With these eight emotional words, Ken Budd embarks on a quest to help others—from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to a special needs school in China, from climate change research in Ecuador to projects in Kenya, Costa Rica, and the West Bank. A moving memoir of sacrifice and
self-discovery, The Voluntourist is part love story, part travel tale; a book about losing your father and finding your destiny; and a wry yet wise treatise on changing lives—including your own. Learn more
Buying the book will help children in Kenya, China, and more.
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Good news: I’ve written my first piece for The Atlantic. The premise? COVID-19 has brought death. And fear. And emotional, financial, and spiritual pain. But we humans are remarkably resilient. […]
I’m thrilled to announce that my November 2019 story for The Washington Post Magazine on the Calvary Zion children’s home in Kenya will appear in the 2020 edition of The […]
Ken Budd has written for The New York Times, Smithsonian, National Geographic, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and many more publications. After volunteering in New Orleans and Costa Rica, Ken volunteered in China, Ecuador, Palestine, and Kenya for his award-winning memoir, The Voluntourist. Read More
Reviews & Praise
“In this sincere and subtly written memoir, Budd gracefully—and often humorously—records how he changes ‘emotionally, physically, spiritually’ as he travels to work with ‘people with real problems and different perspectives.”