The practice of taking a holiday which combines leisure and sightseeing with the opportunity to work for a charity or other worthwhile cause (Macmillan Dictionary).
Stop and Smell The Roses
We could easily be on a constant move to see as many places and countries as possible, but we do not think we would ever be able to catch up with ourselves. Our daily life is all about being on a string and on the go, so why would we want to continue living like that when we don't have to? No way, Jose! We will stop and smell the roses, take time to breathe, relax, and digest the experiences we have had.
There is more to life than increasing its speed!
- Gandhi
Questions
Therefore, we decided to look into how we could we get some local experiences along the way, give back to the community, stay for a longer time in one place and cut down on our expenses. But before we could move on, several questions had to be answered:
- How much time of the trip do we want to dedicate to volunteering? Answer: 4-6 weeks.
- What is our personal minimum requirement for accommodations? Our own room? Our own bathroom? Tent? Dorm? Answer: None, as we will only be volunteering for maximum 2 weeks at a time.
- Will/can we eat everything put in front of us? Answer: Andy can and will! Dorte easily experience gastrointestinal challenges, so we decided it will be 'safer' mainly to volunteer in Europe.
- Which voluntary service would we like to do/not do? Answer: Anything but heavy lifting, babysitting, teaching, and pet care.
There is more to life than increasing its speed!
- Gandhi
Therefore, we decided to look into how we could we get some local experiences along the way, give back to the community, stay for a longer time in one place and cut down on our expenses. But before we could move on, several questions had to be answered:
- How much time of the trip do we want to dedicate to volunteering? Answer: 4-6 weeks.
- What is our personal minimum requirement for accommodations? Our own room? Our own bathroom? Tent? Dorm? Answer: None, as we will only be volunteering for maximum 2 weeks at a time.
- Will/can we eat everything put in front of us? Answer: Andy can and will! Dorte easily experience gastrointestinal challenges, so we decided it will be 'safer' mainly to volunteer in Europe.
- Which voluntary service would we like to do/not do? Answer: Anything but heavy lifting, babysitting, teaching, and pet care.
Volunteers aren't paid, not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless
- Anonymous
Which organization?
There are many great organizations offering volunteering opportunities, but most of them charge for it, and that was not what we were looking for. After a lot of research we found WorkAway.info, where people like you and me are offering full board in return for work. It costs around $50 to sign up, and you get access to a database of all the hosts looking for volunteers. We researched hosts, looked at maps to see if the location would fit into our plans, and contacted many hosts. Some were quick to get back to us - others never did. Workaway is not the easiest site to navigate, but eventually you will get the hang of it!
France
So, we will be volunteering at an alternative retreat for two weeks in Vieussan in a national park in the Lanquedoc area in southern France working 5 hours every morning 5 days a week. The first week there will be a Family Retreat with meditation, silence, yoga and time for play, and the second week there will be a Singing Retreat -all in French! We can both manage with 'touristic' French, so this will be a linguistic challenge, but also an opportunity to learn many new skills. There will, of course, be time for hiking and wine tasting and a chance to experience French cuisine.
Italy
The second place will be for about a week in Piocca in the Piemonte area between Turin and Barolo! We will be working in a hazel nut farm/olive grove/winery getting ready for the harvest and learning about making wine. There will, of course, be time for hiking and wine tasting!
.... Nepal
.... Nepal
I know! We were only going to volunteer in Europe, but we were contacted by one of the hosts, who liked our profile (tourism, marketing, hiking, English). He lives 8 hours bus ride north east of Kathmandu, runs a hotel, a school and a farm in order to engage and employ the community, and he needs help with writing a hiking and guide book in English for at least two weeks. We found that too good a offer to decline, as it is right up our alley and it could be fun! A lot of hiking, of course, but no wine tasting! And we hope Dorte's tummy is strong by then!
We make a living by what we do, but we make a life by what we give
-Winston Churchill
