Travel with Helpx, Workaway, Woofing...
Work a few hours a day in Exchange for the cottage and even sometimes the food :
In a trip, the most expensive item is often accomodation, if you are traveling on a low budget, the less you spend the longer and further you can travel. Why not give a few hours a day of your time in exchange for accommodation, and sometimes food ? If you are voluntary and have skills in do-it-yourself, cooking, coding (although the household sometimes). Try the Woofing (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) Helpx or Workaway. Workaway has a yearly registration fee of €20 to €30 while Helpx is the same price for 2 years. These programs, connect you with hosts from around the world who are looking for volunteers. If you are on a tight budget, the inscription "couple" is even cheaper and more profitable, but in all cases, think about all the "free" nights and you will find it very quickly profitable. In Woofing, as its name suggests, you will be given farm work, while on Helpx and Workaway, the vast majority of the hosts either own a guest house seeking for a helper expertise in social media, household, translators for their website, or own farms, organic or not, seeking handymen, cooks, pickers... Finally you will also meet many construction projects of ecological houses... But also some more original proposals as an announcement of construction of huts for monkey in the Amazon where I applied! If you do not have special skills, don't worry, most are not looking for your skills but will focus on your willingness to help.
In practice:
Times are at the whim of the host, some offer 2 hours of work per day, others 4 hours per day, or even 8 hours... The food is also sometimes included. In short, to avoid unpleasant surprises, ask before coming if your room is private (rather rare) how many hours you work per day, if the food is included, and how many days of rest they will give you. Don't forget to ask for other the benefits if they would let you borrow their bicycle or car or hiking gear, teach you their language, or even give free drinks (for the coffee houses) because it can make a big difference over a few weeks/months.Pitfalls to avoid:
Like all networking sites, there are a lot of abuses, some people are clearly looking for unpaid employees and benefit from the system as much as they can. My goal is not to discourage you, because it is a very good idea to discover the country's everyday life, you will learn a lot , but prepare yourself to ask the right questions for avoiding scams.The number of worked hours :
Some hosts give vague answers. They write you will work between 4 and 8 hours depending on the work or the weather. But working 8 hours a day to save a room on Airbnb, which would have cost you €20, do the calculation and you won't be far from the hourly Chinese rate ! Avoid these ads and vague responses.Days off:
Unless you plan to visit a place that you really like and would love to work there, one small day-off is not enough. I suggest you to find a better offer, especially if your goal is to visit the region...Working hours:
Normally you will be offered to work in the morning, then you get to enjoy your afternoon ! It is important to ask for your schedules because some hostels/restaurants greedy of free labor will not hamper to make you work from 11am to 3pm and from 6pm to 11pm... When you do you think you will have time visiting the place ?
Try to book as early as possible :
Well, yes, the best places are reserved several months in advance, so don't hesitate to make your requests even within 6 months to get the gem.Tinder ads:
“I'm gay. I want a gay volunteer.”
“I'm a man and I wish a young female volunteer.”
In short, even with the function to report abuse on ads, I strongly recommend you to avoid these ads !
The Visas:
Don't waste time and start by asking for the type of visa the host wants you to have. Some will not take you on a simple tourist visa.Age and sex:
To save time, you should clearly highlight your age and your sex (man or woman...) because some hosts prefer women or they will have an age limit. So start by this when you write to them or simply put your age and sex in your profile.The comments
If the ads have no comments, beware. Also look at the creation date of the advertisement and the description just to be aware that it is a new account. If you have the host’s name or email, please google them up! I fell one day on a host who had been banned from Airbnb, Woofing and Workaway ! Suffice to say that I was not feeling safe, even if it was not too bad because she was afraid of being banned by Helpx (her last hope) and the bad comments that we could leave.Keep in touch:
Keep in touch, not only through the website, but ask for their email, phone number... Send an email regularly like once a month, then a week and a day before departure, then when you arrive at the airport, in case of no response. Beware.A plan B:
This isn't very correct, so use with care, but if you feel that your host is not serious, try to have two opportunities in your destination. It's always better than one, especially in the case of a cancellation from them, or a bad experience on arrival.Emails received:
I didn't change it. These are copy-paste ads faithful or responses that I have received on these websites: (I'll update it regularly)I want you to help harvesting potato with us in outside. Now we are accepting volunteer and she is helping us^^ Instead of 6~8 hours helping/ a day, We can give you accommodation and rice, miso and vegetables we made. Basically day off is once a week. Depending on the weather. We have house for volunteers and that house is share house style. Please share Kitchen and bath and toilet. Please cook and clean yourself. And Please bring working clothes, shoes, hat, towels, globes for farm work.
Hi David, Thanks for your contact. I would like to know more about you if you are gay since I am a senior Japanese gay as described in my profile. How about you? Sincerely, Fujio
