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Travel with a purpose
义工旅行：远离城市的治愈时刻
Did you watch the popular TV series Meet Yourself during your winter vacation?
寒假期间，你看热播电视剧《去有风的地方》了吗？
In the TV series, the heroine Xu Hongdou travels to a village in Yunnan province and volunteers at a local cafe.
在剧中，女主角许红豆来到云南的一座村庄，在当地的一家咖啡馆做义工，
She gets free meals in return.
以此换得免费的餐食。
As the show finds a growing audience,
许红豆的经历近乎于“义工旅行”，
volunteer travel ?an old-yet-modern form of travel similar to Xu’s type of work ?has attracted more attention.
随着越来越多的观众收看这部电视剧，这种古老而现代的旅行方式也吸引了更多关注。
Volunteer travel refers to taking a trip where all or part of the purpose of the trip is to participate in an arranged service opportunity to help others,
根据线上文旅信息平台智胜慧旅的解释，义工旅行指旅行的全部或部分目的，
according to Wise Tour, an online provider of tourist information.
在于参与安排好的、帮助他人的志愿服务。
During the trip, volunteer travelers often provide services like teaching, cooking, animal caring, and cultural activities.
在旅途中，义工往往提供教学、烹饪、照看动物、组织文化活动等服务。
In exchange for their help, the volunteers may get free or discounted accommodation, meals and laundry, activities, or classes.
而作为对志愿服务的回报，在食宿、洗衣、参加活动或课程等方面，义工可以得到费用减免。
It seems as if these long journeys could only be made possible in recent years by modern transportation.
似乎只因现代交通发展，这些长途旅行才在近些年成为了可能。
Nevertheless, volunteer travel dates back to the 1960s,
然而，义工旅行可以追溯到20世纪60年代，
when Alec Dickson and his wife Mora from the UK founded Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), an international volunteer organization.
当时来自英国的亚力克·迪克森和妻子莫拉成立了一个国际义工组织——海外志愿服务(VSO)。
Traditionally, the volunteer activities take place in a foreign country.
传统的义工活动在国外进行，
However, just as what Meet Yourself depicts,
然而，正如《去有风的地方》里所展现的那样，
more volunteer trips have taken place within the same countries or regions the volunteers originate from in recent years.
近年来，越来越多的义工旅行发生在旅行者自身的国家或地区。
Sanlian Lifeweek magazine commented that volunteer projects in rural areas are now attracting more urban visitors as a break from the fast and stressful pace of urban living.
《三联生活周刊》评论称，农村义工项目正在吸引越来越多城市游客的注意，令其从快速而紧张的城市生活节奏中解脱出来。
Yang Yan, a founder of a volunteer platform,
一家义工平台的创始人杨燕
told the magazine that it has indeed been a growing trend for urban residents to volunteer in rural areas.
在接受该杂志采访时表示，城市居民到农村做义工的确成了一种趋势。
People try volunteer travel for several reasons.
人们会出于多种原因尝试义工旅行。
By working voluntarily while traveling, travelers may make a real, positive impact on the world.
通过在旅行中从事志愿工作，旅行者可能会对世界产生真正积极的影响。
The services volunteers provide can be through charities with lower costs for the communities they serve.
义工可以通过慈善机构提供服务，为其服务的社区降低开销。
Another benefit of volunteer travel is that it helps urban dwellers to get a taste of rural life.
义工旅行还有另一个好处：可以帮助城市居民体验乡村生活。
For those who are sick of urban pressure but can’t make up their minds whether to move permanently to the countryside,
对于那些厌倦了城市压力，但又拿不定主意是否要永久移居农村的人来说，
volunteer travel can be a solution.
义工旅行也许能解决烦恼。
In this way, as Yang comments, travelers can catch some relief from their busy lives,
正如杨燕所说，通过义工旅行，旅行者可以从繁忙的生活中得到一丝放松，
while rural communities also benefit by receiving more customers for local tourism industries and temporary high-quality labor.
当地旅游业也能吸引更多的客户和临时的优质劳动力，从而令农村地区受益。
