ABSTRACT
The Peace Corps was founded to promote world peace through international good will and understanding between nations in the aftermath of WWII and throughout the Cold War period. Contemporary international volunteering programs offer experiences similar to those of the Peace Corps. A mutual outcome of volunteer tourism and the Peace Corps is what is broadly referred to as cross-cultural understanding. While cross-cultural understanding is the mutual goal of the Peace Corps and international volunteering, this goal is not always realized. Like the Peace Corps, contemporary forms of volunteer tourism are in part a reaction against Euro-American political, economic and military hegemony. Observing Peace Corps volunteers in his home country of Nepal, Shrestha observes: were going overseas to "exotic" countries, some in search of cheap marijuana and hashish and in search of cultural relief from the material opulence of stale suburban life.
