Verge's Contributing Editor reflects on more than a decade of travel with purpose.
I was fresh off a six-week volunteer abroad project in Vanuatu, when I first met Tannis and Jeff—the founders of Verge—at a study abroad fair in 2006.
It felt like kismet. As journalism student who had previously taken a gap year, their message of “travel with purpose” resonated deeply with me. I, too, believed strongly in the transformative potential of travel—both for travellers and for our global community. And here was a publication, giving readers the tools to build their own adventure in a way that was thoughtful and realistic—but also inspirational.
We stayed in touch after I graduated from journalism school and throughout my career in international development and in 2011, I officially joined the team.
The state of the nation
My first assignment? Writing a “State of the Nation” article about volunteering abroad. By then, it had been around for over 50 years, but was still a relatively nascent sector, on the verge of explosion. Since then, it’s been transformed into an estimated $2 billion travel trend. We’re no longer encouraging our readers to just get out there and volunteer abroad; we’re encouraging them to seek out sustainable projects and to be critically minded in doing so.
Study abroad, too, has changed. Countless Canadian postsecondary institutions have launched global citizenship programs, with the Canadian government launching a Global Skills Opportunity pilot program in 2019. In the last two years alone, more than 6,200 Canadian college and university students have completed international study and work placements through the initiative.
Meanwhile, work abroad programs, including New Zealand’s Working Holiday program and Australia’s Working Holiday Maker program (both of which we cover in this issue) now allow for a wider age range and long duration of time overseas.
Verge has changed, too
Whereas our scope was once "studying, working and volunteering abroad," our definition of "travel with purpose" has shifted substantially over the last decade—not just as a publication, but as a society.
We've worked with incredible Canadian and international journalists to produce award-winning articles on regenerative tourism and community tourism. We even landed a Gold in the Lowell Thomas Journalism Awards (considered the most prestigious travel journalism awards) in 2021 for our "Essential Guide to Responsible and Ethical Travel."
Our definition of "travel with purpose" has shifted substantially over the last decade—not just as a publication, but as a society.
Our blogging program, which has been in running for over 10 years, has allowed new emerging writers to share stories of their time overseas. The career paths of the nearly 200 bloggers who have participated in the program is a testament to the professional value of this type of travel. Kaelyn Lynch is now a multimedia journalist who has worked as an editor at Outside. Trina Moyles has published two books (with her third to come shortly) and won more awards than I can count. Zoe Bell just joined the team at National Geographic UK, while Steph Dyson has authored several guidebooks.
We may be a relatively small Canadian publication, but we’ve made a huge footprint on the travel journalism industry.
But the thing I’m most proud of? How we’ve championed diversity and inclusion in travel.
I believe now, as I did in 2006, that studying, working and volunteering abroad can have a transformative effect on peoples’ lives. Regrettably, access to experiential travel is not equitable—and if not done with care and consideration, it can also have negative effects on the places we’re travelling to. That’s why, in the last few years, we’ve covered everything from the lack of diversity in the study abroad sphere to how we can be better travel allies.
So, it’s with regret that I must announce this is my last issue as Verge Magazine’s Contributing Editor. For nearly 13 years, Verge has given me the space to explore the type of travel that I love so much, including through a critical lens. I know firsthand just how transformative this role can be—which is why I also know it’s time to hand over the reins to the next generation of travellers.