Volunteering in Spain and Sustainable Slovenia

Who are you and what do you do?

I'm Alenka. From a town in Slovenia called Homec. I'm studying geography and will be finishing my degree soon. I like to travel, walk and hang out with people. I also love sports and vacation. I often volunteer at sports events and in environmental organisations. One of them is Cipra, which is committed to sustainable tourism in the Alps.

I've been travelling all my life. In the first summer, when I was six months old, they took me on a sailboat, which is why I still love the sea today. I’ve visited many known and hidden corners of our planet and you can read more about my travel experiences in my articles. Just don't ask me about my favourite destination.

You're also one of the volunteers at Hostelling International Slovenia. How long have you been volunteering there and what do you like the most about it?

It will be four years now. I write articles with travel tips, good travel deals, discounts that our HI members are entitled to, and travelogues. I seek inspiration for articles in nature. I love to describe places but most of all I like to write introductions in articles and occasionally promote our organisation at fairs and festivals. I really like doing the latter and I wish I could do more of it.

National Geographic declared Slovenia as the most sustainable country in the world in 2019. How do you see sustainable tourism and how is it changing over the years?

I would like to see sustainable tourism active throughout the whole year not just during the season, so that our guests become more aware of this type of tourism and that there’s more cooperation with the locals. If we take a look at Slovenia... Sustainable tourism is developing slowly; there’s an increasing number of eco-friendly accommodation, and people are becoming more aware of it. Even if we think these changes are small, in fact, they are really big. However, it’s true that tourism is very nerve-wrecking for the locals and, during high season, some of them feel trapped in their own cities and towns due to the masses of tourists.

People no longer fall that much into the trap of fabulous tourist offers, which seem too good to be true. For example, Thailand and Sri Lanka were very popular destinations because they were cheap, but now that's not really the case anymore. What sells are good stories and good examples of good practice. It would also be great to put more introductory signs in the language of the place and in English at sights.

For example, in the mountains (our Alps), more and more people are hiking, and they get there by car. It would be wise to introduce public transport there, but then again, I don't know if people would use it. There are a lot of cars passing through Vršič Pass and it's noisy. We could put some introductory boards along the road with legends and stories from those places, so that people could stop and get to know the region better. What I have in mind are a kind of guides. However, if Slovenia was declared as the most sustainable country by NG, then we’ll have to work more upon it. It's important that we don't just talk and write about sustainable tourism but also live it.

You visited Spain through the HI Connect program. What is that and how was it?

For all of you who don't know yet, the HI Connect program is designed for those who would like to volunteer at our HI hostels around the world. It depends on the arrangement, but for the most part, accommodation and food are covered, while travel insurance and airline tickets are on you.

Yeah, I went there last October. I wanted to learn Spanish, so I went to Spain. There aren’t many hostels to choose from in the fall. At first, I wanted to go to Alicante, but there were a lot of refugees in that hostel, so, in the end, I decided to go to the city of Vigo in Galicia. The region has its own dialect, which is different from Spanish. I had enough of free time to explore the city, and there were some museums to see, though everything was only available in Spanish. The parks were nice, and there were also a few bike lanes, and the city seemed to be quite non-touristy. The fact that it wasn’t crowded with tourists was something I really liked. I also noticed large cruise ships in the port.

I was a volunteer at the reception at the local HI hostel. I was in a room with a Chinese girl who taught Chinese there. My accommodation was covered and the food as well. It was delicious, by the way. The tapas too. Breakfast consisted of a croissant and coffee.

On weekends, I visited other places, such as Santiago, where the world-famous Camino de Santiago ends. I travelled there by train. I went to Portugal, too. The locals and the staff were friendly and helpful, but still, they weren’t so good at English. So, I had to use a translator app on my phone. The hostel’s manager came to pick me up at the airport and showed me some of the sights. Before my arrival, we mostly talked through Whatsapp.

My roommate and I went out to eat; we got an appetizer, a main course, a beer and a lollipop. Getting a lollipop was a little funny, but cute.

I have to say it was a really nice experience. I used to work about four hours a day. Getting around the city seemed expensive, so I walked a lot. More about my experience in Vigo HERE. 

Do you prefer to travel alone or in company?

I like to share experiences from my adventures, so I like to travel in a group, maybe teach others something new and learn something new myself. Though, when I'm alone, I can find ways to tackle that. I also like to apply to Erasmus projects, as the costs are largely covered, plus I get to see new places and meet some interesting people that way.

When you return home from your travels, what are you most grateful for or you appreciate the most in our homeland?

Green landscapes and tree-covered hills. I usually don’t miss Slovene food because I try all of it abroad, even if it looks strange to me, as it did England, ha-ha.

Do you have any other travel anecdotes you would like to share with us?

There are quite a few, though I can hardly remember any of them in detail now. It's nice to know the language of the country I’m visiting, at least a little. I’m learning several languages, but it's hard to say which one I really know. So, in Georgia, for example, I found it useful to speak Russian. I was on a trek there in a group with as many as four doctors, who had mini medicine cases with them, so I wasn’t afraid at all if anything would happen.

Finally, which destination is at the top of your next-destination-to-visit list?

It's New Zealand because of the Hobbits and the Lord of the Rings. HI hostels in New Zealand are also exceptional. Well, Canada, too, because I wrote about it not long ago and I was really impressed by it.

Well, quite a few of our volunteers have been to Spain. If you’re still hesitant about going there or anywhere else, as there are quite a few countries to choose from, contact our Alenka for more information or email us at: anja.zepic@youth-hostel.si. Just a little bit more and you're already there!