This paper investigates the pre- and post-project phases of the volunteer tourism pro- cess by examining the reflections of volunteer participants who participated in a volunteer program to Vanuatu with an Australian VSO. Reflecting on volunteer pre-project expectations and their changing perception of doing development, suggestions are made regarding the type of education necessary to ensure volunteers are prepared to work together with their host communities, and how they could be provided with the tools to critically think and learn about the world. First, however, the literature on international voluntary service (IVS) is reviewed to contextualize the kind of volunteer tourism experiences described above and to situate volunteer tourism within the broad domains of tourism, international development work and education.