This summer, I found it nearly impossible to scroll through my Instagram feed without seeing pictures of teens on service trips climbing mountains, posing on beaches, or even skydiving. The images made me wonder: When does the actual “service” part of these trips come in? While it is always fun to travel to foreign countries and make new memories with your friends, is it really fair to call those experiences ‘service trips’?

Rustic Pathways is a popular company that takes students on service trips across the globe. Their trips cost anywhere from $1,500 to $10,000. Travelers can choose how much community service they want to do, ranging from zero hours to 20+ hours. Hypothetically, someone could pay $10,000 to do zero hours of community service.

It is especially interesting to see students from Chicago go on these expensive trips given that there is so much local community service work available. Homeless shelters, retirement homes, animal shelters, and countless other non-profits throughout the city are always in need of volunteers. While building a school in the Dominican Republic does make a difference in many children’s lives, giving back to your community is essential—and one of our core teachings at Parker.

This raises the question: Is it really worth it to travel half-way around the world to help out–or even not help out–when you could be making a significant impact on your own city? Of course this is not to say that we should think of only our city and ignore all other countries in need, but why not start with helping Chicago? If you are truly eager to help and contribute, why not start at home? I’m sure everyone would rather go to Cuba than volunteer at a local soup kitchen, but the opportunity to make a positive impact in your own community should be more highly valued than it is currently.

During these trips, travelers make close bonds with each other and create memories of beautiful places, but the importance of the actual service is often left behind. This does not speak for all trips, but travelers too often return and go back into their normal lives, gaining nothing but a few new friends and pictures. Additionally, how much of an impact can a group of teenagers have after staying for only two weeks?  Even if they do meaningfully improve their destinations, I am skeptical that a short trip can make lasting difference in the travelers’ lives. It is very unlikely that those two weeks will impact them at all, especially when they return right back to their lives.

All that being said, I believe that one of the most important things in life is acting with empathy and helping others whenever you can. Having a drive to help others is incredibly important, but you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars and travel thousands of miles to do so. It is rare that the service done on these trips creates a large impact on the traveler’s life or those they are helping. You can easily give back to your community, where you can see and feel the difference you make.