JOURNEYS TO LOVE

Travel the World for Free — The Workaway Experience, Your Labor in Exchange for Room and Board, Worldwide

This will work for you too

I’ve done two of ’em so far. I’m planning to do tons more.

What exactly, you may ask?

Workaways!

There’s an organization, https://www.workaway.info/ that pairs “workers” with “hosts” worldwide.

In short, in exchange for your “labor” of about 20 to 25 hours a week you get room and board.

This makes travel and adventure nearly cost neutral and opens the world to you (once the world opens up, that is). Plus you’ll have a unique set of travel experiences by staying with a local host.

Here are the accounts of my two workaways. Then some more nuts and bolts about Workaway.

Please note, I have zero affiliation with the organization except as a happy workawayer.

The Dutch experience in Italy

I did this one with my adult son and my then wife in 2017.

Our hosts were retired Dutch judges, Maarten* and Anouk*. Their sprawling rural property, set in the gorgeous green rolling hills of central Tuscany, had proven to be a bit too much for them to maintain. So we arranged to work there for a couple of weeks, taking a break from our roaming during a three-month European sojourn.

We all worked outdoors and in the kitchen, helping with meal prep and clean up. Outdoor work involved fence building and light land clearing, mostly downed branches. Other tasks, like planting, sweeping, raking, watering and so forth were involved too. All were a blast; none were overly strenuous. We stayed fit and strong, in spite of our twice-daily pasta feasts, working hard but not too hard.

In exchange for our labors, we were provided our own apartment, separate from Maarten and Anouk’s main dwelling. Breakfast was on our own. Lavish lunches and truly ridiculous dinner spreads, with wine (of course!) were daily events on work days. Lunches were alfresco, on the patio in front of the Etruscan caves on the property. Dinners involved hours of great food, wonderful conversations, piano entertainment by Maarten and music, Maarten being a huge Bob Dylan and Beatles fan.

From our hosts’ perspective we worked entirely too hard — although it seemed like nothing to us — and each mid-morning they found us on their “farmlet” and gently insisted that we break for a sit-and-chat with cheese, pastry, fruit and coffee. Often these “little breaks” ran to an hour or more.

Our two free days each week were devoted to visiting every mountain-top town in the region. Our hosts — once they realized we were reasonably responsible — lent us their jeep for the trips.

Near the end of our stay, Maarten and Anouk asked if we wished to stay on the property, free of charge, for the remainder of the Fall and Winter, during the time when they would be away, visiting friends and family in Amsterdam. Of course, the grand main house and pool would be ours during this time. We were tempted but ultimately declined. There were other different adventures to be had. Nice to be asked though.

Would do it again in a heartbeat!

The Kiwi/American experience in New Zealand

I soloed this one.

Joan^ and Ben^ were my hosts in Kerikeri, NZ in the far north of the North Island. Kiwi Joan and retired-Statie US-born-and-bred Ben live on a small farm in the stunning Bay-of-Islands region there and need help, not infrequently, cleaning up their rural property walking distance from town.

We bonded instantly. Almost-vegetarians, Boomers, active, hikers, vital humans, conversationalists, swimmers, surfers and boogie boarders and great co-workers. In the two weeks I stayed in their home their “burn pile” of yard debris grew to about 30 by 40 by 15 feet!

I worked hard, but played harder. I can’t think of a day we didn’t do something fun together — beach trips, hikes, hanging out drinking beer at the local pub, field trips to waterfalls, impromptu dinners with their friends, island trips. You name it, we did it.

Plenty of music, great food ad lib and an incredibly comfortably private room, all part of the deal.

Ben picked me up at the bus station upon my arrival in town and returned me there for my departure. I was off to visit a friend many hours away after my stay in Kerikeri. Since COVID19 was then becoming an issue, Ben offered to drive anywhere in the North Island to fetch me and provide an additional stay should I become stranded. He added that should I become stranded longer term in NZ, I would always have a place to stay in Kerikeri.

Mind-boggling!

Would do it again in a heartbeat, too!

More Workaway Info

I would urge you, in the strongest possible way, to go to the Workaway website and play around there. Consider starting with your favorite region of the world and screening for “beach” or “mountains” or “hostel” or whatever. You will be delighted by what you’ll discover. This can all be done without joining, paying or creating a profile.

Realize too that “work” in Workaway parlance is broadly defined. If you’re manning the front desk at a youth hostel in Split, Croatia that’s work. So is: instructing at a surf camp in Portugal, teaching English to your host’s children in Montenegro, sailing and crewing in the Caribbean, or grooming horses in California’s Central Valley. The list goes on and on. Check it out and see what “works” for you.

Workaway is cheap to join (couple, $56/year; individual, $44/year). You can sign up as an individual or a couple, and families can participate (see Italian experience above). My bro, his wife and their then 13-year-old daughter worked at a B-n-B in Southern France run by an English couple. The match there was so good that they stayed for months and have a lifetime open invitation to return.

If/when you do join, you’ll be asked to create a profile. You’ll also receive tons of info about potential hosts, their needs and their accommodations. You can do a Zoom or Facetime call with your hosts if you wish. There’s a focus on safety and on creating a great mutually-beneficial experience for all involved.

Bi-directional reviews occur when the Workaway stay concludes. Obviously, “fails,” “disappointments” and unrealized expectations can occur. But, it is in everyone’s best interests to make all Workaway experiences positive. That’s been my experience as well.

Czech it out. Maybe you’ll catch an eyeful of that tower in Paris. Or perhaps you’ll fall in love with the travel experience of a lifetime.

If you wish, share your journey with me, [email protected] Michael Burg, MD

• not their real names, although these are real Dutch names

^ not their real names either, but real names