Our achievements

In the last year alone we have assisted over 6,000 volunteers to have a life-changing travel experience in 34 countries around the world. We are very proud of all the volunteer projects we work with, which are sustainable and produce a positive long-term impact and are equally proud of our volunteers who devote their time and efforts into contributing to the projects which continue to develop communities abroad. Click here to see some of our volunteer achievements.

Our benefits to communities around the world

All of our projects overseas are based in the local community and are local initiatives. When you travel with us, you will stay in locally run accommodation and travel on locally owned transport. In this way we can ensure that the part of your placement fee assigned for transport and accommodation goes directly into the local economy. That means that before you've even lifted a finger on your project, you've already made an important contribution to the local economy.

Our support for our volunteers

We appreciate how special our volunteers are and offer our full support every step of the way. Our in-country coordinators are on-hand for you while you're in-country, providing airport pick-up and arrival orientation while we also provide 24/7 support for all our volunteer travellers.

Against aid reliance

We do not give direct funding to the projects we work with. Many experts believe that the constant flow of financial aid into the developing world causes an over-reliance on foreign aid, which harms the long-term stability of developing economies. It is your time and effort (rather than cold hard cash) that makes a difference. We truly believe that by working together and forging relationships with the developing world, we can make a real and lasting difference.

Your experience

When you travel with i-to-i, you'll experience a truly unique travel adventure which will change your life forever. We're all different, which is why we'll all experience a unique voyage. In addition to gaining a deep immersion into a new culture, you'll learn valuable skills for life which will open-up your eyes to the world and warm your heart in the knowledge that you're giving something real and lasting back to the places you visit.

Respectful and informed cultural exchange is at the very heart of what we do. We do everything we can to ensure that everybody who travels with us gets all the information, guidance and support they need to make a positive contribution while they are overseas.

We only work with locally run and locally organised projects. Many commercial volunteer travel companies set up their own projects overseas to meet the demands of international volunteers. This isn't something we'd feel comfortable doing. The projects we work with are organic in the very best sense of the word: they have grown out of the needs and demands of local communities.

When overseas, you may come into contact with social differences that you do not always feel are right or morally agree with. As an organisation we do not accept or condone certain cultural behaviours and work closely with local communities to lead by example and always seek to ensure a caring and safe environment for our volunteers and the people they serve.

When you travel with us you can rest assured that the work you do will help alleviate problems that have been identified by these local communities and the NGO's that work with them.

Supporting local communities

All of our partners overseas are based in the local community. They are in partnership with i-to-i rather than employed by i-to-i. When you travel with us, you will stay in locally run accommodation and travel on locally owned transport. In this way we can ensure that the part of your placement fee assigned for transport and accommodation goes directly into the local economy. That means that before you’ve even lifted a finger on your project, you’ve already made an important contribution to the local economy.

Against aid reliance

We do not give direct funding to the projects we work with. Many experts believe that the constant flow of financial aid into the developing world causes an over-reliance on foreign aid, which harms the long-term stability of developing economies. It is your time and effort (rather than cold hard cash) that makes a difference. We truly believe that by working together and forging relationships with the developing world, we can make a real and lasting difference.

Find out more here.

Cultural exchange

By travelling with i-to-i you will have a unique cultural experience. You'll live and work alongside local people and gain a deeper understanding of their culture and way of life. But this is not a one-way process: by spending time with people from your host country (as opposed to travelling in a package tour bubble) you will give them an insight into your culture. This two-way cultural exchange plays a small, but important part in promoting international understanding. By taking these small steps (and travelling with an open mind), maybe, just maybe, we can all become a little closer and break down the misunderstandings and stereotypes that separate us.

Amazing experiences

We do everything we can to ensure that our trips are truly memorable experiences. We send around 5,000 people a year to some of the most amazing destinations on the planet and with a satisfaction rate of 97%* we think we're doing a pretty good job!

No single supplement

Unlike most travel companies, we don’t think that you should be penalised for choosing to travel by yourself. So we won't impose a single supplement on solo travellers. Travelling alone offers you the chance to reflect upon life, to make new friends and to experience travel in a way that is all too often impossible when travelling with friends or partners.

* Satisfaction rate of 97.2% was correct as of 30/7/2007.

I had no idea when I stepped on a plane fifteen years ago that my career break would lead to starting a travel company that touches thousands of lives per year.

That flight to find the 'real world' took me to teach English in Japan, China and Greece and drive a backpackers’ bus in Sydney. I went eye-to-eye with fascinating cultures and travellers. But then I decided that it was time to come home and face the music - Eureka!

But the music I kept hearing as I sat in my one room apartment in Leeds (UK) was ‘there has to be a way to help others to have the same travel and life experiences that I did, but make it much easier’.

So I started i-to-i with no business experience but loads of passion. My weekend TEFL courses eventually led to organising volunteer projects.

Now, I’m a firm believer that commerce and ethics can mix which is why i-to-i is a commercial enterprise. My motivation was that a well run business could help change the world with a focus on customer service, firm goals and determined people.

Give it back

However on a challenging trip to Nepal in 2003 I was faced with the sad circumstances of a young baby who was abandoned in an orphanage. This trip gave me the inspiration to launch the i-to-i Foundation, a registered charity committed to providing funds to the most needy community and ecological projects in the i-to-i family. This has gone from strength to strength with large amounts being raised and donated by i-to-i.

How we’ve grown

And I can’t believe my eyes that it has now grown into an international organisation with offices in the UK, USA, Ireland and Australia, with a worldwide team of 130 passionate, dedicated travel-lovers. I’m truly proud that i-to-i is now responsible for sending around 5000 people a year to support 500 worthwhile projects in 5 continents and we also train a further 15,000 people as TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) teachers, sending 500 of them into paid teaching projects abroad.