Introduction
World-for-World Travel to Thailand is a program of the Center for Quality of Life (C4QL). It blends C4QL's mission of people of all ages experiencing their lives as satisfying and fulfilled through compassionate service to others, and a vision of global citizenship through cross-cultural understanding, service learning, and sustainable tourism.
Background: Power of One
The W4W Travel Program to Thailand was conceived and developed by Burt Woolf (Founder and Chief Principal of the Center for Quality of Life) following his participation in 2007 and 2008 as a mentor in Power of One: Thailand, a two-week cross-cultural educational travel program for teens. Burt's daughter Lizzy was a student participant in Power of One both years, and his son, Max was a mentor in 2008.
Following the Power of One 2008 program, and building on Burt's many years as a tourism development consultant, he was commissioned by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) to write an article on a new holistic approach to sustainable tourism that Burt calls Integrative Travel ("travel with a higher purpose"). The article was published globally in May 2008 and received significant attention among tourism development professionals, especially in countries where rural tourism economies are just now emerging into international markets. Burt was encouraged by friends, family and colleagues to organize a tour program for college-age students and adult alumni that fulfills the vision of Integrative Travel. And thus was born the idea to proceed with the World-for-World Travel Program to Thailand.
In 2010, Burt was once again invited to Thailand, this time to participate in a 9-day celebration ceremony honoring the consecration of a new Buddhist ordination hall at a beach-side Monastery in Prichuap Khiri Khan province, about 230 km south of Bangkok. The Abbot of the monastery, Phra Denduang “Den” Nakaton has asked Burt to continue to bring "American friends" to visit Thailand for a hands-on face-to-face experience of the unique “sufficiency ” approach to community development that is being facilitated by Thai Buddhist monks for schools, orphanages, and local economic development projects in the region. Phra Den’s monastery and his community work will be a cornerstone of the World-for-World Travel Program to Thailand.
Center for Quality of Life (C4QL)
World-for-World Travel to Thailand fits perfectly with the mission and vision of the Center for Quality of Life (C4QL).
C4QL is a collaborative community of practitioners, managers and volunteers across many different ages, disciplines and professions who come together to learn and apply quality-of-life strategies to their own lives, to their organizations and to the world around them. Using transformative education, learning events (and now travel experiences), we advance a quality-of-life context through the practical knowledge and application of personal and organizational transformation.
C4QL is an open and self-generating forum that helps people find greater meaning and purpose in their lives, and:
- gives focus to their vision of a better world;
- expands their leadership potential;
- helps them deal with stress, work-life balance, career re-invention;
- expands their creative and strategic capacities;
- rejuvenates their body, refreshes their mind, and renews their spirit; and
- motivates them to improve their performance and commitment to others.
To fulfill our objectives, the Center offers keynote presentations as well as learning events (experiential workshops, seminars and retreats). We also write articles for various professional and trade publications. And now... we are organizing integrative travel experiences starting with the World-for-World Travel Program to Thailand !
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