In 2008, Shannon O'Donnell took off a year off from her career in to go around the world, supporting herself with her SEO, and make a travel a bigger priority in her life. Today, she's been on the road for five and a half years, and helps others get started doing the same at her blog A Little Adrift, while supporting herself along the way as an independent consultant, writer, and photographer. She is also the author of The Volunteer Traveler's Handbook and as such is a foremost expert online and off, in the topic of volunteer travel. Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Soundcloud or TuneIn What We Cover: How Shannon takes a service-based approach to life What compelled her to take the step to make life a bigger priority, and a lifestyle The complications and nuances of selecting an overseas volunteer work opportunity Research and do your background work on what it means to develop a country. Don't assume that you're perfect for any job. Words from an Explorer: “All of this that is gonna happen and I don’t know what it is but I know I will be different on the other side of a year… I valued that so greatly that I was willing to overcome the fears for it." – Shannon O'Donnell More Quotes: “I had built up these fears because others had these fears and were like, 'These are the things you should be afraid of on the road.'” "It's all impermanent. You can feel intensely lonely and you can move through that. It's a natural and healthy emotion. It doesn't mean you're a bad traveler." "Volunteering is a prism through which you can connect deeper." Explore Further: A Little Adrift, Shannon's blog @shannonrtw on Twitter Shannon's book, The Volunteer Traveler's Handbook Shannon's article "Understanding the Developing World" Music Credit: Passion Pit - Moth’s Wings (Artec Remix), Aaron Static – Intrepid Journey Become a Friend of the Show: Please subscribe and review! It just takes a second and you can help the show increase its rankings on iTunes just by this simple and quick gesture. We’d be grateful for a review. Leave one here. If you do, click here to let me know so I can personally thank you! Your Feedback If you have an idea for a podcast you would like to see or a question about an upcoming episode,email me! I’d love to hear from you. Thank you so much for your support! See you next time! The post 81: Shannon O’Donnell’s Service-Based Travel and Life appeared first on The Daily Travel Podcast.