In search of an “authentic” experience : motivations expressed by young Canadian women who go on short-term learning/volunteering abroad assignments

A large and growing number of young Canadian women are traveling to less developed countries on short-term1 learning/volunteer abroad programs. One of the ways to better understand why there is such growth in short-term placements abroad is to examine the motivations of those individuals taking part in these programs. For this research interviews with 26 Canadian women were carried out between 2007 and 2008 to uncover the motivations expressed by young women. The findings suggest that the main reasons for participation stem from their desire to travel combined with the search for an experience deemed ‘authentic’ and therefore unique or beyond what one might experience in a vacation in a less developed country. In this article, I examine the motivations expressed as experience-oriented and deconstruct them in relation to cultural consumption and capital accumulation