, you’re not alone in your wanderlust. Maybe that’s why National Shop for Travel Day – a day dedicated to (you guessed it) shopping for your upcoming adventures – may very well gain quite a bit of traction this year.

"Look, there's a bullet hole here." My husband points out a circular indentation in the wall of his childhood home at the Kigobe Mission Station in Bujumbura, Burundi.

I sat at the edge of the little fishing boat, peering down into the clear Bahamian sea to spot my husband. Under the water, I could make out his shape as he took careful aim with his Hawaiian sling.

Voluntourism can be a benefit to communities, but if done improperly, it can actually be more harmful than helpful. And unfortunately, it can be hard for an outsider to know the difference. So what can socially-conscious travelers do to make sure their efforts make a positive, rather than a negative, impact? 

I don’t need to keep my voice down to use this library. I don’t need a library card, and I don’t even need to go inside. Actually, I can’t go inside, because the building, elevated to eye-level by a sturdy post, is only about 18 inches wide— big enough to hold two dozen picture books and a handful of novels. This is a Little Free Library, a traveling bookworm’s dream come true.