To describe workaway, it is a global travelling service in which there are 50,000+opportunities in 170 countries.
Speaking of how it works, travellers can exchange some work for accommodation and food from the host. In other words, to extend, you can travel with just basic transportation costs!
This Workaway is not just about exchanging “work” for “accommodation and food.” It also aims at “cultural and language exchange.”
As a cultural exchange, since the traveller can stay and experience the locals deeply, you can get to know and connect with the locals, which you might not have chances to do in studying abroad and sightseeing. The host family can also have the opportunity to learn about you and your culture.
As a language, they can exchange their language, which helps both travellers and hosts learn the new ones. Also, if you are eager to improve the language skills that the hosts have, they must be happy to teach you and welcome any questions about it.
Exchange conditions are various
While travellers can exchange some work with accommodation and food from the host, this exchange condition varies from the host family.
In most places, they provide you with the 3 meals, accommodation (basically, including wifi, shower, washing machine, a necessity for stay, etc.) in exchange for your 5 hours a day, 4-5 days a week volunteer work.
However, the working hours and the conditions offered are entirely different from host to host. The following are the examples that I found various;
・some hosts pay for your work (you’ll find a “paid job”sticker on their profile)
・some offer you work only 2-3 hours a day
・some ask you to get food and cook by yourself
・some ask you to “housesit” in exchange for the accommodation and foods which means less opportunity to gain cultural& language exchange
To imagine easily what the stay would be like, make sure to read the host’s profile in detail and message what you are excited about the stay from the first contact. It prevents you from something that you didn’t expect, causing trouble and ruining your time.
Although this workaway shouldn’t involve money (apart from paid position), Workawayer might not be in an equal position to the hosts because the hosts let you stay and eat.
As workaway is a “mutual help service” and must be a win-win relationship, don’t hesitate what you expect from your host and ask them what the exchange conditions are.
You can start to search what hosts provide you in exchange for work by clicking the Find a host button!
Using the Workaway service, you can explore the unique and hidden places which you hardly go with studying abroad and sightseeing.
For example, I stayed in a farm in the middle of Mt. Aspiring National park and got the experience of staying in the Great Barrier Island, where there is no public gas, electricity, water, and internet in New Zealand.
Without Workaway, I definitely wouldn’t find these places and then stayed there. Since workaway allows you to travel and get a unique experience where not many people have been.
Workaway is based on the spirit of “Give and Take”
It helps you to be flexible
In workaway, you put yourself in the middle of nowhere and share the time, space, and food with your hosts all of a sudden.
You might find lots of the things new to you, hard to get used to, and totally different from what works for you back in your country.
However, please do not refuse them and not push your ideas to your hosts and the community; try to take it as it is with the flexibility.
Being flexible and adaptable really helps you learn new things in a new place.
Rate shows how good the experience was for past travellers who used to stay before.
Some hosts have started recently, and they have no review& rate even though they might be such lovely hosts.
If you don’t mind jumping in there, I think it’s worth trying, but it’s relatively safe to apply and ask to stay with a host who already has a high rate from past travellers.
2. Feedback
3. Last Activity
The last Activity shows the Last login date of the hosts.
It helps you find a suitable host because if they login within a week or a few days, you can see they are keen to let travellers stay in their place and use the workaway website actively.
Also, you would relatively get a speedy reply from them no matter whether they accept your application or not.
However, if it is more than a month or two months ago, you can’t really expect to hear back quickly.
Read the host’s profile carefully
If you don’t receive a reply from the hosts, even when they have already read, you might feel frustrated and start to think you get declined.
However, they have many reasons why they can’t reply to your message, for example, being too busy to respond, having a lot of applications from other travellers, and checking the schedule whether they can accept you.
From my experience, if you don’t get a reply for a week, it would be nice to move on and try to apply to a different host.
Also, when the host you applied to is so popular among travellers, the place itself is famous, or the skills you can provide are different from the host’s needs, you might not get accepted.
However, don’t worry because there must be many hosts around a place you are looking for.
Thank you for reading!
Thank you very much for reading!
That is my list of why I believe workaway is the best way to travel, how to find an right host to make your stay safe and, and 3 tips of first contact to get accepted!
I hope this blog helps you get an interest in workaway and exploring the world!!
Seeya!
Misaki
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