On vacation…volunteering outside of my comfort zone
All during my working years I thought I might like to do volunteer work in my retirement, even while traveling - but especially while traveling! I like to be active everyday, and the thought of just sitting around in retirement never seemed appealing. I’ve seen loved ones slump into their recliner chairs for the last twenty years of their lives, and I think they suffered for it.
If I’m going to spend weeks or months away from home, it be great to find some way to stay active but also give back something to my hosting community. It is hard for me to think of a place in the world that doesn’t have the need of volunteers for one thing or another.
When I was working as a pathologist, I didn’t feel like I had time to volunteer for things in the community. It took so much time just to do my job reasonably well - I’d been working 10-12 hours per workday and often on weekends. And, I also had family responsibilities for many of those years. I felt like there wasn’t any extra room for volunteering.
Now that I am beyond my work-years, I have begun to enjoy volunteering to a certain extent - only a few hours per week - which I agree is not so much time. But, what better way to connect with the community than through volunteering for something, whether at home or while traveling.
Honolulu here we come
My partner and I have had the pleasure to visit the Hawaiian Islands several times over the past 35 years. But we’ve never spent much time in Honolulu because it seemed like just a big city with a beach. We were looking for a more rural relaxed experience. This year we decided that we were going to stay in one place, in Honolulu, for an entire month. We thought surely there must be many things to do in a city with a beautiful harbor and lovely hills to climb.
Beyond my search for hiking trails and restaurants, I began to look for volunteering opportunities online. But I found that most of the options involved a lot of training and dedication from the volunteer. I really didn’t have that much time to make it worthwhile for the organization to train me only to see me leave after a few weeks. But, I did finally find one event sponsored by the Honolulu Aquarium, not far from the apartment that we were renting. The Aquarium was organizing a day for cleaning up the beach where the aquarium sits wedged between the ocean and nearby Queen Kapiolani Park.
I filled out a simple online form with my email address. Then, as the day approached I got an email from the Aquarium with the details about the clean-up day. I was impressed with the Aquarium for making it so simple to be a volunteer. The instructions were very clear and welcoming.
Bucket and tongs
At 10 a.m. when I arrived at the Aquarium, the check-in tent was clearly marked. The staff were friendly and concise with their instructions. I was issued a pair of latex-free gloves, long metal tongs, and a large ten-gallon bucket for the trash. A young woman organizer told me to come back to the Aquarium whenever the bucket was full, or no later than 12 noon when the event ended. She said I had my choice of route to follow - either along the beach or into the park. I asked her what direction most other volunteers had headed - “to the beach” she said - so I decided to go in the opposite direction into to the park. I figured this would provide better coverage, by spreading us out rather than sticking only to the beach with all the other volunteers. The young woman mentioned that a lot of the trash ending up on the beach had blown in from the park, eventually ending up in the ocean.
In the park, I walked along picking up little bits of trash along the grassy median strip separating the lanes of traffic through the park, parallel to the beach and the Aquarium. I followed that route for several blocks until it ended in a city neighborhood. I then doubled back into the park toward the Aquarium picking up more trash especially around park benches, picnic tables and trash bins. Although I kept my eye out for treasure, all I really found were bits of paper, wrappers, wet wipes, and bottle caps, etc.
I continued through the park, just me and the birds for company. I was surprised how tame the birds were as I walk slowly picking up bits of trash. They didn’t seem to mind as I walked closer to them. The turtle doves were especially bold, not moving until I was nearly on top of them. I think they were just teasing me, daring me to come closer. Other birds included small green song-birds, Brazilian cardinals, pigeons, ducks, and of course, Hawaiian chickens. Surrounded by birds at times it felt like I was one of them!
Then, it started to rain. Not much at first but eventually, my shirt was fairly damp. The time was 11:30 a.m., not quite quitting time, but the rain was coming faster and my bucket was almost full of trash. I decided to return the gear and head home for the day. Most of the other volunteers had already returned to the Aquarium for complimentary refreshments - cookies and water. A few group photos were being taken.
I felt more than satisfied with the few hours I had spent picking up little bits of trash. Really, I was a surprised how little there was given the size of the city and the number of visitors using the park every day. The staff were kind, and I even got a few “thank you for your service” comments from people along the way! It was a pleasant way to spend the morning. I will continue to look for similar opportunities in the future.
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