I know this may seem random, but I love potentially introducing you to new things and I have been trying to figure out where this would fit in the scheme of things on this here blog. Since, I just had a grueling 2 weeks of moving, in my dream world I would currently be planning a much needed vacation and having moving fairies unpack everything and put it in the exact place my heart desires. Unfortunately, I am only in the position to dream, which is fine as I am very good at it, you too?  And, yes, I know moving fairies are hard to come by. One, of my life goals is to be to able to participate in an Earthwatch Institute Expedition, I find it extremely silly that I haven’t already done so since I have been receiving their catalog for about 30 years (it’s now paperless!) and that seems like an awful long time to pull the trigger on something so highly desired. If you are the kind of vacationer that prefers lying on the beach, toes in sand with a Pina Colada in your hand then an expedition for a vacation would probably not be the best choice for you.  If you are like me and have insatiable curiosity and when you visit a new place want to learn as much as possible about it then I think you will be in heaven. What exactly is this Earthwatch that I am talking about?  From their fact sheet I found this:

“Earthwatch inspires connections between people and the environment. Our mission is to engage people worldwide in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment”.

In layman’s terms, you pay to be part of specific scientific expeditions around the globe.  Yes, you pay to work, but it’s for a good cause and it’s a once in a lifetime experience.  We still haven’t taken out honeymoon yet and I have mentioned that I want to do this to my husband, in which he has replied, “No, thank you.”  I find it hard to not be able to find an expedition that is not as thrilling as any other exotic locale you’d visit but you’d have more to do than eat, sleep and got to tourists traps. Did I mention it’s an amazing cause?  Your fee helps support the research of the individual expeditions you choose to participate in.  You could work with Dolphins in Greece, Darwin’s Finches in the Galapagos, go on an archeological dig on the Roman coast of Italy, Conserve Koala’s in Australia do I need to go on? Doesn’t this all sound amazing? Think of the stories you could tell, it would be worth it just for that, you would be like a modern day Hemingway (without the violence or booze), or an urban Jane Goddall. If you have a sense of adventure, a natural curiosity for life and love the idea of doing something important I highly recommend you check Earthwatch out.  If you have gone on an expedition or plan to I would love to hear all about it so I can at least live vicariously! If you are as excited as I am about this and want to dream with me, what expedition do you think you would want to participate in?  The koala expedition looks pretty amazing, but they once offered a dolphin expedition in the Canary islands that has always appealed to me (even though with my motion sickness any sea expedition would be torture).