My top 5 travel tips for volunteering in Bali

I volunteered in Bali on the PMGY medical project for 3 weeks in August 2018. I never would've thought of doing anything like this traveling alone and volunteering abroad, the reason I embarked on this experience was amazingly for part of my degree - to do a medical placement anywhere. I cannot tell you how glad I am that I stumbled across PMGY and I bit the bullet and travelled almost 8000 miles alone.

So I thought I'd share my top 5 travel tips for volenttering in Bali

1. Enjoy! Enjoy every minute of your trip from the moment you plane touches down. You will experience so much in a short space of time, from local life, the project you are volunteering on, the people you meet, the trips you can go on, the places you can visit and the activities you can do.

Swinging through Ubud

2. Travel. Once youve finished your project for the day/week you are free to do whatever you want and the perfect way to spend this time is to travel. In 3 weeks I managed to visit; Ubud, Canngu, Kuta, Seminyak, Uluwatu and Nusa Penida. I swung through ricefields, vistied temples, went to beaches, partied with my fellow volenteers, tried and failed to surf, saw waterfalls, swam in hot springs, rode in the back of pick up truck, spent a day on a boat, saw monkeys, cuddled elephants and watched some beaultiful sunrises and sunsets. I would highly reccommend the organised trip to Ubud, I was also supposed to go on the Gili Island trip but unfortuantely it was cancelled due to the earthquakes while I was out there.

Cuddles with the baby I saw be born

3. Learn. There are so many things to learn and so many people to learn from. I learnt about the country, culture, religion, healthcare, the people of Bali and the people I volunteered alongside with. It is such a fantastic opportunity to go to somewhere new, I enjoyed learning about Bali and being able to experience life in Bali. The project was also such an eye opener of how lucky I am to live in a place which offers free healthcare to all. I saw and learnt about the price of medical treatment and healthcare. 

Independence Day

4. Friendship. You will meet so many different people from different places and different walks of life to yourself. whether they are fellow volunteers, PMGY staff or locals. I was really nervous to travel alone, but I was so plesantly suprised. I made tons of friends from people close to home to people who live on the other side of the world to me. You are able to make close friendships as you're all in the same boat, away from home and many people were volunteering for the first time as well as sharing amazing experiences together.

Getting purified at a water temple

5. Make the most of your expereience! My final tip summarises the rest of my tips, your volenteerign experience will be what you make of it and the effort you put into it. So work hard on your project and be the difference you wanted to make when you decided to volunteer. Make friends with people you never would've met if you didn't take your trip, use your free time to travel wherever you wish and do activities you've always dreamed of and never would've been able to do otherwise and most importantly enjoy every minute of it :)

Nusa Penida sunrise