Jane Stanfield has a MS in Animal Science, an immense love of travel and a passion for volunteering. Living in Colorado since 1983, she worked in the non-profit and governmental sectors for more than 20 years as an administrator and program coordinator. After completing a class entitled Your Heart’s Desire, based on the book by Sonia Choquette and lead by Peter J. Hughes, her goal was to increase volunteering. Active as a local and national volunteer on projects such as therapeutic horseback riding, recording for the blind, and part-time actress/choreographer in community theatre, Jane knew it was time to expand her horizons.
Introduced to the concept of volunteer vacations through a class of the same title and articles in various magazines, Jane began to read everything available on the topic. With no idea of how to fund such an adventure, her background research and fact-finding lead to the knowledge of what this type of adventure would require. Part way through the planning, Jane received an inheritance and decided to use part of the legacy to make the trip a reality. Originally, the plan was for a trip of 3-4 months, but with more research, Jane felt an entire year was needed to really explore, volunteer, and vacation. Her principle goal was to come back with a larger worldview and have an idea of where to focus her energy in the future.
The trip spanned an entire year and with a stuffed toy penguin as company, they visited six continents, 11 countries and completed 12 volunteer placements. She also experienced fantastic vacations at UNESCO World Heritage Sites including Easter Island and Angkor Wat. Three pairs of shoes, three pieces of luggage, lots of zip lock bags for packing, and a Lonely Planet Book for each country went along.
Link to Excel Spreadsheet of the 2006 trip 06 jobs in grid.pdf
Through her company, Where Is She Heading, Jane gives presentations, offers classes and workshops, and individual coaching for people planning a volunteer vacations. Jane writes articles about the trip and volunteer vacation travel tips. She is currently working on several books about volunteer vacations and is planing her 2010 international volunteer vacation.
Her award winning workbook, Mapping Your Volunteer Vacation, was published in 2009. It was named the Winner of the Travel Category for the USA Book News BEST BOOK Awards, designated a Finalist in the Indie Excellent Book Awards and placed in four categories of EVVY Awards for the Colorado Independent Publishers Association. Jane also contributed a chapter in 2009 to The Voluntary Traveler entitled, The Color of Poo.
Jane lives in Lakewood, Colorado with her two cats Worry Wart and Moonbeam. She teaches the class, Volunteer Vacations, Traveling on Purpose at the Colorado Free University www.freeu.com and Map and Plan Your Volunteer Vacation at both Arapahoe and the Front Range Community Colleges. Jane also coordinates the monthly Travel Lovers’ Book Club at the Tattered Cover Bookstore.
