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You think you've heard this story before: a woman goes on an eco-tour to a third-world country and feels her life has changed because of it. But as the Hingham Journal reports, writer and blogger Amy Nobile really did change her life, and the lives of others', when she planned her "me-time" getaway with a humanitarian twist. Nobile took a trip to Haiti with Yoga Ventures, a California-based organization that offers tourists a chance to volunteer with Haitians affected by Hurricane Irene. As Katherine Bennett writes, "Using yoga as the bridge between two very different cultures is not an obvious choice, but one that Amy’s experience has proven can be very effective."

Read the whole article for a thoughtful analysis of eco-tourism, and for the story of how Nobile connected with a Haitian orphan. But also, what I really love here is how tucked in the middle of the article is this: "Joy is different than pleasure. Pleasure can be experienced through hedonism and unbridled consumption and is centered on personal satisfaction in the moment. Joy is more complicated, in that it is experienced in moments that are not the least bit pleasurable. (Natural childbirth springs to mind.) Joy is perhaps the most thrilling emotion we experience because it is linked to a sense of personal satisfaction of living a meaningful life."

A humanitarian-focused trip like this one offers people an experience that combines the pleasures of yoga and travel with the deeper, longer-lasting experience of joy that comes from connecting with others, helping the less fortunate. But all of us, even if any kind of travel is beyond the realm of possibility, can take something from this. In every day, we can strive to deepen our pleasure into the more complicated, more satisfying joy -- by looking outside of ourselves.

Read More:
Amy Nobile on the Secrets of Motherhood
Urban Zen's Mission in Haiti