Organizations and Web Sites for Specialty Travel

• Travel Alone and Love It.com, www.travelaloneandloveit.com. This Web-only newsletter penned by a flight attendant has a helpful Q&A page and 10 new solo travel tips posted every month. Also links to numerous helpful Web sites.

• Travel Chums, www.travelchums.com. Anonymous, free membership to contact travelers or place ads for travel companions. The lengthy personality profiles lead us to believe that those who complete it are serious about this service, but beware -- the membership agreement states that Travel Chums doesn't screen members' ads before publication. Fifty-four percent of members say they're looking for -- friendship or romantic -- match-ups.

Vegetarian/Dietary

• Green Earth Travel, 888-246-8343, www.vegtravel.com. A local travel agency specializing in vegetarian and vegan travel, as well as faith-based and medically specific diets. The same company runs Manaca Ecotravel, www.manaca.com.

• Happy Cow's Global Guide to Vegetarian Restaurants,www.happycow.net. Lists cow-free restaurants (21 in Austria, for example) and health food stores worldwide, the latter of which is especially helpful if you picnic to save money.

• Shamash: The Jewish Network,www.shamash.org/kosher. Searchable database of 1,800 kosher restaurants in 40 countries. The site does not vouch for the accuracy of info, so be sure to ask the establishment itself for its kashrut certification to make sure.

• Vegetarian Resource Group, 410-366-8343, www.vrg.org. Publishes books on vegetarian travel and links to VegDining.com, www.vegdining.com, which lists veggie restaurants worldwide. Offers a 10 percent discount at more than 100 restaurants worldwide with the VegDining Card, which costs $14.95 per year.

Volunteer Vacations

• American Hiking Society, 800-972-8608, www.americanhiking.org. One- and two-week trips to preserve U.S. trails while camping. Work six to eight hours daily and help with chores, and get time to rest, too. You supply the camping equipment. Cost is $80, plus $20 annual membership.

• Amizade, 888-973-4443, www.amizade.org. Community service projects in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, South America and the United States. Trips range from $300 at Yellowstone to almost $3,000 in Nepal.

• Cross Cultural Solutions, 800-380-4777, www.crossculturalsolutions.org. Two- to 12-week humanitarian trips in 10 countries, with the specific task tailored to your skills and interest. Fees $1,985-$4,295, including all in-country expenses.

• Earthwatch Institute, 800-776-0188, www.earthwatch.org. Collect data alongside scientists on eco-expeditions like archaeological digs and wildlife studies, where you'll share in everything from cooking meals to weighing turtle eggs. All levels of expertise welcome. Trips usually range from one to two weeks, $700-$2,700.

• Earth Island Institute's Global Service Corps, 415-788-3666, Ext. 128, www.globalservicecorps.org. Volunteers participate in educational and health care, sustainable agriculture and HIV/AIDS programs in Thailand and Tanzania for trips starting at two weeks. Costs range from about $1,600 for two weeks to $3,400 for 10 weeks, with each day after that costing $25. Includes all in-country costs.

• Explorations in Travel, 802-257-0152, www.volunteertravel.com. Short-term individual placements with ecological, conservation and wildlife projects in five countries. Also runs trips specifically for women over 40, including a skills exchange with a Mayan cooperative. $975 for the placement; volunteers responsible for their expenses.

• Global Citizens Network, 800-644-9292, www.globalcitizens.org. Tolerance and peace-related cultural trips in Africa, Latin American and among Native American tribes. Volunteers are placed with local grassroots organizations. Costs range from $650 for a week in the United States to $1,950 for three weeks in Kenya.

• Global Volunteers, 800-487-1074, www.globalvolunteers.org. Volunteers work in the United States and abroad (in 19 countries, including Hungary and the Cook Islands) on projects determined by locals to be most important, such as job skills or health care. Most volunteers for the one- to three-week programs are 50 to 80 years old. Costs $750-$2,900.

• Habitat for Humanity's Global Village Program, 800-422-4828, www.habitat.org/GV. Short-term house-building projects in 80 countries. Costs $1,200-$4,000.

• Health Volunteers Overseas, 202-296-0928, www.hvousa.org. Health-related teaching programs for seasoned medical professionals -- specialties include physical therapy, pediatrics, nursing, hand surgery and internal medicine -- in more than 25 countries. Average assignment is one month. Volunteers cover their expenses, usually around $2,400.

• International Volunteer Programs Association, 212-807-8686, Ext. 150, www.volunteerinternational.org. Links to organizations with volunteer exchange programs that suit your interest or destination.

• Oceanic Society, 800-326-7491, www.oceanicsociety.org. The trips are pricey ($1,000-2,500 without air), but you can whale-watch, observe other marine life and assist scientists in their research.

• Passport in Time, 800-281-9176, www.passportintime.com. Archaeological and historic preservation programs by the U.S. Forest Service. No fee to participate, but you often must provide your own transportation, food and lodging.

• Wilderness Volunteers, 928-556-0038, www.wildernessvolunteers.org. More than 40 week-long projects on U.S. public lands (mostly national parks), in which you'll maintain trails, weed and prevent erosion -- and still have free time. Most trips are under $200 a week; camping gear not supplied. Supporters get first dibs on trips with their $35 donation.