SAN DIEGO -- When you think of taking a vacation, pictures of beaches, resorts, theme parks and sightseeing may spring to mind.

But now more and more people are taking trips that have very little to do with R & R.

Aviva Muse-Orlinoff works hard at her job and looks forward to vacation time.

"I joined an organization called Bike and Build that organizes trips for young adults to bicycle across the country," said Orlinoff.

But if you think she was decompressing on her last journey, you're wrong.

"We stopped every few states to pitch in and paint or lay foundation for an affordable home," said Orlinoff.

While many of us use our vacations to do nothing, people like Orlinoff are using their time off to do good. The trend's called Voluntourism.

"People are looking for ways to really make a difference and find real meaning in their travel," said Nina Willdorf with Travel & Leisure.

Willdorf said finding a tour is easy. You just check out one of many nonprofit organizations and companies that run the trips.

"(You can) help clean a beach in Thailand to doing glacial field research in Alaska to volunteering at a hospital in Africa with AIDS patients," said Willdorf.

Volunteer vacations range from a few days to several months and prices vary accordingly. Willdorf said at the very least, expect to pay $1,000 plus airfare.

"The price includes everything once you're there. So, food, transfers from site to site (and) all of the operating costs (are included)," said Willdorf.

Orlinoff said she'd like to go on another volunteer vacation. She said it's not only rewarding, but she learned a lot too.

"When you spend every day trying to fix a problem in our society, that's when you really understand what the issue is and what can be done about it," said Orlinoff.

Another perk of volunteer vacations is some of the trips are tax-deductible, but 10News suggests talking with the trip coordinator and your tax preparer before writing anything off.

If you're interested in taking a volunteer vacation, here are some Web links to look at.

http://www.Globalcrossrad.Com
http://www.Ambassadorsforchildren.Com
http://www.Rotary.Org
http://www.Crossculturalsolutions.Com
http://www.Earthwatch.Org
http://www.Worldteach.Org
http://www.Bikeandbuild.Org