NAVIGATING THE THRESHOLD: INVESTIGATING LIMINALITY AND THE TRANSITIONAL STATES OF VOLUNTEER TOURISTS

Volunteer tourism has emerged as a compelling form of alternative travel, where individuals engage in unpaid work abroad while seeking personal enrichment and cross-cultural exchange. Unlike conventional tourism, volunteer tourism situates participants in a space of ambiguity neither fully tourists nor integrated locals. This liminal condition fosters complex emotional and psychological responses, as individuals navigate unfamiliar cultural environments, uncertain roles, and shiftin g expectations. This study investigates how international volunteer tourists construct transitional identities through these experiences and how such identity negotiations shape the overall journey. Using a phenomenological methodology, we conducted 150 semi-structured interviews with volunteers active in diverse regions including Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Participants reported persistent feelings of cultural displacement, emotional discomfort, and marginalization. Many encountered symbolic ‘monsters’ representing internal conflict, ethical uncertainty, and role confusion—that challenged their sense of self and purpose. The findings reveal that liminality often becomes a prolonged, cyclical state rather than a temporary phase, leaving many volunteers suspended in a space of perpetual transformation. While some experienced moments of deep self-discovery and growth, others described feelings of futility and detachment. The degree of social integration, adaptability, and reflective engagement played a key role in determining whether the experience was transformative or merely disorienting. Structured programs, while offering security, sometimes limited genuine intercultural contact and diluted the transformative potential. This paper argues that volunteer tourism should not be idealized as inherently empowering; rather, it is a nuanced and fragile process shaped by context, agency, and intercultural dynamics. Understanding these transitional identity processes contributes to a more critical and realistic perspective on the complexities of volunteer tourism.