What Compels Me to Go?

As we prepare for our trip to Senegal with the Peace Corps, we often pause to consider our motivations for going.

Are we doing this for the right reasons? What are the right reasons?

As a student at Clemson, I (Kirby) studied travel and tourism, and while I haven’t actively worked in the tourism industry, there are a few pieces of information that burrowed in deep. Some of those ideas relate to tourist motivations, and while I do not consider Peace Corps Volunteers to be tourists, I do see many parallels between the whys of service and the whys of travel.

With the ultimate goal of increasing revenue, effective marketing campaigns need to target specific triggers in the psyche of a potential customer. So for tourism professionals, the question is, what compels the traveler to take the first step?

Some tourists are motivated by the romantic allure of exotic places and cultures. Some are drawn by nostalgia and history. Still others yearn for an authentic experience, local flavors and adventures behind the façade of the showy tourist hot spots. Some, like the visitors of disaster ruins or tragic sites, are compelled by darker curiosities, rubbernecking at despair. Other motivations might include personal fulfillment, stress management, social status and education. Truthfully, there may be as many motivations as there are tourists, but these broad strokes give us a framework to start with.

There is a delicate balance of motivations for volunteer travelers, or “voluntourists” as they are sometimes called, and I think as Peace Corps Volunteers, we flirt dangerously with this designation. Volunteer tourists are often driven by their desire to help others, to offer time and service to a community, specifically a community in need. Still, there are inherent, self-serving motivations that transcend the altruistic notions of travelers looking to give back. Service oriented workers combat feelings of self-righteousness and a sort of savior complex that often results in more damage than good. Even the idea of a “community in need” is pretty loaded and carries with it connotations of “us” and “them”. As we contemplate the road ahead of us, I we hope that these are not traps we fall into.

For many years we have pursued the goal of working in international development, driven by our passions for loving people and serving others. However, I think that if we are honest with ourselves, we share some of all of these motivations, from dark curiosity to exotic adventure. I hope and pray that the motivations of love and service carry us through the lion’s share of our journey.

In order to have the greatest impact on our community and on our personal development, we will try to approach our time in Senegal with hearts full of kindness and humility. We are not the experts visiting to save the day or teach better ways. Rather than going as teachers, we hope to be learners, working alongside our partners there to come up with valuable solutions together. By living in community with our neighbors and putting the needs of others first, we will be better able to fulfill the goals we may have for ourselves and the goals that are handed down by Peace Corps.