10 Celebrity Causes Worth Traveling For

Angelina Jolie Fights Poverty in Cambodia

Seeing Cambodia's impoverished conditions while filming Tomb Raider is what set Angelina Jolie on her humanitarian path. In 2001, the same year the movie hit theaters, Jolie was named a Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nation's High Commissioner for Refugees. Over the years her field missions have taken her to 30 different countries, where she has met with refugees and displaced people. Her Jolie-Pitt Foundation helps with food insecurities, healthcare, and education in these and other areas.

Go There: Visit Cambodia's famed temples of Angkor Wat and explore the town of Siem Reap; both were featured in Tomb Raider.

Get Involved: Work with impoverished children at a nonprofit center in Siem Reap as a volunteer through Globe Aware's Cambodia Rediscovered program.

Glenn Close Fights Mental Illness Stigmas In The U.S.

On screen and off, Glenn Close's talent crushes prejudices. In Albert Nobbs her character poses as a man so she can find work and make ends meet in 19th-century Ireland. Away from the set, Close helps her sister, who has bipolar disorder, fight misconceptions around mental illness. She volunteered at Fountain House to learn more about mental illness after her sister was diagnosed as an adult. The experience inspired her to begin the national mental-illness antistigma campaign Bring Change 2 Mind.

Go There: Join one of the National Alliance on Mental Health's 80 Walk to Raise Awareness fundraisers across the nation.

Get Involved: Download Bring Change 2 Mind's antistigma toolkit and become an advocate in your school, office, or neighborhood.

Leonardo DiCaprio Protects Wild Tigers in India and Nepal

Follow @LeoDiCaprio on Twitter and you'll find the expected plugs for his J. Edgar movie. But more often, you'll see alarming news and urgings (with exclamation points!) about endangered tigers and other animals. DiCaprio's latest goal: to build support that will help double the number of wild tigers by 2022, the next Year of the Tiger. He's heading up World Wildlife Fund's Save Tigers Now campaign.

Go There: Travel to India and Nepal's tiger reserves and national parks. Tour income builds support among locals for protecting the tigers.

Get Involved: Join a WWF tiger safari in India and learn about protecting tiger habitats.

Brad Pitt Builds Affordable Housing in New Orleans

Brad Pitt's deep pockets and interest in architecture are going a long way to rebuild New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. After the storm he met with some of the hardest-hit residents, lived there part-time, and began the Make It Right Foundation. The nonprofit organization is halfway to its goal of financing and building 150 new, affordable, and sustainable homes in the Ninth Ward.

Go There: See the innovative home designs, then take in New Orleans' French Quarter or a bowl of gumbo. If you're visiting March 10, buy a ticket to a Make it Right fundraiser gala with Pitt and Ellen DeGeneres.

Get Involved: Lend a hand building with Habitat for Humanity. Or volunteer with Power to the People, a nonprofit organization whose projects bring solar electricity to community buildings in rural areas of the developing world.

Meryl Streep Affirms Women's History In Washington, D.C.

This Hollywood icon holds the record for most total Academy Award nominations for acting: 17. Meryl Streep has played a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp, the bored wife in 1949 Paris who discovers cooking, and Britain's first female Prime Minister. Really, is it any wonder she's a spokesperson for the National Women's History Museum? Although the museum's exhibits are now only online, a bill in Congress would allow NWHM to create a museum adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Go There: Check out D.C.'s iconic landmark monuments and museums in and around the mall, including the new Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial dedicated last fall.

Get Involved: Write a letter of support to your Congress member for the NWHM bill. Or change history for women in Costa Rica on a Kaya Responsible Travel project, where you can help women start orchid-growing businesses.

Natalie Portman Promotes Rwanda's Mountain Gorillas

Animal rights advocate Natalie Portman trekked into Rwanda's rainforests with wildlife expert Jack Hanna in 2007 to film Saving a Species: Gorillas on the Brink, a documentary about endangered mountain gorillas. The Animal Planet movie explores the threats of poaching, disease, and loss of habitat, as well as conservation efforts to reestablish the species. It's set against the stunning backdrop of Congo's Virunga National Park, home to 200 of the world's remaining 790 mountain gorillas.

Go There: Join a hiking tour to see the endangered primates living in the forested flanks of a mostly dormant volcano range in Virunga National Park.

Get Involved: The Peaks Foundation runs a Your Peak Your Week project, a one-week trip where you climb Rwanda's highest peak, Karisimbi (an active volcano), in support of the conversation efforts at Virunga National Park.

Matt Damon Brings Water and Play to Africa

On a trip to rural Zambia in 2006 (backed by his friend and fellow advocate Bono), Matt Damon walked with a young girl on her daily two-mile trek to the well. The following year he spotlighted Africa's water crisis in his film Running the Sahara. Soon after, he started the H2O Africa Foundation and Water.org to create clean water sources worldwide. As an ambassador of ONEXONE, he brings water and play to African children. One initiative in eastern Chad's refugee camps provided balls and created sports fields for 12,630 kids.

Go There: In January 2012 the U.S. State Department issued a warning urging against travel to Chad. Don't miss Zambia's Victoria Falls, the world's largest.

Get Involved: Volunteer with a Right to Play impoverished children's sports program locally. African Impact runs a sports and community development project in Zambia.

Harrison Ford Restores Amazon Jungles in Brazil

He's the quintessential American movie hero. An honorable Han Solo dedicated to the common good. A knowledgeable Indiana Jones whose quest is always unselfish. Ford's hero status prevails in world conservation efforts, too. As a member of Conservation International's board of directors, he has helped the organization become a significant player in environmental stewardship over the past 20 years. CI is now working in more than 40 countries, including Brazil, where it's helping restore Amazon jungles.

Go There: Experience Carnival in Rio de Janeiro or plan a visit in 2014 when the city's famous Maracana Stadium hosts the FIFA World Cup.

Get Involved: Help preserve wildlife and biodiversity in Brazil's Emas National Park, which is part of the Pantanal's Biosphere Reserve, with Earthwatch Institute.

Charlize Theron Boosts Health In South Africa

The first South African-born actor to win an Oscar, Charlize Theron returned to great celebrations in her country after receiving the Academy Award for her role in the 2003 drama Monster. Nelson Mandela personally thanked her for putting South Africa on the map. A few years later, Theron would make an even bigger impact with her Africa Outreach Project. The project has brought life-saving health services and education to more than 50,000 Africans living with HIV or AIDS.

Go There: Safaris, wine regions, and outdoor adventures are on South African Tourism's Top 10 Experiences list.

Get Involved: African Impact runs medical work volunteer projects in South Africa and throughout the continent.

George Clooney Advocates for Human Rights in Sudan

George Clooney has seen first-hand the pain in the faces of Sudan's victims of torture and rape. In 2007 he shed light on the genocide in his documentary Sand and Sorrow. That year he also founded the human rights advocacy project Not On Our Watch with Ocean's Eleven producer Jerry Weintrab and costar cronies Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, and Brad Pitt. The United Nations took notice of his efforts and influence, naming him a UN Messenger of Peace in 2008.

Go There: In January 2012 the U.S. State Department issued a warning urging against travel to Sudan. In Ghana check out the Atlantic coast's popular Labadi Pleasure Beach and Kokrobite Beach near Accra.

Get Involved: Through the International Rescue Committee, you can help refugees adjusting to a new life in the U.S. or abroad. Support survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault through Kaya Responsible Travel's Women Empowerment in Ghana project.

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